Meizu MX2 images leak ahead of official announcement

Meizu is all set to announce the successor to the Meizu MX later this month but before we get the official announcement, a couple of hands-on images of the phone have been leaked.

The new phone ditches the iPhone-like design to a, well, less iPhone-like design. Gone are the physical controls below the display, which have been replaced by the now standard on-screen Android navigation controls.

The display aspect ratio is also visibly different. Meizu stuck with the 3:2 960 x 640 resolution (that Apple uses for the iPhone) for their past two models and it has now been chucked in favor of what looks like 1280 x 768.

The phone supposedly runs on a quad-core processor and will have Meizu's Flyme skin on top of Android (hopefully Jelly Bean).

The device will officially be announced in China on November 27.

Source

Source : http://www.gsmarena.com/meizu_mx2_images_leak_ahead_of_official_announcement-news-5087.php

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Want to feed your pet using your smartphone? Try Pintofeed

Ideal for pet owners with extremely busy lifestyles, the Pintofeed feeder will automatically dispense food at home with a quick tap on your smartphone.

With approximately twenty percent of the funding goal already raised, this pet-friendly Indiegogo project allows iPhone owners to feed their pets without having to return home. Called the Pintofeed, this pet feeder connects to a home’s wireless network and the homeowner can connect to the Pintofeed food dispenser through a mobile application. If a pet owner has to work late at the office or is out of town on vacation, they can open up the application and tap a single button to feed their pet. At this point, the Pintofeed dispenses a half-cup portion of the pet’s food and sends a notification message back to the pet owner stating that their pet has been fed.

In addition, feedings can be automated with the Pintofeed. Similar to the Nest learning thermostat, the Pintofeed can learn about your pet’s typical feeding times and automatically create a schedule to dispense food. Through the application, the pet owner can monitor their pet’s food intake and check out nutritional habits. Notifications offer data such as the start time of the feeding, the portion of food dispensed and the portion of food that was eaten by the pet. 

The Pintofeed application also allows a user to control more than one Pintofeed from the app. This would be ideal for families with multiple pets that have their own feeders. In addition, multiple members of a household can use the application to control a single Pintofeed. With all members of the family checking to make sure their pet has been fed, the likelihood of missing a feeding would be significantly reduced.

Built for both large and small animals, the Pintofeed comes with both a five-pound and ten-pound food repository. The clear repository is also sealed in order to keep the food as fresh as possible. In addition, the repository is dishwasher safe when it comes time to clean the Pintofeed.

The team behind Pintofeed also takes any type of hardware malfunction or food jamming issue very seriously. If the unit happens to fail or gets jammed with food during a scheduled feeding, the Pintofeed immediately sends notifications to the pet owner in the form of a text message, email message, Facebook message or Twitter message.

By alerting the pet owner immediately, they can return home to feed their pet in a timely fashion. In addition, the Pintofeed will attempt to dislodge any jammed food by putting the “motor into a low frequency vibrating mode,” ideally fixing the problem without user intervention. 

Regarding the design when it comes to overactive pets, the Pintofeed was built with a low center of gravity in an attempt to dissuade pets from tipping it over. Even if the Pintofeed was tipped over, the repository is being held in place by magnets and requires a pulling action to be removed. The Pintofeed was also designed with as many flat surfaces as possible to reduce the likelihood of a pet chewing on the feeder.

With 29 days left in the Indiegogo project, the creators of Pintofeed are seeking $50,000 to begin mass production of the smart pet feeder. There’s currently a limited number of $99 Pintofeeds available at this time and there are options for purchasing the feeders in bulk as well. In addition, the creators are donating money for the care and feeding of ten shelter animals for each Pintofeed that’s purchased through the Indiegogo project. According to the project details, the first batch of Pintofeeds should head out to customers by June 2013.

Source : http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/pintofeed-feed-pets-with-smartphone/

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eBay Now same-day delivery heads to New York City

Potentially a huge time saver when attempting to complete your holiday shopping, the eBay Now same-day delivery service could be a game changer for retail.

Covered on eBay’s Holiday Media Center earlier today, eBay chief marketing officer Richelle Parham announced that the company has rolled out same-day delivery in New York City. During October, San Francisco become the test market for same-day delivery within the eBay Now shopping service. Conceptually, the service acts as a middle man by connecting participating stores with customers seeking a specific product. Well-known retailers such as Best Buy, Macy’s, Office Depot, RadioShack, Target, Toys R Us and Walgreens are participating in the pilot program in order to help shoppers get a product almost immediately without having to visit a physical location.

Regarding the New York City launch, the service will be available to the majority of Manhattan. The boundaries outlined by Parham go up to 125th street on the north end of Manhattan and extends to the western edge of Brooklyn.

In addition, eBay is attempting to attract New Yorkers into using the service by offering a $15 credit on the first purchase through eBay Now. In addition, the delivery charge is being waived on the first three eBay Now orders and the same-day delivery charge will only be $5 while eBay Now remains in beta.

Interestingly, eBay doesn’t require that a shopper has to order by a specific time in order to qualify for same-day delivery. While companies like Amazon have to rely on fulfillment warehouses to ship an order on time, eBay is employing couriers that the company calls “personal shopping valets” in order to speed up the process. These valets are specifically positioned around each city to fulfill orders. Placement within the city is based off order volume and store locations.

After a shopper downloads the eBay Now application to their Apple iPhone and places an order for a specific product, eBay automatically routes the purchase information to a nearby valet. eBay also directs the valet to the retail location to pick up the order.

Once the valet has visited the store and picked up the order from the customer service counter, they travel to the customer’s home or office. According to eBay, most orders take approximately one hour to be delivered from the moment that the order is placed.

According to eBay’s rules around qualifying for same-day delivery, the shopper can only order from one store per delivery and the minimum amount of the order has to be at least $25. Similar to other regular purchases on eBay, customers can choose to pay with a Paypal account or credit card. 

While the impact of same-day delivery on the shopping season will be minimal during 2012, it’s highly possible that physical retailers will start to see more customers transition to shopping online in the coming years as same-day delivery becomes more prevalent.  One of the most important aspects of shopping at a retail store is that the customer can take a product home with them at the time of the purchase. If retailers like Walmart and Amazon can accomplish same-day delivery across the majority of the United States, it’s likely that more consumers will avoid standing in line at retail stores when the product can arrive the same day that it’s ordered.

Source : http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/ebays-now-same-day-delivery-nyc/

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Google Maps for iOS in final testing phase, includes turn-by-turn navigation

There's good news for any iOS users still missing their beloved Google Maps app. The company is reportedly testing its new version out right now, which means you could have it on your device pretty darn soon – although there is the small matter of getting it accepted into the iOS store, of course.

If you’re an iOS user with no hair on your head (because you’ve pulled it all out grappling fruitlessly with Apple’s sub-par Maps app), then listen up. According to a Wall Street Journal report on Thursday, Google is close to submitting its new Maps app to the iOS store.

The Mountain View company has reportedly been putting the “finishing touches” to the app and has distributed it to several individuals outside the company for testing

The new app is thought to include turn-by-turn navigation, a feature absent from Google’s previous version of Maps for iOS, which was sent packing by Apple in September with the launch of iOS 6. The Cupertino company replaced it with its own much-ridiculed mapping software (which incidentally does include turn-by-turn navigation), also called Maps, which Apple boffins – led by senior vice president for Internet software and services Eddy Cue – are now working hard on improving.

Some believe Google’s greatest challenge will be getting Apple to accept its new Maps app into the iOS store, though with so many other mapping alternatives already available in the store – and the fact that Google already has many other apps available to iOS users – it wouldn’t be too clever of Apple to reject this one. A bit of direct competition on the same platform would be good for everyone, and would certainly push those working on improving Apple’s version to focus on the job in hand.

Google’s confidence in the mapping arena must be sky high after Apple’s mis-step, with a company spokesperson telling the WSJ, “We believe Google Maps are the most comprehensive, accurate and easy-to-use maps in the world. Our goal is to make Google Maps available to everyone who wants to use it, regardless of device, browser, or operating system.”

When Apple’s mapping software launched in September, many people soon started complaining of mis-placed locations, a lack of detailed data and an overall poor user experience. Company boss Tim Cook even issued a letter of apology to users for launching a product before it was ready, and promised to “keep working non-stop until Maps lives up to the same incredibly high standard” as other Apple products.

Source : http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/google-maps-for-ios-in-final-testing-phase/

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Three UK adds one million users, says 4G 'won't be a game changer'

Three and easy as network pulls in the punters

Mobile operator Three UK has laid claim to the title of the 'UK's fastest growing network', adding over one million customers in the last year.

The company says it added 300,000 new users in the last three months alone, which is in keeping with its yearly growth of 1.04 million customers and brings its overall user base to 8.8 million.

With growth like that it's little wonder that Three UK CEO David Dyson isn't panicking about the onset of 4G LTE connectivity and the head start gained by 4GEE.

Dyson said the speeds offered by EE's limited 4G LTE service won't be extraordinarily different to the latest DC-HSPA 3G speeds his company is rolling out across the UK.

"I don't think 4G as a mass-market proposition is necessarily going to be a game changer, when you compare it against the latest generation of 3G," Dyson told ZDnet in an interview.

"So I don't think there is an immediate need to accelerate any sort of technologic upgrade to LTE in time scales, which would be inconsistent with when we expect to get that 1800MHz spectrum."

Not asleep at the wheel

However, that doesn't mean Three is asleep at the wheel when it comes to 4G. Back in August the company bought up a slice of the 1800MHz spectrum EE converted from 2G to 4G.

Three will look to start offering those LTE speeds at the back end of 2013 when EE hands over the spectrum, while its also likely to be involved in the Ofcom 4G auction scheduled for early next year.

"If we hadn't got that spectrum, we'd have been going into the auction a bit blind in terms of what the outcome would be," Dyson added.

"Because we are now assured that we will get the 1800MHz, we can start to develop our rollout plans around a specific frequency, which means we're getting ahead of the game now."

Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/mobile-phones/phone-and-communications/three-uk-adds-one-million-users-says-4g-wont-be-a-game-changer-1112984

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More than 3,000 iPad Mini units stolen from NY airport

A group of thieves have stolen about 3,600 iPad Mini units from John F. Kennedy Airport in New York earlier this week.

While Apple fans around the world may be waiting in dreadful lines for their iPad Mini tablets, a few New York thieves have managed to snag $1.5 million worth of the 7.9-inch slates.

About 3,600 iPad Minis were taken from a cargo building at John F. Kennedy Airport on Monday night, reports The New York Post. A group of thieves entered the building at 11 p.m. and loaded pallets filled with the recently released mini slate into a tractor- trailer. The crooks narrowly escaped a security guard, according to the report, who approached them as they drove away. Authorities told the Post that the thieves stole two pallets of iPad Minis in total, using a forklift to load them into the tractor-trailer. They left three remaining pallets in the airport, and investigators suspect that it could have been an inside job. Authorities have proceeded to question airport workers, administering polygraph tests to three employees.

The crooks entered Building 261 to retrieve the iPads from the side of the structure that faces a street and has less security than the other side. Sources believe that someone let them into the area and then let them out after stealing the tablets. The batch of iPad Minis had just landed from China, and a company called Cargo Airport Services had planned to ship them to various locations throughout the United States. The report did not specify which edition of Apple’s iPad Mini had been stolen, as the tablet comes in three storage capacities and two color options. The storage variants include 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB, and users can purchase the device in either White & Silver or Black & Slate.

To no surprise, Apple’s iPad Mini has seen a widely successful launch thus far. The Cupertino, Calif.-based company’s decision to announce the device in October rather than September alongside its iPhone 5 only enhanced fan anticipation. Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty said in a note to investors that the iPad Mini and the fourth-generation iPad could push Apple to ship 23 million total iPads this quarter. Apple sold more than three million iPad Mini and iPad 4 devices within their first three days on the market. 

Source : http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/ipad-mini-stolen-ny-airport/

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Amazon’s 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD ships early, available today starting at $300

Amazon announced that its 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD tablet has started shipping as of Thursday, five days before its scheduled launch date.

Holiday shoppers now have a new tablet to toggle with before Thanksgiving arrives. Amazon announced today that its 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD device has officially begun shipping.

The tablet was originally set to ship on November 20, but Amazon has released a version of its newest device five days earlier. The 4G LTE edition of the Kindle Fire successor will also be available next week, Amazon has said. “With the holiday season upon us, we’re excited to make our $300 Kindle Fire HD 8.9’’ available early,” Amazon Kindle Vice President Dave Limp said in a statement. 

Customers have the option of purchasing the Kindle Fire HD through Amazon’s website or at Best Buy starting on Friday. It will also be available at retailers such as Staples and Radio Shack in the coming weeks.  Back in September, the online retailer unveiled three versions of its device with the hopes of competing against tablet heavyweights Google and Apple. The Amazon Kindle Fire HD, likes its predecessor, will run on an custom Amazon software modeled after Google’s Android mobile operating system. The tablet will ship with equivalent of Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), one of the most recent iterations of Google’s software.

 As for its features, the newly available 8.9-inch tablet features a 1,920 x 1,200 HD display with 254 pixels per inch (ppi) and a front-facing HD camera that can be used for taking photos and making video phone calls. The Kindle Fire HD also comes equipped with dual stereo speakers and a whopping 10 hours of battery life, according to Amazon. It appears that Amazon has branded its Kindle Fire HD as family friendly, shared device, as it comes with a feature called Kindle FreeTime preinstalled.  This is what Amazon has called a “personalized tablet experience” specifically made for kids that is exclusive to the Kindle Fire. Parents can set daily screen limits and moderate the content their children are consuming on the device.

The company also detailed its data package plans via AT&T that will launch alongside the 4G LTE edition of the 8.9-inch tablet. A one-time payment of $50 gets users 250MB of session data, a $10 Amazon Appstore for Android credit and 20GB of Amazon Cloud Drive. This deal is only available for the first year of service. Amazon’s announcement is yet another reminder of the saturated state of the tablet industry. While Amazon and Barnes & Noble, the two original e-reader big shots, duke it out over their respective Kindle Fire HD and Nook HD tabs, Microsoft, Apple and Google have also introduced their own new devices. Last month saw the launch of Apple brand new 7.9-inch iPad Mini, iPad 4, and Microsoft’s first self-branded Surface tablet. Google just released its Nexus 10 tab earlier this week, which sold out within minutes.

Source : http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/amazons-8-9-inch-kindle-fire-ships-early/

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