Samsung Galaxy Note 5 & S6 Edge+ Leak in All Their Glory

As we build up for the second half of 2015, we get to see more and more of the surprises that OEM’s have in store for their customers, courtesy of both professional and amateur leakers who get their hands on unreleased test devices.

The latest device, or devices in this case, come from the stables of Samsung, who is riding high after the success of its Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge lineup. Praised highly for their design, it should come as no surprise that Samsung is going to stick with what worked magic on the market.

First up, the Galaxy S6 Edge+ gets photographed. If you have seen a Galaxy S6 Edge, you will instantly recognize the S6 Edge+.

 

While the images are low quality, they give us a good idea that nothing much would be changing as far the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Plus is concerned. The “Plus” is simply an enlarged version of the S6 Edge, design wise, featuring the same curved display and a fingerprint scanner home button on the front. Even the position of the front sensors and camera remain unchanged, so it would be a safe guess that the back of the device will also follow along identically on the lines of the Galaxy S6 Edge.

The leaked images also mention that the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus will bear the model number SM-G928A and will come with atleast Android 5.1.1 out of the box.

Moving on to the Galaxy Note 5, the front of the device features very thin side bezels, and a slightly larger fingerprint scanner than what was present on the Galaxy Note 4. The front sensors have also been repositioned, with the front camera moving away from the corner of the device, towards the center.

The interesting part of the Galaxy Note 5 is the back panel as well as the frame of the device, as it is still guesswork on what path Samsung chooses to embark upon for its Note lineup. Unfortunately, these and the S Pen design were not included in the leak. The images of the leak were of rather low quality too, leaving little scope of further speculation based on them, albeit the Note 5 is rumored to be more closer to the S6 in terms of its design rather than the Note 4.

Nonetheless, we can cross our fingers on getting more clearer photos of actual demo units of these devices before their official launch. Let us know your thoughts on these images in the comments below!

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LG Thinks Flexible Displays Are the Future, Do You?

LG enjoyed moderate success with its flexible 6-inch G Flex, enough to invest in this year’s successor, the G Flex 2. This confidence has been reflected in the company’s insistence that flexible smartphones will make up 40% of the market share in 2018, and now more firmly in its newly announced flexible display factory.

Despite the phone itself initially suffering from issues with performance due to poorly optimized software and its now infamous processor, the design principles of the Flex 2 are logical and have some distinct advantages. These include ergonomic improvements like making the top of a large display slightly easier to reach and having the phone fit the face and hand more naturally, as well as physical gains in the durability of the screen and handset as a whole (see The State of Smartphone Design for more details). As much as curved screens are becoming more popular however, fully flexible devices are yet to fully hit the mainstream.

LG has made its intentions clear in this respect; they still agree with their previous projections, and have put 1.05 trillion Won ($907 million) towards the construction of a new plant dedicated to the production of flexible displays. This outlay is set to begin in the third quarter of this year, for over two years, and is specifically funded by LG’s ‘LG Display’ off-shoot, who are one of the world’s top two screen manufacturers along with Samsung Display Co. Of course there is more to a flexible phone than the display, like ensuring circuit boards and batteries have room to move over one another, but considering that the average user’s attention is almost wholly focussed on the screen, poor quality in this department can affect the experience hugely and cripple a device’s chance at success.

It looks as if this investment is also geared in the direction of the introduction of foldable (or rollable) displays which is good for driving innovation within the industry as a whole, especially considering that LG Display provides hardware for other OEMS. However, an important part of owning a dedicated production line for flexible displays is increasing the yield and quality of said components. This could contribute greatly to the uptake of this kind of device, as consumers of previous examples have experienced issues in this area, with threads here at XDA dedicated to the evidence. Ultimately though, this move from LG should inspire confidence amongst fans of the form factor, and leaves us hopeful for what we’ll see over the coming years from the South Korean giant.

Do you think flexible displays are the future of the mobile world? Let us know in the comments below.

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LINE Lite

“Lite” versions of apps are the next big thing, as Line joins the growing list of popular apps that have a Lite version. Much like Facebook Lite, Line Lite features a lightweight app with a small memory and data footprint while still retaining core functionality, and is aimed at users in developing countries.

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Kickstarter Gives KickMaterial The Boot

Remember KickMaterial, the android app that promised to bring Material Design to Kickstarter made by Grzegorz Oksiuta in collaboration with Outline? After contacting the developer on behalf of one of our members for a progress update it was revealed that KickStarter had put an end to all hopes of a release.

There was an issue back in May causing significant delay to the app’s release relating to the publishing of materials with trademarked names and images which was handled with the removal of all offending material. It has since become apparent that KickStarter did not stop there and has since quashed all hopes of the app being released by not allowing the use of the API, an obviously integral part of the app. Not wanting trouble over the app, the developers have since halted development and have refocussed their efforts elsewhere.

“To be honest, we could release it even tomorrow. Unfortunately folks from Kickstarter wrote to us and said that we cannot do this and now we actually don’t know what to do … … They were very clear that we cannot publish”

This is not the first time the owner of an API has caused the downfall of apps; in 2013 changes to Twitter’s API resulted in the popular apps TweetDeck and SilverBird being shut down for good, likewise Netflix closed their API last year resulting in several apps disappearing. It is certainly not the last time a developer’s hard work will go unrewarded or the last time we hear of changes to an API affecting their work. Many developers understandably believe that this type of behaviour damages innovation and is usually the direct result of a desire for increased monetization. In an article written in 2012 by Nova Spivack, he states that their are many options companies can choose from when adjusting their APIs that will in turn increase revenue. Whilst running the figures on how economically beneficial an open API can be to a company, giving several different methods they could benefit financially from he concludes his article with:

 “If I was a board member, or an investor, I would want the company to run the numbers and be logical too. I have yet to hear from anyone any cogent argument that can convince me that closing the APIs makes more money than keeping them open in the scenarios above. Instead of all the hype and fury, run the numbers. Then let’s discuss it rationally.”

At the current time we can only presume that this is likely the work of an over zealous legal department. Unfortunately KickStarter could not be reached for comment, however as always we will continue to keep you updated as the story unfolds.

The original app concept can be found over on Medium,
Our previous coverage can be read can be read here.

Should KickStarter allow the app? Leave a comment below!

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Moto G 2015 Moto Maker Options Leaked

Redditor Coconuttery found some interesting info while checking the HTML source of the MotoMaker page. The Moto G 2015 is likely to come with 8GB internal storage and 1GB RAM as a variant, with an upgraded 16GB internal and 2GB RAM variant possible as well. The leak also pictures the various other Moto Maker options.

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Install HTC Sense Apps on Any Phone or ROM

Created by XDA Senior Member Woalk and XDA Recognized Developer digitalhigh, Sensify Xposed module allows you to install, use and integrate HTC Sense apps on any ROM/device. The module requires Android 5.0+ and the correct version of Xposed framework installed, and even allows usage of features like HTC Themes.

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FOSSCON 2015 Back In City of Brotherly Love

XDA has long been a proponent of FOSS – it’s just who we are. We love to highlight applications, projects, services, and even conferences which embrace FOSS principles. FOSSCON 2015, a FREE conference, will be held in Philadelphia, PA on August 22, 2015.

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