Here’s how much your old iPhone will depreciate shortly

With the new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus duo only a few hours away from an official unveiling, a lot of current Apple users are surely already considering an upgrade. This, of course means that a lot of current gen and older Cupertino smartphones are going to flood the second-hand market which by the simple rules of economics, combined with the allure of newer tech can only mean one thing – depreciation.

It is inevitable, your iPhone lost a big chunk of its value the very second you opened its box and has been doing so ever since, but if you plan on getting rid of it to buy a 6s model or perhaps an Android, then the guy over at GadgetValuer have a few tips on how to get the best possible deal that you really ought to follow.

Advise number one states that you need to act as early as possible, which is only natural, but as it turns out, there is a particular date when old iPhone prices are going to start their rapid decline and according to data analysis of markets and patterns form previous years – it is September 14. So, you should definitely move the device or perhaps get a trade-in quote before that date. The latter even tend to remain frozen for up to 30 days.

Another important point is to do your research. As it turns out, you could lose as much as $115 by simply selling your iPhone 6 on a bad deal.

The rest of the advice has to do with condition and it turns out that with most iPhones investing a little money in repairs can actually bring the buy-back value quite a bit more – enough to pay for the investment and add some. This is particularly true for newer iPhone models.

Last, but not least, there is the matter of carrier unlock. If your unit is currently locked it makes quite a lot of financial sense to get in unlocked before letting it go.

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HTC working on an Android Wear watch called ‘halfbeak’

HTC is looking to catch the next big trend wave – VR headsets (now delayed), smart bands (cancelled maybe?) and now, perhaps, smartwatches. The company has been listed as an Android Wear partner since Day 1, but hasn’t produced anything yet.

According to some anonymous info, HTC is developing a smartwatch with a round 360x360px display. The watch is codenamed halfbeak. The company has an event on September 29, presumably for new flagships but we may get a watch too.

Even if HTC can move that fast it will still be behind others, which flooded IFA with watches. Also, keep in mind that this isn’t the first HTC smartwatch rumor and the previous one didn’t pan…

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A Samsung Exynos 8890 chip breezes through GeekBench inside a Lucky-LTE device

Samsung’s semiconductor division grew to the top of the Android realm over the course of only a few years, and there’s little doubt that the Exynos 7420 is the reigning performance champ. The company appears to be working to diversify its SoC range and a new model has appeared in GeekBench listing.

The spotted chipset is reported as “universal8890”, meaning it may be released as Exynos 8890, instead of the Exynos M1 designation that’s been mentioned. The SoC features an octa-core processor, clocked at 1.38GHz, but its Processor ID is none of the familiar ones. The ARM implementer 83 is neither the known Exynos 7420 (ARM implementer 65), nor the purported Snapdragon 820 (AMR implementer 81). That suggests we may very well be looking at Samsung’s own Mongoose cores here.

They’re scoring quite high, too, though not on par with the existing 7420, which is typically around the 5200 mark in the multi-core test. The low clock rate may be key in this respect, as 1.38GHz is significantly below the rumored 2.3GHz maximum.

The tested unit packs 4GB of RAM, though if it is a flagship chip indeed, we may see it coupled with 6GB, considering the direction the industry is headed. Another interesting point is that the chip is implemented inside a device, codenamed LUCKY-LTE. You could speculate that it goes to indicate Samsung finally adopting its own modem, instead of using a Qualcomm solution.

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Samsung Pay gets 25,000 new users daily

Samsung launched its Samsung Pay service in South Korea on August 20 and the number of subscribers is growing, fast. The EVP at Samsung Electronics says that on average there are 25,000 new registrations each day. Also, Pay now handles KRW 750 million ($630K) daily transaction volume.

“Nearly all current merchant locations” support Samsung Pay in South Korea, either over NFC or MST (Magnetic Secure Transmission). Some older payment terminals will need a firmware update to work with Pay though.

Samsung thinks Pay will attract users with notification of location-based coupons that will help them save money and making reward cards much easier to use. Merchants can use the location-based coupons for advertising and promotion.

The majority of Galaxy Note5 owners in SK have already used the service. Keep in mind that Samsung Pay is supported only on the Note5, Galaxy S6 edge+, Galaxy S6 and S6+ for now. They may be best-selling models, but Pay has a lot of room to grow as new models are added. KNOX support on the devices is key for security.

The service is currently in testing in the US and should launch on September 28, Spain and UK are also testing the service. Unsurprisingly, countries where credit card is common are the ones where interest in Pay is the strongest.

And it’s plastic cards the main competitor to Pay, not other mobile payment systems, says the Executive Vice President. That’s a clear jab at Apple Pay, which already operates in the US and the UK. One of the big planned upgrades for Samsung Pay is online payments, which Apple’s service does not support (and usually requires a plastic card at the moment).

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Xiaomi Mi 4c to launch on September 22

The Xiaomi Mi 4c may shed its unofficial status by the end of the month – the latest rumor is that the third Mi 4 version will be unveiled on September 22. The phone already passed through TENAA and benchmarks, we even saw its box.

It will feature a more powerful chipset than the Mi 4i – a Snapdragon 808, up from 615 – but the rest seems largely unchanged.

The camera setup will remain 13MP on the back and 5MP on the front though video capture resolution is uncertain. It could match the original Mi 4 at 2160p or stay at 1080p like the Mi 4i (the 615 chipset can’t do 2160p, but 808 can).

One relatively big change is the move to USB Type-C, which is slowly gaining popularity. The Xiaomi Mi 4c is will be a dual-SIM phone with LTE, no microSD slot, a 5″ 1080p screen an MIUI 7 on top of Android 5.1.

The expected price is CNY 1,300 (about $200) and China will get it first, rolling out to other regions where Xiaomi is active later…

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Apple iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus event – what to expect

If you are an Apple fan who can’t wait to get your hands on the next iPhone or are simply a devoted smartphone fan, then today is definitely a joyous occasion. Cupertino scheduled the grand event for today at 5PM GMT and the stars of the show will definitely be the new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus duo. In a welcome change of pace, Apple has promised a live stream freely accessible for everybody, not just Apple device owners. So, getting a live feed will hopefully be easier this time around and you can follow the announcements in real time.

iPhone 6s and 6s Plus

As for the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus – their names are in keeping with Apple tradition and signify that they should be upgraded versions of the existing 6 and 6 Plus duo, rather than bring a new design. This is generally the case with “s” iterations and it’s a good thing too as current accessories should be quite compatible with your shiny new iPhone. Be warned, though, quite a few rumors are suggesting that that both the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus will be slightly thicker than their predecessors and there are a few good reasons to believe so.

For one, it is almost certain that Apple has equipped its new smartphones with the Force Touch technology it introduced in its Watch and MacBook family. The extra layer of hardware does take up some space, but should also bring an array of exciting new gestures and features to the device.

Another possible culprit for the extra girth is the all new camera setup. The next iPhone generation will allegedly be getting a long-overdue camera upgrade, replacing the old 8MP main shooter with a 12MP one, which will also capture 4K videos. Sadly, not much else is knows about the camera in terms of special focus systems or optical image stabilization, which, if present, definitely take up more room as well.

The front camera might also be getting a significant bump. There is not much to go by, but an alleged front panel was recently leaked that had some extra space for a larger selfie shooter lens.

As for the rest of the specs, we can expect the same 4.7″ and 5.5″ display variants, but resolution upgrades are definitely not out of the question. The computing will come courtesy of a new A9 chip and there has been quite a controversy about the memory. What was initially considered to be 2GB of RAM was later disputed with claims of retaining the current amount of 1GB. We can’t really be sure which leak to trust and it could swing either way, but to be fair RAM has never been a major issue in the iOS realm.

Storage, on the other hand, is quite a different story, with a lot of current iPhone users finding the basic 16GB option as a little constraining. Sadly, sources currently claim the same storage options for the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus as well – 16GB, 64GB and 128GB. We are not sure how that is going to pan out if 4K video capture become a reality as well.

Last, but definitely not least, there is the question of availability and price. From what we have hears so far, it appears the two iPhones will go up for preorder on September 11 and should be hitting retail stores around September 18, which is more or less in tune with what we have seen in previous years. Pricing should also be quite comparable with the current generation, perhaps even unchanged, according to a leaked Dutch source.

iPad Pro

Apple will most likely unveil at least a few other things at today’s conference and one other device that has made a comeback to the rumor mill is the iPad Pro. The idea for a large 12.9-inch tablet is actually far from new and has been around since January 2014, but a few new renders and elevated interest on the matter have once again rekindled hopes that Apple is finally going to make the spacious tablet a reality.

As for specs of the iPad Pro, we don’t really have any substantial leaks to go by, but we definitely expect powerful hardware, perhaps an A9x chip, which would allow the device to run two iOS apps side by side.

Force Touch should also be part of the bundle, although there have also been some odd claims of a separate Force Touch stylus and even a second-screen Smart cover.

Next-gen Apple TV

As an extra treat, it appears that Apple might showcase yet another new piece of hardware at the venue – a new Apple TV. The device is said to be more-powerful then previous generation with a new remote…

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Samsung starts producing 6GB RAM chips for smartphones

With more and more smartphones now launching with 4GB of RAM, it’s time to look forward and catch a glimpse of the future. Thanks to Samsung, it’s now in sight, as the company has started mass producing the industry’s first 6GB mobile DRAM chips.

Based on the company’s 20-nanometer technology, the new high capacity mobile RAM consumes 20% less energy compared to the preceding 20-nanometer based 8Gb LPPDDR4. It’s also 30% faster reaching a read speed of 4.2Gbps.

Samsung says the new 12Gb mobile DRAM modules that form the 6GB package fit into the same space as the 3GB LPDDR4 packages, which is great news for phone manufacturers.

Samsung also expects that due to the exceptional benefits of its LPDDR4 mobile memory, application areas will expand beyond smartphones and tablets to include ultra-slim PCs, digital appliances and automotive devices, in the coming…

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Jawbone enters Indian market in partnership with Amazon

Jawbone has announced that it will be entering the Indian market with its range of fitness accessories. The company has tied up with Amazon to sell its products and is introducing the UP series of fitness trackers first.

You can now pre-order the Jawbone UP MOVE, the UP2, and the UP3 from Amazon for INR 4,999 ($75), INR 9,999 ($150), and INR 14,999 ($225), respectively.

All bands support activity tracking, step counting, calories burned, food logging, etc. with the built-in hardware and the app. The UP2 adds smart alarm, idle alert, and automatic sleep detection on top of the UP MOVE feature set, while the UP3 goes further and adds heart rate monitor and advanced sleep tracking. The UP MOVE does, however, show time, that the other two don’t and has a staggering 6 months of battery life. The UP2 and UP3, meanwhile, have 10 days and 7 days of battery life, respectively. All three are splash-proof and come in a variety of different…

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Amazon is now delivering food from local restaurants in Seattle

Amazon has announced the launch of a new service that allows its Prime Now customers to enjoy food delivery from local restaurants. The service is currently only available in select Seattle zip codes, although it will be expanded in the coming days.

The list of participating restaurants currently includes Cactus, Wild Ginger, Skillet, Marination Station, Re:public, Café Yumm!, Ten Mercer, and Mamnoon. Also, as of now, delivery is free on all restaurant orders.

“Prime members can now enjoy food from the Seattle restaurants they love without having to drive all over the city,” said Gus Lopez, general manager, Amazon Restaurants. “For many of these restaurants, this is the first time they are offering delivery, and we are delighted they have chosen to work with us.”

To use the service, all you have to do is to download the Prime Now app and enter their zip code where the service is available, following which you’ll be able to view participating restaurants, browse menus, place orders, as well as track the status of your delivery in real time. Order will be delivered within an hour or less, Amazon claims.

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Vodafone NL confirms ‘iPhone 6s’ name, everyone feigns surprise

In a reveal that will surprise absolutely no one, the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus names have been inadvertently confirmed by the Dutch Vodafone on the “New Phone Every Year” page.

The iPhone 6c was not mentioned, the hypothetical return to 4″ iPhone models. Now, the latest hearsay is that the 6c is unlikely anyway and this does little to change that.

The other interesting tidbit from this reveal is the capitalization of the “s” – Apple used a capital letter in the 3GS and 4S, but then switched to lowercase for the 5s. We’re not sure why someone cared enough to do that change, but either Apple is going back to uppercase or Vodafone misspelled the new models (the more likely option as “Iphone” isn’t correct either).

Source (in Dutch, now fixed) |…

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