Tom’s Hardware was invited to Qualcomm headquarters where they got to learn about and test the Snapdragon 820 SoC. The AndEBenchPro Memory Bandwidth test shows the 820 smoking the Exynos 7420, while tests like AndEBenchPro Memory Latency showed the 820 simply wasn’t able to keep up. The 820 is said to be more battery efficient than the 7420 though, and this balance between raw performance and efficiency is where Qualcomm shines.
from xda-developers » xda-developers | Preliminary Snapdragon 820 Benchmarks Compared to the Exynos 7420 http://ift.tt/1OUB7QV
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Microsoft has released a fork of its own Windows Live Writer, which is a blogging tool released in 2006. It wasn’t actively developed, so the Microsoft volunteers choose to open-source it. Developers can now work on the application or even build it on their own as it’s pushed to GitHub.
from xda-developers » xda-developers | Preliminary Snapdragon 820 Benchmarks Compared to the Exynos 7420 http://ift.tt/1SR4anE
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Google is rolling out a new update to the Google Wallet application that lets you send money to anyone in your contacts list. So even if you don’t have someone’s email address, simply tap on their contact and they will receive a text message. This text message includes a secure link where they can enter their debit card so the funds can be deposited.
from xda-developers » xda-developers | Preliminary Snapdragon 820 Benchmarks Compared to the Exynos 7420 http://ift.tt/1SR47YU
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When Samsung Pay was introduced, we were told that support for gift cards would be coming soon. That time is now as a new update to the Samsung Pay application brings an updated UI as well as the ability to not only store your gift cards, but buy new gift cards too.
from xda-developers » xda-developers | You Can Now Store and Buy Gift Cards in Samsung Pay http://ift.tt/1IXXPkW
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Google is bringing two highly requested features to Chromecast Audio in its latest update. The first thing announced is support for Hi-Res audio that includes support of up to 96KHz/24bit lossless audio playback. The second new feature is the ability to create a group multiple Chromecast Audio devices from within the Chromecast app and then stream audio to all of them at the same time.
from xda-developers » xda-developers | You Can Now Store and Buy Gift Cards in Samsung Pay http://ift.tt/1OUbpMk
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Every Samsung Galaxy S’ premiere is a milestone to every Android user. A smartphone from this series is widely regarded as one of the best Android device available around. We don’t have to mention that Samsung sells millions of units yearly, everyone knows.
A next bad boy, the Samsung Galaxy S7, is expected to be announced not at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, but somewhere in January, so in just few weeks! The better news is that there are some leaks already.
Some high-quality renders of the Korean smartphone have been captured by @OnLeaks exclusively for uSwitch portal. The device shown on the renders is a Samsung Galaxy S7 Plus, which should be a more powerful sibling of the standard SGS7. @OnLeaks, also known as Steve Hemmerstoffer, claims that the source is reliable. Renders are based on detailed blueprints that are supplied to third-party accessory manufacturers ahead of a phone’s launch. The past has also shown that these leaks are often correct.
What do we know so far?
According to uSwitch, the device will be quite big. It’s expected to be 163.4 mm high, 82 mm long and 7.82 mm thick. A standard Galaxy S7 should be 5.2-inch big, while the Plus model should ship with a rumored 6-inch 4K Ultra HD display which is four times sharper than standard Full HD. It’s a pretty slim construction for such a powerful device. The new Korean flagship will also feature a well rounded metal frame, same as its predecessor.
Surprisingly, the superphone will not feature a USB Type-C port. It’s a quite shocking news, as many of the modern devices have adopted this port. A standard microUSB is a big drawback and hopefully Samsung will do something about it. Faster data transfer and especially charging are features that users have been craving for since the SGS6 premiere.
A closer look at the details shows that the physical home button is now rectangular and slightly wider and thinner. It’s size is 18mm x 5 mm now.
Other components have been relocated too. A front facing camera now sits right next to the top-right corner of the phone. The SIM card slot is on the same side as in SGS6, but a little further down. If you were hoping to see a microSD card slot, we have some bad news – according to these leaks, you’ll have to stick with the internal storage. Samsung decided to use the cloud-based storage services quite intensively.
This device might feature a pressure-sensitive screen similar to Apple’s 3D Touch. It’s not a big surprise, as both companies are often competing with each other. The technology recognizes how hard the screen is pressed. This can lead to nifty features; for example, if an app icon is pressed gently, the phone will simply open the app. If the user presses the screen harder, a pop-up menu with shortcuts to key features could appear.
From XDA’s perspective, there are some good news, as it’s said that Samsung is reportedly dropping Exynos in favor of Qualcomm on at least some S7 variants. This means that SGS7 should have much better support in terms of custom ROMs and kernels. We wish developers all the best!
Keep in mind that these might not be final designs, nor absolutely truthful leaks (especially the USB Type C part), but given the latest leak records of 2015, these could very well be genuine. As with all leaks, take them with a grain of salt for now. One thing is certain – the Samsung Galaxy S7 will be an expensive device. No price tag is known yet, but we should expect a similar price to that of the Samsung Galaxy S6 at launch.
What do you think about the new Galaxy phone? Do you like its design? Let us know in the comments!
from xda-developers » xda-developers | Galaxy S7 Plus Renders Surface, Show no MicroSD Nor USB Type-C Port http://ift.tt/1mcT16k
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If you are familiar with the Linux ecosystem, you certainly heard about Noveau, which is an open source alternative to NVIDIA proprietary driver. NVIDIA’s Alexandre Courbot has announced that the Pixel C tablet is using a big portions of the Noveau in its kernel. It’s good to see such a big company leaning towards open source.
from xda-developers » xda-developers | Google’s Pixel C Android Tablet Uses The Nouveau Kernel Driver http://ift.tt/1Ne2jHT
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According to uSwitch, the device will be quite big. It’s expected to be 163.4 mm high, 82 mm long and 7.82 mm thick. A standard Galaxy S7 should be 5.2-inch big, while the Plus model should ship with a rumored 6-inch 4K Ultra HD display which is four times sharper than standard Full HD. It’s a pretty slim construction for such a powerful device. The new Korean flagship will also feature a well rounded metal frame, same as its predecessor.
