Electronics to Get Thinner and More Flexible Thanks to Samsung’s Breakthrough

via AndroidHeadlines.com |

Chances are you’ve never heard of graphene, but you would definitely have heard of carbon. In seemingly unrelated news, we are very excited about Samsung’s breakthrough in graphene manufacturing. Before you think that we’ve gone bonkers, let’s bring both these statements into perspective. Graphene is a form of carbon – specifically speaking, it’s a crystalline allotrope of carbon – in which carbon atoms are densely packed in a hexagonal chain-like pattern. Graphene is similar to graphite in that it is a single-atom thick layer of graphite. The thing which excites scientists in that graphene has high durability – higher than steel even – and is highly conducive of electricity and heat while being highly flexible. In fact, graphene beats silicon hands down on conductivity being a hundred times more conductive than silicon. For the uninitiated, our entire electronics revolution is dependent solely on silicon chips for conduction purposes. Graphene’s durability, conductivity and flexibility make it a unique material for flexible displays, wearable devices and electronics in general. In fact, if the material gains wide-spread usage, we could even see mobile phones which could be rolled up in any which way, and TVs which could be as thin as paper. But we’re overshooting ourselves. Graphene was originally discovered in 2004 and in almost the last 10 years the material could not be brought into commercial manufacturing practices. One major factor was that graphene is most conducive when it is synthesized with a single crystal layer, which would then get expanded to a large area resulting in a single wafer of graphene which would be almost transparent and highly conducive. However, researchers found that if graphene was produced using the easier ‘multi-crystal’ method of synthesis (multiple crystals being used to synthesize a large are graphene wafer), the conductivity of the formed crystal was drastically reduced, which would not be commercially viable. Samsung Electronic’s subsidiary – the Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology in partnership with Sungkyunkwan University have announced a breakthrough in graphene manufacturing technology wherein a single-crystal wafer scale graphene can be manufactured in a commercially viable manner. Nokia’s gets $1.36 billion for research in graphene manufacturing. “This is one of the most significant breakthroughs in graphene research in history,” said the laboratory leaders at SAIT’s Lab. “We expect this discovery to accelerate the commercialization of graphene, which could unlock the next era of consumer electronic technology.” So who wants a mobile phone, which can also double as a smartwatch or bracelet?

The post Electronics to Get Thinner and More Flexible Thanks to Samsung’s Breakthrough appeared first on AndroidHeadlines.com |.

http://bit.ly/1fSaYNl

Incipio Watson Case for the HTC One M8 Review

via IFTTT

HTC One M8 Unboxing and First Impressions

via AndroidHeadlines.com |

Today, Fedex brought me a package which was the HTC One M8. It’s not the Verizon variant either, it’s the T-Mobile version, which isn’t even released yet. So I figured I should do an unboxing video – since so many of you always ask for them – and some first impressions of the device. I also wanted to take some time and talk about the review. With the HTC One M8 we are breaking the review down into two parts. Since Sense 6 is heading to last year’s One family, we are doing a review on the HTC One M8, which Tom is doing, and then one for Sense 6, which I’m doing. So that way those with last year’s HTC One, One Mini or One Max can know what to expect with the update to Sense 6 which should be coming soon.

So far, I’m very impressed with the HTC One M8. Of course, I haven’t had enough time to really go over the camera on the HTC One M8, but we’ll have plenty of posts for it, and comparing it to other devices we have on hand. So be sure to keep it locked to Androidheadlines.com. The HTC One M8 is a beautifully looking device, and it’s slightly larger than last year’s One, but I think it’s still a good size. Even with the Boomsound speakers. Don’t even get me started on those. I’m using those speakers right now to play Google Play Music, and I’ve fallen in love again with their front-facing speakers.

As far as first impressions go, they are all positive. Later on today and this week we’ll do a comparison between the camera on the One M8 and the G2 so we can see just how good it is. So look forward to that. We’re going to have a ton of HTC One M8 content. Many of you come to us for news, but we don’t just do news. We also do reviews and you can think of us as a reference desk. We want to be sure that everyone is using all the features of the HTC One M8 as it’s a great device and needs to be used to its full potential. As always, if you have questions about the device, let us know in the comments below.

Unboxing video:

Click here to view the embedded video.

The post HTC One M8 Unboxing and First Impressions appeared first on AndroidHeadlines.com |.

http://bit.ly/1jaHkqD

Samsung Gear Fit, Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo Available for Pre-Order on Amazon

via AndroidHeadlines.com |

Samsung now has their new wearables available on Amazon for pre-order, with a slated arrival date of April 11th. This is for the Gear Fit, Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo. The Gear Fit is only available in Black while the Gear 2 Neo and Gear 2 are available in multiple colors. The Gear Fit and Gear 2 Neo are going for $199 while the Gear 2 is going for $299 – basically the same price as the Galaxy Gear last fall.

The Gear Fit, Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo are only supported by Samsung devices, as expected. At launch these three wearables are compatible with the Samsung Galaxy S5, S4, S3, Galaxy Note 3, Galaxy Note 2, Galaxy Mega 5.8 and Galaxy Mega 6.3. We’ll probably see more Samsung devices getting their update to support the Gear family of wearables soon as well. Technically they need Android 4.3 and above, which brings Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy to the device so that the Gear Fit, Gear 2 or Gear 2 Neo can connect via Bluetooth and not use a ton of battery.

For those of you interested, we have the links to buy all three of these wearables down below. I am very interested in the Gear Fit, but unfortunately I don’t own a Samsung device, so I won’t be buying one – otherwise that’d be a pretty expensive wearable. How many of our readers are planning on picking up the Gear Fit, Gear 2, or the Gear 2 Neo? Let us know in the comments below.

Samsung Gear Fit Fitness Tracker – Black

Samsung Gear 2 Neo Smartwatch – Black

Samsung Gear 2 Smartwatch – Silver/Black

The post Samsung Gear Fit, Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo Available for Pre-Order on Amazon appeared first on AndroidHeadlines.com |.

http://bit.ly/1hJ3mkk

Lenovo buying 3,800 3G and LTE Patents from NEC

via AndroidHeadlines.com |

In a press release today, Lenovo announced that they are buying a ton of patents from NEC. These all have to do with 3G and LTE technologies. This will drastically improve their portfolio, especially since they aren’t getting the Motorola patents with the deal with Google. Google has decided to keep the patents and use them for Android as a whole, which might be a bit better than selling them off to Lenovo. The Chinese OEM stated that this deal will give them the intellectual property needed as they continue to expand.

For those that hadn’t heard, Lenovo bought Motorola earlier this year. Now the deal isn’t final just yet, but it shouldn’t be much longer until it is. Lenovo bought Motorola to help boost their mobile division, which is still pretty new to the game. While Motorola has been making phones since the beginning. Literally. Motorola made the very first cell phone. With the Motorola purchase, Lenovo can really make a push into the US, since Motorola has all these great carrier relationships here, and a huge one with the largest carrier in the US, Verizon Wireless. That’s going to be a big deal for Lenovo going forward, I think. Although we are still waiting on that deal to go through, and we have no idea what Lenovo really plans to do with Motorola. We’ve heard talk of Motorola by Lenovo branding, but that’s just talk at this point.

Buying up nearly four-thousand patents though is a pretty big deal, especially since they are all smartphone patents. For those that are interested, the entire press release from Lenovo is down below:

Lenovo to buy mobile patents from NEC Corporation

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC – April 4, 2014: Lenovo (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY) announced that it has purchased a portfolio of patents from NEC Corporation (Tokyo: 6701) (OTC US: NIPNF).

The portfolio consists of more than 3,800 patent families filed in numerous countries around the world. The portfolio includes standard essential patents for 3G and LTE mobile technologies as well as patents that cover a broad range of features and technologies used in many of today’s most advanced mobile products such as smartphones.

“A strong patent portfolio is a key element for success in the smartphone business. This investment strengthens Lenovo’s existing intellectual property portfolio,” said Ira Blumberg, vice president of Intellectual Property, Lenovo. “As Lenovo expands its mobile PC Plus business into new markets, this investment shows it is committed to having the IP we need for global success.”

Lenovo will continue to acquire additional intellectual property assets both through its own innovation and engineering, as well as from external sources to support its rapidly expanding PC Plus business that includes mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets.

The post Lenovo buying 3,800 3G and LTE Patents from NEC appeared first on AndroidHeadlines.com |.

http://bit.ly/1q6cmTm

Android How To: Add Android Headlines to Blinkfeed

via AndroidHeadlines.com |

For those of you with the HTC One M8, you should be using Blinkfeed, it’s one of my favorite features of the device. I even loved Blinkfeed on the HTC One M7 last year, although it’s been drastically improved since it debuted on the HTC One last year. You can add all kinds of services like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Google+ and more. You can also add some of your favorite subjects and sites RSS feeds into Blinkfeed. So what we are going to show you today is how to add Android Headlines to Blinkfeed. It’s actually quite easy to do.

Simply unlock your HTC One M8, and go onto the Blinkfeed page. Then tap on the three lines in the corner, or swipe over to open up the slide-out menu. In the “Search for Content” box, type in either “Android” or “Android Headlines” and you should see Android Headlines listed there. Just tap on the icon to the right, which looks like a newspaper with a plus sign.

It’s literally just that easy. Blinkfeed is built by Mobiles Republic who is also responsible for Appy Geek, which is what everyone else is using for news these days. With Blinkfeed you can now keep up to date with Android Headlines – since we do post a lot of content each day. This is just the start of all our HTC One M8 content, so be sure you stay tuned to Android Headlines for everything HTC One M8. And don’t worry, those that love the Galaxy S5, we’ll be covering that when it comes out in about a week. And I’m sure all of you will get tired of all this stuff.

The post Android How To: Add Android Headlines to Blinkfeed appeared first on AndroidHeadlines.com |.

http://bit.ly/1q64j8U

iFixit Tears Down the Amazon Fire TV

via AndroidHeadlines.com |

This week, Amazon finally made their Fire TV official, after many months of rumors, speculation and even some leaks. It’s a set-top box that is competing with the Roku and the Apple TV, I’m not so sure about it competing with Chromecast given the different functionality, but it’s definitely there. The Fire TV is also pretty beastly when it comes to specs, especially compared to its competition. While the Roku, Apple TV and Chromecast all have around 512MB of RAM, the Fire TV actually has 2GB of RAM, which is crazy.

iFixit tore down Amazon’s new set-top box this week – which we’ve been waiting for since they tear down everything after it gets announced – and the Fire TV received a repairability score of 6/10. It appears that the set-top box comes apart pretty easily. Which is great to know, if for some reason you need to fix something, or upgrade it, etc. There’s not much inside that we didn’t already know about. But you can see the Qualcomm quad-core 1.7GHz processor and the 2GB of RAM from Samsung. There’s also a pretty hefty heatsink inside the Fire TV, which is needed since the Fire TV can put out a lot of heat from running different apps and such.

It’s always interesting to see these tear downs from iFixit, especially for devices that we don’t know the specs of, but Amazon was pretty open about the Fire TV specs since it is a pretty high-end device. The Fire TV is already available through Amazon, and will likely hit other retailers soon – probably the same retailers that sell the Kindle Fire line of tablets. The Fire TV seems to be a big hit for Amazon, even at $99. It also does gaming pretty well, which is interesting for a set-top box. The Roku does gaming, but nothing like what the Fire TV does.

The post iFixit Tears Down the Amazon Fire TV appeared first on AndroidHeadlines.com |.

http://bit.ly/1hIKwtR