mobile news

Samsung Gear S2 is on its way thanks to the official pictures and previous leaks about the device.Today, Samsung mobile executive Dennis Miloseski posted a nice close-up of the smartwatch to Instagram, to fuel our appetite for a new gadget. The picture treats us to a nice close up of what appears to be a metal frame around the display, which certainly looks rather nice.We can also spot a couple of buttons on the side of the Gear S2, perhaps to assist with navigating through the OS, which I’m assuming will be Tizen rather than Android Wear. Miloseski doesn’t say much else along with the picture, other than that he’s “Giving the new Samsung Gear S2 a test drive”. Samsung has also posted the teaser trailer earlier this month.The clip gives us a little look at what we can probably expect from ...

One of the biggest announcements of Google I/O was the introduction of Android Pay, its an mobile payment solution which is supposed to rival Apple Pay and Samsung Pay. According to an internal notice that’s being passed around McDonald’s in the US, the launch of Android Pay could be just days away. The internal notice suggests that the service will launch on 26th August, following the launch of Samsung Pay on 21st August. While the latter is indeed incorrect (as Samsung Pay won’t launch until next month). McDonald’s is set to be a major partner for Android Pay, mainly thanks to over 14,000 restaurants in the US which will all accept Android Pay from launch.As a major partner, McDonald’s is likely to have been informed by Google in advance of Android Pay’s release and while the notice abov...

Cortana, Microsoft’s personal voice assistant, is now available for all residents of the United States to download in public beta form.They launched a closed beta of the app back in July, but now this app can be downloaded by anyone  who opts for the beta testing program. Similar to the functionality Google Now or Siri provides, Cortana is able to perform a number of tasks like setting alarms, scheduling appointments and even performing simple Bing searches.The app recently got a big update that would allow cortana to be launched via the home button shortcut on Android, instead of google now. There are few differences between Cortana on windows and Cortana on Android.For example, Android users aren’t yet able to toggle settings, open specific apps or launch the voice assistant by saying “H...

A shiny new version of the Whatsapp has finally landed up at the Play Store, and it brings new customizable notifications, contact mute controls, new emojis and the introduction of skin tone colors, among other things. The new version is listed as 2.12.250 and most users will probably want to go and check out the variety of new custom chat options first.The menu allows customers to customize the specific conversation with their own colors and tones. Also there are options to adjust how the messages pop-up depending on your screen’s on/off status and the ability to mute a conversation for some period of time. Another handy feature is the ability to mark the conversations as read and unread.There’s also a switch to lower the quality of voice calls to save on your data plan, which is bo...

The users of official app of Twitter can tell you that it is not the best app around. There are various other better options, but one of the best app seems to be Talon for Twitter. It’s sleek and full of great features. But we are here to talk about the latest update for the app, and this update comes with a huge list of improvements. The new update takes the software version up to version 3.1.0. And there have been plenty of additions that have been integrated. So, lets begin talking about the most important update for the app. Talon for twitter now supports Android 6.0 Marshmallow and its new permission system.This makes Talon among the first third-party apps which have adopted Google’s new mobile OS version. List of improvements is as follows: Built for Android Marshmallow Revamp of And...

Sony has been putting some major effort to open up its devices to third party ROM development and has uploaded a new set of 5.1 Lollipop AOSP binaries for the company’s first 64-bit devices- the Xperia Z3+, Xperia Z4 Tablet and Xperia Z4 Tablet WiFi. Sony has also uploaded a repository for the new Xperia M Aqua, which is also a 64 bit device, but as of now the handset is not officially supported and cannot be unlocked at this point of time. All of these Xperia devices are based on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 810 SoC, which is built from four 64-bit ARM Cortex-A57 and four Cortex-A53 CPU cores, except for the M4 Aqua, which is based around a mid-range octa-core Snapdragon 615. This basically means that for developers and end users, they can now easily start working away on their customised ...

A new update for skype has been released to the play store, version 5.10, which brings new ways for users to customize their ringtones and a new fast photo forwarding feature,which will allow users to share the photos with other skype contacts with a few clicks. Customized ringtones for individual contacts is a feature which should have been implemented a while ago, so its great to see the option finally arrive.To assign a ringtone to a contact, head on over to a conversation, tap the options icon in the lower right, select “Ringtone options” and then “Set custom ringtone”. The second major feature included with v5.10 is photo forwarding. It is now possible to simply tap and hold on a photo in an existing Skype conversation and select “Forward photo”. From there, you can pick a new contact...

Rumours have already begun suggesting that Sony is working on a successor, possibly the entire new Xperia Z5 range. Rumours also hints that some of these handsets may be using the company’s new “4K X-Reality” technology. This technology is used for upscaling the content in the company’s high resolution TV range.The 4K X-Reality PRO software is currently used in Sony’s 4K TV’s to upscale regular HD content. The details suggest that Sony is working on three new handsets, possibly a super sized  Xperia Z5+ (S70+), a regular Z5 (S70) and a smaller Z5 Compact (S60).Chances are that the former will be featuring the 4K X-Reality technology, while the other two are perhaps limited to 1080p. Previous leaks have also hinted at 5.5 inch Xperia Z5+ with a 4K resolution (2160×38...

Sony has just unveiled its new Smartband 2, through which Sony is trying to capture a bigger market share in the crowd fitness tracking market. Sony is basically trying to cater to quite a wider audience, but the hardware change-up might make it more appealing to the sports market this time around. The most eye catchy feature in the Smartband 2 is its e-paper display. In fact, the new band doesn’t feature a display at all, but does vibrate to alert to your attention to a few little things. Another noticeable feature is that the band has gained a heart rate monitor and IP68 water resistant for depths up to 3 meters. The Smartband 2 also acts as a day-to-day companion. The band can vibrate to alerts you to calls and messages, if you  accidently leave your phone behind,when you achieve ...

Going back to April when Google released a brand new update for Android wear that introduced always-on apps, new gestures, emoji drawings, and more. The update was available for select watches like the Moto 360 and LG Watch Urbane, the same update also brought the Wi-Fi support.Unfortunately, the LG G Watch R didn’t make the cut when it came to Wifi, due the lack of proper driver support for the watch. In May, LG promised that an update was coming in Q3 2015 that would add this feature to the watch.Well they are right on schedule, Google and LG are bringing Wifi support to the watch. The most anticipated update will arrive with the upcoming android wear 1.3 update. In addition, the update will also bring support for interactive watch faces and better Google Translate support. As one can ex...

While the Note Edge may not have been a critical success when it debuted last year, the Galaxy S6 Edge proved to be quite the looker and many consumers considered it the preferred choice over the standard GS6. This Edge business has clearly put LG’s legal counselors in movement also, with the organization trademarking various Edge-related naming traditions and terms its could call its own. Altogether, eight terms were trademarked: Super Edge Dual Edge Upper Edge Dual Side Edge Side Edge Double Edge Two Edge G Edge In fact, LG even showed off its own dual-edge concept phone back at CES this year and so the idea of an “edge” phone from LG isn’t that crazy. It’s also hard to think what LG might call the curved sides other than “an edge”, so having related trademarks might make it harder...

Android M was officially named as MarshMallow yesterday, along with it a new mascot was also unveiled at Google HQ. While we are still away from getting to play with the final version of the new OS,till then we can enjoy the new boot animation. This animation was pulled out from the latest preview build for Android Marshmallow, which is available for a number of Nexus devices. Although we have to wait for a long period of time for the new OS, some Android users can enjoy the boot animation early, as it is also available as a download-able APK. To get this running you must have a ROM with CM theme engine to make use of it.Just install the file and pick it from the boot animation tab. So what do you think about it? For more news and reviews, keep checking back Gaming Central.