Unannounced Acer A1-840 Tablet Specs Show Up On Benchmark Website

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We commonly see hints about new unannounced devices from places like benchmark websites, as images can leak showing stats or specs of the devices that went through recent benchmark tests. That is what were seeing here today with an apparent new Acer tablet that has yet to be announced by the company. The most notable thing to mention is that the tablet seems to be powered by an Intel Atom CPU with Intel BayTrail HD GPU. The processor according to the benchmark listing shows that it’s an 1,862 MHz quad-core CPU. We can also tell the screen size which seems to be 8-inches with a display resolution of 1,280 x 800.

Storage wise there’s only 10GB to play with(we’ll go ahead and assume that 10GB is what will actually be available for use) and the version of Android that looks to be running on this tablet is Android 4.4.2 Kit Kat which is the newest build version of the software to date. The tablet in question is referred to as the Acer A1-840 on the listing over at GFXbench, which from the looks of the hardware so far will probably end up being a low cost device, we would suspect under $200. Further information on the listing tells us that the tablets display will support at least 5 finger gesture multi-touch, and that it comes equipped with a 4.7MP rear facing camera that also shoots video in FHD with a resolution of 1,920 x 1,080, and of course there’s a 2MP camera on the front. On the memory side of things it looks like the A1-840 will come with near 1GB of RAM to run things. That amount seems to have become fairly standard in lower cost devices.(Remember when it was great to have 512MB?)

You can expect to get use out of Bluetooth, WiFi, and GPS from the Acer A1-840 tablet but there apparently will be no NFC support here. So far we don’t have any information telling us when we can expect to see these tablets hit store shelves or online retailers, or where they’ll be available and how much they’ll cost. For now we’ll just have to stick with data about the hardware specs.

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Alleged Leaked Screenshot Of The LG G3 Homescreen Shows New UI Design Aspects

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LG has done a pretty good job compared to its competitors when it comes to keeping the lid on images, videos, or any other kind of leak, on their upcoming LG G3 smartphone that is due to launch sometime this year. That doesn’t mean that the occasional leak or screenshot hasn’t popped up from time to time. Today we’ve just come across a screenshot that is allegedly from the LG G3 and it serves as a good reference that it is beginning to fall in line with the new look of Android. Things look a lot more flat than on previous devices which isn’t actually a bad thing. The design of the new UI, if it’s in fact from the LG G3 looks great and we can’t wait to see more.

As you can see from the image the home screen icons look more flat instead of having a pop up 3D visual appearance, and widgets look to definitely be taking on the same design. As the LG G3 is slated to be released running Android Kit Kat, we can also see that there is a presence of the transparent status and navigation bars on the top and bottom of the screen as well. The G3 is rumored to be coming with a 5.5-inch quad HD display and potentially carry a 13MP camera sensor with OIS. Last years LG G2 came with a 13MP camera, but the screen size was only 5.2-inches so perhaps LG will enlarge the display a little bit this year. The G2 also had OIS in its camera, so if they don’t have OIS with the G3 it would just seem a little odd.

We might expect to LG follow in the footsteps of Samsung and HTC and provide some protection from the elements with this new flagship device, and we may or may not see an octa-core processor inside. As per all other kit kat devices, you can see that the screenshot shows the white themed icons up in the status bar. We wouldn’t expect anything less. While the overall look and feel so far seems to be more in line with the theme of kit kat as a whole, we want to see everything. The app drawers, the settings menus, the app UIs themselves, everything. While we might not get to see any more screenshots or leaks showing off more looks, we’ll keep our fingers crossed that at least one slips by the folks over at LG.

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30+ Tips and Tricks for the HTC One (M8)

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Chat Feature Within Facebook Will Be Discontinued In Favor Of Standalone Messenger App

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If you’re like me and you used Facebook’s chat feature only because you could use it from within Facebook itself, it might be time to look at potential alternatives to get a hold of those who you you kept in touch with through that particular avenue. Facebook is reportedly dumping the Chat feature within its app altogether, in effect forcing those who want to you Facebook chat to download and install the standalone Facebook Messenger app. This will apparently be non platform specific as it seems to be happening to both iOS and Android versions of the Facebook app. What’s the reason for the change?

According to Mark Zuckerberg, it’s to give users a more dedicated experience when wanting to chat with friends and family using Facebook’s messaging services. In the current state where chat is allowed through the Facebook app itself, Zuckerberg and the team at Facebook feel that having two separate ways to do the same thing has created a sort friction between message replies. There could be other reasons besides the main one listed but a lower overall number of users participating in messaging or chat through the actual Facebook app as opposed to Messenger seems like a fairly good reason to dump the chat feature. There wasn’t any mention of actual numbers when it comes to users for each side of the chat feature, but it’s obvious that Facebook sees the lower usage within Facebook and has decided that it’s redundant to have multiple apps that offer the same functionality.

Whether you use either/or, we have to look at this from both sides. While we’re not personally keen on being directed to use a separate app for a feature that was already available, if less people really are using chat within Facebook and user numbers continue to grow for Messenger, there really isn’t a point to having both. For now, you will be able to continue using chat within the Facebook app until the complete shutdown and removal of the feature takes place, which is scheduled to be in a couple weeks from now. Upon that time there will most likely be a Facebook update that will see the feature taken out of the app, and users will be re-directed to Messenger to get their chat fix.

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Rumor: Android 4.4.3 Updates To Start Reaching User Devices By May

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It looks like the public release of Android 4.4.3 could be due to start hitting devices by May. A rumor floating around suggests that the software build is supposed to start reaching users in the next few weeks. While this is slated to be mostly or completely about bug fixes and improvements, any update that can better the experience of the platform even in minor ways is something to look forward to. According to the people that are familiar with the information on the release of the next software build update, Google has started testing the software around the company to people that aren’t part of the core Android team. Internal testing is a step towards getting it on our own phones and tablets, so be on the lookout for this as we move closer towards the summer and the annual Google Developers Conference. By the sounds of things, we’ll be seeing this software update a good while before Google I/O begins.

While only a small number of people within Google besides the Android members have started to test out the builds to make sure things are going smoothly, that number is sure to grow as days continue to pass and it won’t be long before we’re installing the update ourselves. As you might have expected, those testing the new update are using a handful of different devices, but they’re all part of the Nexus family, which means the update right now is only being tested on both models of the Nexus 7, the Nexus 4, Nexus 5, and of course the Nexus 10. Testing on other devices that aren’t Nexus models will start sometime in the near future it looks like, which also most likely means that software update will hit public non-Nexus devices at a later date as well.

Although it will still be a little while before we start to see 4.4.3 hit status bars around the country, this gets us amped up in preparation for having a more stable and secure running device. Sadly like we stated before there isn’t supposed to be any major changes to the OS this time around, but that will give us something to look forward to for an even newer software build down the line, with whatever the next version of Android turns out to be.

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Rumor: Parking Location Reminder Cards Might Become Part Of Google Now

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In the last week we saw a cool new app and device combo be made compatible with Android called Automatic, which is a driving assistant app of sorts that syncs with a little device you plug into your cars data port called Automatic link, to give you relevant information about your driving habits and help you become a better driver. The app and dongle provided another useful feature though that doesn’t necessarily make you a better driver, but it is pretty cool. It helps you remember where you parked by using the Automatic link to record your location when you turn off and exit your car, which then syncs the data to the app on your phone. Everyone could use this right? Google seems to think so, which is why we were excited to learn about a rumor that Google Now might soon be able to provide users with this exact functionality.

Google Now already makes note of your location throughout the day for travel tips and relevant information about routes, so we could assume that utilizing that same procedure or similar process, Google Now could tell us when we parked. There would likely be more to it than that, but you get the idea. The information comes to light by way of a series of code strings that seems to have new code within them which isn’t found in the original code for Google Now’s apk file. The rumor also suggests that Google Now would act much like the Automatic link and record when you get out of your vehicle, and then present you with a Google Now card that not only has your estimated parking location, but the time you parked and, if Google’s prediction on where you parked is incorrect you could presumably tap an option that would allow you to relay that. If Google Now does get your parking location wrong it’s unclear how that would be corrected but we would imagine Google would have something up their sleeves.

Many of us already use Google Now for many things, and if you’re like me and frequently make trips into the city then this would become extremely useful to have on hand. There are already apps in the Play Store that provide users with this feature, so Google should be able to get something like this working from their end. As soon as we know more about the validity of this, we’ll be sure to update you.

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Motorola Looking Into Offering Credit Members Various Rewards Like Free Devices

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If you wanted a reason to join up with Motorola’s Credit program, how about a revamped set of rewards packages that you could turn around and use for things you want like discounts and event invitations? Apparently Motorola is beginning to look into offering all kinds of goodies to those who are members of their Motorola Credit accounts. The idea is that Motorola would be able to offer those who are members, certain benefits packages that include all kinds of rewards for different things. The rewards programs could include things like event invitations and free phones, discounts on Motorola products and even gift cards. That’s not all though as it look like Moto could be planning to offer up other rewards through the program as well.

The information comes from current Motorola Credit Program members that started receiving surveys from Motorola where the new rewards and benefits details were outlined. The surveys began getting passed out this week to members so if you haven’t seen one show up in your inbox just yet keep checking as it may have just not hit your account. There are presumably two types of new programs that could stem from the information given to Motorola from these survey answers. One that is referred to as the Rewards Program, and the other being referred to as the Elite Benefits Package. Sounds swanky doesn’t it? The Rewards Program would end up being a free service that you could choose to opt into at no additional cost, while the Elite Benefits Package would be something that had a members fee associated with it on say like a monthly basis.

While the rewards program would seem to possibly offer smaller things like gift cards, discounts on products and more, the paid benefits package would potentially end up granting members things like free devices and possibly even invitations to Motorola events. The survey that is being sent out to current Motorola Credit members is aiming to see what people would be interested in most when it comes to receiving rewards, so it’s highly likely Motorola will end up deciding on what to offer based off of how current members respond.

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