The YotaPhone 2 won’t be coming to the U.S. after all

While the YotaPhone 2 was still being hyped, it was revealed that the U.S.-based launch would only happen if an Indiegogo campaign was successful. Turns out, despite that successful campaign, it’s not going to happen anyway.

According to a report published by The Verge that cites an email sent to Indiegogo backers by Yota Devices, the reason behind canceling the YotaPhone 2′s U.S. launch has to do with issues connected to its manufacturing partners. That includes unforeseen delays in both “production and delivery of the North American variant of YotaPhone 2 from our manufacturer.” As such, the email adds that “the logistics were insurmountable and the device would simply arrive too late.” Interestingly enough, the delay was so significant that Yota Devices says the shipments to U.S. customers of the YotaPhone 2 would actually conflict with their plans for 2016, and U.S. customers would be receiving the YotaPhone 2 while other regions were already receiving better YotaPhones.

As a result of the change in plans, Yota Devices says there are two options:

  • For those who are avid fans of our hardware and innovation, we offer you the option to receive an International version of YotaPhone 2 (YD201) in Black only. For those backers living outside of North America, this is the exact phone we already planned to send you. For those living in the US, this phone will work with major GSM carriers including AT&T and T-Mobile. The unfortunate situation is that it will remain locked to HSPA+ (3G/3G+) bands and will not be active on 4G/LTE.
  • For those of you who are not interested in the International YotaPhone 2, you’ll have the option to request a refund. We’re still figuring out the logistics for this, but the refunds will not be charged back to your credit card. We will instead send a reimbursement to you directly.

At this point, Yota Devices is partnering with a new manufacturer, and its plans for the future will include the United States, too. Unfortunately that won’t include the YotaPhone 2, but some unknown handset(s) at some later date.

Did you back the YotaPhone 2 as a U.S.-based customer?

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Is Space About To Experience A Design Renaissance?


Is Space About To Experience A Design Renaissance?
Getting human beings off the planet is the hardest design challenge mankind has ever undertaken. Yet it’s also a solved problem: we’ve been sending people into space since 1961. 50 years later and space feels both closer and farther away than ever before.

July 31, 2015 at 10:38AM
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Android M Developer Preview 3 has been delayed

At the tail-end of May, Google released the first developer preview for Android M, the company’s next iteration of its not-so-mobile-anymore operating system. It would take over a month before the second developer preview would find its way to developers, and it’s looking like the wait for the third installment might be even longer.

As noted in the Android M Developer Preview Google+ community by moderator Wojtek Kaliciński, the third developer preview for Android M has been delayed for an unknown amount of time as the company prepares it for release. The post indicates that Google wants this release to be the “near final” build for Android M, so that developers have it to test on before the public launch later this year, and to get that level of completeness they need more time:

We want this to be a near final release to test your apps on, but we need a little more time to get it out to you. Please be patient and refrain from posting speculations about the release date in the community. We will announce the Preview 3 availability here and on +Android Developers as soon as it’s ready.

The post adds that a release date for Preview 3 will be made public via the +Android Developers page whenever it’s ready to go live, but just when that will be is anyone’s guess at this point.

Have you been trying out the Android M preview so far?

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Microsoft Windows 10 Users Now 14 Million Strong And Counting, “Overwhelmingly Positive”

There’s nothing like a free upgrade to bring your existing customer base running to a new product. And with the backlash Microsoft received on Windows 8, Redmond definitely needed to make friends and influence more than a few people on this release. It appears MSFT is doing just that, as the company is now claiming over 14 million users have made the jump to Windows 10 (5 million or so are likely “Windows Insiders”). There’s little question, it’s a strategic move that CEO Satya Nadella has been quite open about. This is a move to get as many devices running Windows 10 as possible, from desktop PCs, to notebooks, tablets, smartphones and even the Xbox One game console.

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HBO Believes ‘Game of Thrones’ Will End After Season Eight

We’re very deep into the Game of Thrones off-season, but that doesn’t mean news can’t break about the series anyway. Speaking at the Television Critics Association, HBO programming president Michael Lombardo spoke about the future of the channel’s flagship series, and how long it’s probably going to run.

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