Daily Archives: October 29, 2015

Will Airbnb Become A Full-Fledged Travel Agency?

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Given that Airbnb is part of a third wave of digital disruptors that have, among other victims, killed travel agencies, it’s a tad ironic that Journeys partly recreates that warm-and-fuzzy travel agency “we’ve got this all covered, here’s your itinerary” vibe that only seems to still exist when you work for a large corporation.

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Microsoft Is Getting Its Gadget Strategy Right, But Can It Compete With Apple?

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Disclosure: I own shares of MSFT
Successful companies usually give rather than take business strategy lessons.
But Microsoft seems to be open to taking lessons. When it comes to its gadget strategy, that is.
And the lessons come from the world’s gadget master, Apple.
The first lesson is that consumer gadgets can be very profitable business — when the software and the hardware are bundled right.
The second lesson is that retail stores can help gadgets pass the market test, when those gadgets are made right and the stores are staffed with the right people. Consumers have the opportunity to experience the gadget’s functions, and compare and contrast them with competing functions. Besides, gadget retailing can be a profitable enterprise.
Apparently, Apple has done both right, as evidenced by its hefty operating margins, and robust revenue and earnings growth rates.

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Moto X Force is a Droid Turbo 2 for international markets

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Moto X Force has Motorola's new ShatterShield technology. Photo: MotorolaIf you were wowed by Motorola’s new ShatterShield technology on the new Droid Turbo 2, but disappointed it was only heading to Verizon in the U.S., then listen up! Motorola today announced Moto X Force, and it’s essentially a Droid Turbo 2 for those outside the U.S. — with the same protections against cracks and shattering

Read the full article…

The post Moto X Force is a Droid Turbo 2 for international markets appeared first on Cult of Android.

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OnePlus X makes its official debut with 5-inch display, Snapdragon 801, and $249 price tag

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The OnePlus family grew again today with the arrival of the OnePlus X, a new Android phone that’s small in both size and cost.

OnePlus is really talking up the build quality of the OnePlus X, which includes two slabs of black glass with a metal frame in between them. That’s on the Onyx version, anyway. There’s also a Ceramic model that OnePlus says takes 25 days to make because of a process that involves baking ceramic, cooling it, and polishing it. Both models also include a metal frame with several microcuts that give it a texture.

In terms of specs, the OnePlus X touts a 5-inch 1920×1080 AMOLED display that runs Android 5.1.1 beneath OnePlus’s custom OxygenOS user interface. There’s a quad-core Snapdragon 801 processor paired with 3GB of RAM and a 2525mAh battery powering the X, and there’s also 16GB of storage and a microSD slot packed inside. The OnePlus X’s camera arsenal includes a 13-megapixel rear camera and 8-megapixel front-facing shooter.

OnePlus X Onyx

OnePlus X Onyx

Moving on to availability, yes, the OnePlus X will require an invite to purchase. The good news is that that requirement will only be in place during the month of November, and OnePlus says that it’s already sent out 15,000 invites to buy the X. After November, the OnePlus X will be available through open sales each week, and once production can keep up with demand, it’ll be available totally invite-free.

The Onyx OnePlus X will launch in Europe on November 5 at a price of €269, and it’ll arrive in the US on November 19 for $249. The Ceramic model will only be available in Europe and India for €369, and you’ll need a Ceramic-specific invite to get one. What’s more, OnePlus says that it’s only making 10,000 Ceramic units, so you’ll have to put in work to snag one.

With the OnePlus X, OnePlus set out to make a small phone that can easily be used with one hand and has a respectable feature set. With its 5-inch screen, the X should be fairly easy to use one-handed for most folks, and its spec list is pretty decent for the price.

What do you think of the OnePlus X?

OnePlus X Ceramic model

OnePlus X Ceramic model

OnePlus X Ceramic model

OnePlus X Ceramic

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Samsung’s huge Galaxy View tablet lands on November 6 for $599

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Samsung finally announced the Galaxy View, its biggest tablet yet, through a press release yesterday. This came after many months of rumors regarding this particular device.

While the official unveiling made no mention of its price or a release date, we now know both of those things. The Galaxy View will be out in the US on November 6, and you’ll need to pay $599 to pick one up.

That amount of cash will net you the Wi-Fi-only iteration bundled with 32GB of storage. Apparently a US carrier will sell the Galaxy View too, at some point in the future. This company hasn’t been named, but it’s probably going to be AT&T.

There’s no word yet on other markets when it comes to availability and pricing. The Galaxy View has an 18.4-inch 1080p touchscreen, Samsung’s Exynos 7580 SoC at the helm (with a 1.6 GHz octa-core Cortex-A53 CPU), 2GB of RAM, a 2 MP camera, two 4W speakers, and a 5,700 mAh battery. It runs Android 5.1…

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