Consumer Reports decided to check out the recent claims of battery life parity between the two chipsets found on the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, and found out the difference is next to negligible in real world usage.

In case you’re not aware, the new iPhones ship with the new Apple A9 chipset, which, due to supply constraints, is manufactured by both Samsung and TSMS. There is a nominal difference between the way these chips are fabricated despite being made to the same spec, which has resulted in slight difference in performance and power consumption between the two.

When the word got out, the Internet started its hype machine as usual and started comparing the two devices side by side. What you will often see in these comparisons, however, is that they all run processor intensive benchmarks in loop, which barely reflects real world usage, making their results irrelevant.

This is where Consumer Reports’ test differs. While they have been extremely careful while performing these tests, making sure the devices were on the same carrier, with the same settings, and running the exact same tests, they ensured the tests reflected real world usage. And their findings show roughly 1% battery life difference between the iPhone 6s running TSMC processor and the one with the Samsung processor. Same goes for temperatures. This is on par with Apple’s statement that was released a couple of weeks ago.

This means in real world usage, it doesn’t matter which company manufactured the processor on your new iPhone, as you are never really going to notice the difference with normal use.

You can check out the whole testing process in the link…

from GSMArena.com – Latest articles http://ift.tt/1RluG7N
via IFTTT

Sony announced earlier this month that its Concept for Android initiative – which was launched earlier this year – will allow 10,000 Xperia Z3 and Xperia Z3 Compact owners to beta test Android 6.0 Marshmallow. Well, that concept Marshmallow build has started rolling out.

The build will be rolling out gradually over the coming weeks, so you’ll have to patient if it hasn’t hit your device yet. Also, the company has released a new batch of invites due to the “fevered interest” that the testing program has generated, meaning if you weren’t lucky last time, you can try grabbing an invite this time around.

For those who aren’t in the know, the test is limited to select European countries: Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, United Kingdom, Ireland, and Germany. To take part, you’ll have to check in with the Concept Sign-up app; It’s first come-first serve, so “make sure you move quickly before they’re all gone,” the company…

from GSMArena.com – Latest articles http://ift.tt/1OFEMCJ
via IFTTT

A total of 6.5 million people are now paying to use Apple’s music streaming service, according to the Cupertino-based company’s CEO Tim Cook, who made the revelation at a technology conference yesterday.

He also revealed that an additional 8.5 million users are currently subscribed to the three month free trial period that the service offers.

This means that Apple Music, which was launched back in June this year, currently has a total of around 15 million subscribers. This compares to the more than 20 million monthly subscribers and over 75 million active users that market leader Spotify currently boasts.

In addition to insights on Apple Music subscriber numbers, Cook also revealed that the new Apple TV – which was unveiled along with the new iPhones and tablets last month – will be released later this…

from GSMArena.com – Latest articles http://ift.tt/1XgLuAI
via IFTTT

The successor to last year’s LG G Vista has been announced by AT&T. Dubbed G Vista 2, the device is powered by an octa-core processor (should be Snapdragon 615), and sports a 5.7-inch 1080p display.

It has 2GB RAM and 16GB expandable internal memory. In terms of camera, the G Vista 2 features a 13MP rear unit and a 5MP front shooter. The handset runs Android Lollipop out-of-the-box, and also comes with a stylus. In terms of software, you’ll find LG signature features like Knock On, Knock Code, QSlide, and Quick Memo.

While AT&T didn’t mention exactly how much the smartphone will cost, it did say that the price tag will be “revolutionary.” There was also no word on when the LG G Vista 2 would be available for…

from GSMArena.com – Latest articles http://ift.tt/1LlfRQW
via IFTTT

While the Lumia 950 XL has already been there for quite some time, its smaller sibling – the Lumia 950 – is now also listed on the US Microsoft Store website.

As you can see in the screenshot above, there are two listings for the device: one for the unlocked version, while the other is for the AT&T variant. However, unlike the Lumia 950 XL listing, which has a price tag associated with it ($649), both Lumia 950 listings doesn’t mention any price.

Neither the 950 XL nor the 950 is available for order yet. Also, a quick look at the tech specs of both the Windows 10 Mobile-powered flagships reveal that the devices are Windows Hello ready, which possibly means that a software update would be required to enable the feature.

Source |…

from GSMArena.com – Latest articles http://ift.tt/1RTfpfc
via IFTTT

During the halftime of Monday Night Football, Disney and Lucasfilm released the latest trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The blockbuster will descend upon movie screens worldwide on December 18.

The action packed trailer gives us a look at the movie’s main characters, including Han Solo, Daisy, Finn, Chewbacca, and the movies baddie – Kylo Ren. Oddly, we are yet to hear from Luke Skywalker, though we did catch a glimpse of his bionic arm reaching out towards R2-D2.

Tickets for the hotly anticipated movie are already on sale.

Source…

from GSMArena.com – Latest articles http://ift.tt/1MQF8oC
via IFTTT

Ever since Apple launched the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus with 3D Touch, a lot of the talk in the mobile world has been focused on this feature. Alternatively called Force Touch in Apple’s MacBooks, it lets different pressure levels applied to a touchscreen (or trackpad) correspond to different software actions. We’ve recently heard that Synaptics is working on brining just such a feature to Android, and that Samsung could be using that solution itself for the Galaxy S7.

Now though a patent application that’s just been made public by the Korean Intellectual Property Office reveals that Samsung has at least been considering such an idea since April 2014. That’s when this filing was registered, and it basically describes a way to have different software outcomes depending on how hard a user is pressing down the screen.

The pressure is measured through the corresponding voltage. So up until a certain threshold, if you touch the “a” key on the software keyboard, you’ll get the lowercase letter, while if you press harder on the same key you’ll see the uppercase “A” pop up. Another example has one key act as a space bar if it’s pressed lightly, or Tab if it’s pressed more vigorously. Copying text could be just a matter of pressing hard on the “c” key on the keyboard too, Samsung thinks.

What’s unclear is whether Samsung’s gone past the theoretical realm and actually worked on developing its own Force Touch solution since this patent application has been filed. Yet even if it hasn’t, it can undoubtedly make use of Synaptics’ implementation if it really wants something like this to be inside the Galaxy S7.

Source (PDF) | Via (in…

from GSMArena.com – Latest articles http://ift.tt/1Gn2dOg
via IFTTT

Waze has received its first big update since Google acquired it. The design has been altered, the user experience simplified, and, perhaps most importantly, battery consumption has apparently been improved.

The new version, Waze 4.0, is already available for iOS in the iTunes App Store. Unfortunately it’s not yet out for Android, that is however bound to happen at some point in the future.

Waze now requires less taps to access most of its features. The left button reveals the navigation menu and all your frequent and favorite destinations, while the right button gives you quick access to your contacts, letting you easily send your ETA, directions, or your location.

The reporting menu has been redesigned too, and it’s now right on the map in the form of a big orange button. It’s faster than before and features even bolder, color-coded categories.

Finally, Waze now offers you reminders to leave on time for upcoming appointments based on traffic conditions, if you sync Waze with Calendar. This works if you then add street addresses to your event…

from GSMArena.com – Latest articles http://ift.tt/1MzE7g5
via IFTTT

The Nubia Z9 Max and Nubia Z9 Mini have been out since April, and now, half a year later, it looks like ZTE felt it was time for an upgrade. So the Chinese company has apparently been working on refreshing these two models somewhat, without changing the overall design or most of the specs.

What will result from this process are the ZTE Nubia Z9 Max Elite Edition and the ZTE Nubia Z9 Mini Elite Edition. The existence of these devices has been leaked in China today, thanks to promotional flyers for both, which you can see in the images below (click the thumbnails for full size pictures).

ZTE Nubia Z9 Max Elite and Z9 Mini Elite

The Nubia Z9 Max Elite will gain a fingerprint sensor embedded in its side-mounted power button. It’s also going to get a USB Type-C port, to keep up with the latest trend in the mobile world. Otherwise, though, it will be identical to the non-Elite variant.

Hence, it will feature the same 5.5-inch 1080p touchscreen, 16 MP rear camera, 8 MP selfie snapper, Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 chipset, 3GB of RAM, 16GB of expandable storage, and 2,900 mAh battery.

The Nubia Z9 Mini Elite will come with 3GB of RAM, up from the non-Elite iteration’s 2GB. It will also have eye pattern recognition, and a couple of other new software features. No further hardware changes, though, so it will still have a 5-inch 1080p touchscreen, a 16 MP rear camera, an 8 MP front-facing unit, 16GB of expandable storage, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 SoC, and a 2,900 mAh battery.

Expect both of these to launch in China soon. As usual with ZTE’s Nubia line, it’s not extremely likely that you’ll ever be able to officially purchase them overseas.

Source (in Chinese) |…

from GSMArena.com – Latest articles http://ift.tt/1RShpEp
via IFTTT

Developers have had a way to release beta versions of their apps to willing testers through the Play Store for a very long time now, but Google itself oddly hasn’t been a big fan of the practice. Until now, that is.

The search giant has just made available a beta version of the Google app for Android. To grab it, all you need to do is head over to this link and click on Become a Tester. After you do that, you’ll immediately receive an update for the Google app through the Play Store.

That said, there doesn’t seem to be anything new yet in the beta compared to the stable version, but we assume some experimental features are coming soon. As always with a beta, keep in mind that bugs are pretty much inevitable. If you don’t like them, stick to the stable release.

In case you’ve forgotten what it’s good for, note that the Google app is responsible for the Google Now Launcher, Now On Tap, Google Now cards, as well as the search functionality that’s built into the launcher and Google…

from GSMArena.com – Latest articles http://ift.tt/1RShnN1
via IFTTT