4K Video Streaming Unveiled by Amazon

The subscribers of Amazon Prime will now be able to stream '4K' or UHD (ultra high definition) movies as well as TV shows, without any extra charge.

At present, Ultra High definition streaming is available for select Samsung, LG and Sony UHD capable television sets.

The content available for 4K streaming includes Funny Girl, Hitch and Philadelphia from Sony pictures, Hidden Dragon, Crouching Tiger as well as Amazon Studio's forthcoming series Bosch, Hand of God, The After, Red Oakswill and Mozart in the Jungle.

All the subscribers of the Amazon Prime can from now on stream UHD without shelling out extra money than they currently pay.

Michael Paull, Vice President at Amazon Digital Video said in a statement "We want to deliver the best entertainment experience, and offering Ultra HD movies and TV shows raises the bar on quality and innovation that customers have come to expect from Amazon. 

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We're also excited that Ultra HD is the latest benefit of the Amazon Prime membership, giving members instant access to great movies and TV shows in a premium picture resolution at no additional cost."

About Anna Harris:
Anna Harris working as web content writer and a strategist for a major IT firm specialized in various mobile application development services for iOS, Android, Windows Phone and other operating systems.

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Samsung Galaxy S5 vs Apple iPhone 6: Comparison from Top to Bottom

Advantages & Disadvantages of iPhone 6:

• The iPhone 6 Plus is larger than the Samsung Galaxy S5 Plus, as it features a 5.5-inch display compared to the S5 Plus' 5.1-inch touchscreen.
• Another advantage is that it is slimmer at just 7.1mm thickness, while the Galaxy is 1mm thicker.

• iPhone lineage for unknown and unexplained reasons.
• The iPhone 6 Plus continues to have an 8-megapixel primary camera, even when the competitive Galaxy phones have 16-megapixel camera lenses.
• It doesn't have any storage expansion slot and as with the previous iPhone, there is only 1GB RAM.

Advantages & Disadvantages of Samsung Galaxy S5

• The Galaxy S5 Plus fields a higher pixel density at 432ppi even when it has a smaller display.
• Its models feature a microSD storage expansion slot for up to 128GB, and the phone has 2GB of RAM, double the memory as in the iPhone 6 Plus.
• It also has a 16-MP camera lens compared to the iPhone's 8-MP lens, and fields a more powerful 2.5-GHz Krait processor compared to the iPhone's slower 1.4-GHz A8 CPU.

• As already mentioned above, the Galaxy S5 Plus has a smaller 5.1-inch display.
• At 8.1mm, it is 1mm thicker than the iPhone. 
• Additionally, it features the use of faux metal in its construction while the iPhone 6 Plus is built with an aluminum body.

Specifications:

• The iPhone 6 Plus is the largest iPhone to date.
• Apple broke its screen barrier of 4 inches, which has had been the norm for the last two iPhones, and released a 5.5-inch iPhone.
• The iPhone 6 Plus is technically a phablet, featuring an LED-backlit IPS LCD display with 1080x1920-pixel resolution and 401-ppi pixel density.
• There are three storage configurations - 16GB, 64GB and 128GB, supported by 1GB of memory.

• The Samsung Galaxy S5 Plus is the Korean giant's attempt at rivaling Apple's latest spate of record iPhone 6/6 Plus sales.
• It features a 5.1-inch Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 1080x1920 pixels and pixel density of 432ppi.
• The phone is available in two storage configurations of 16GB and 32GB, and both can be expanded to 128GB.
• It has 2GB of RAM for smoother operation.

Conclusion:

• The iPhone 6 Plus continues to be the typical member of the iPhone family. The only difference is that it is the largest iPhone yet.
• It continues with the configuration of 1GB RAM, a slower CPU, 8-MP camera and no storage expansion, which has been the case with the previous iPhones too.
• The Galaxy S5 Plus is more powerful, has more RAM, has a 16-MP primary camera, and weighs just 145g compared to the iPhone's weight of 172g.
• Overall, the Galaxy S5 Plus appears to be the better deal. 

 

About Anna Harris:
Anna Harris working as web content writer and a strategist for a major IT firm specialized in various mobile application development services for iOS, Android, Windows Phone and other operating systems.

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Leaked Photos of Samsung Galaxy S6 & Big Review of Android Lollipop

Taking a look back at the week in news across the Android world, this week’s Android Circuit highlights a number of stories including leaks around the Samsung Galaxy S6 flagship. 

 

JK Shin stays in charge at Samsung’s Mobile Division, Lollipop reviewed in-depth as it arrives on the Galaxy S5 in Poland, comparing the ‘mini’ handsets, interviewing the Russian behind the smartphone with two screens, will bloatware arrive over-the-air, Chrome’s hidden reading mode, and the best Google Play Apps and Games.

The big news is that the Galaxy S6 launch will not be for one handset, but for two – the second being the Galaxy S6 Edge. This will take the technology seen in the Note Edge that wraps a portion of the screen around the right-hand edge of the handset to act as a programmable digital spine.

The Galaxy brand has contributed almost two-thirds of Samsung’s profits over the last few years, and without a radical change in direction and strategy that contribution is going to be much lower in 2015.

Have a Sneak-Peak: Samsung Galaxy S6

 

About Anna Harris:
Anna Harris working as web content writer and a strategist for a major IT firm specialized in various mobile application development services for iOS, Android, Windows Phone and other operating systems.

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Apple Surpasses Android in US Mobile Web Traffic

iOS mobile traffic has inched up across the US after the iPhone 6's launch in mid-September, while Android traffic has dipped, according to Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster. 

The iPhone 6 gave a small shot in the arm to Apple's mobile Web traffic in the US after the smartphone hit the market in mid-September.

Specifically, the share of mobile Web traffic from Apple iOS devices in the US crept up to 61.4 percent from 60.6 percent during the nine weeks following the phone's launch, according to analyst Gene Munster. 

 

Citing data from Piper Jaffray and analytics firm Quantcast, Munster noted that traffic from Android devices decreased from 38.4 percent to 37.5 percent over the same period.

Android is still the leader in US market share in smartphone hardware, based on data from such research firms as ComScore and Kantar Worldpanel ComTech. But iOS has significantly held a lead over Android in US Web traffic, even before the launch of the iPhone 6. So there must be some reason why Apple is tops in this specific area.

The data from Quantcast looks at 2 billion mobile page views per month. Estimates point to around 150 million smartphones used in the US, which each one generating around 15 page views per day.

About Anna Harris:
Anna Harris working as web content writer and a strategist for a major IT firm specialized in various mobile application development services for iOS, Android, Windows Phone and other operating systems.

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"Wire", A Skype Competitor Launched By Its Co-Founder

Since its launch more than 10 years ago, Skype has become the primary tool for making VoIP calls and instant messages. 

 

Microsoft scooped up Skype from eBay back in 2011 for a meaty $8.5 billion, and now Skype's co-founder Janus Friis has revealed a new tool that will compete directly with Skype. Called Wire, the service is now available for iOS 8 and above, OS X 10.9 and above, and Android 4.2 and above.

"Skype was launched more than a decade ago. A lot has changed since then -- we are all used to free calls and texting, and we have taken to carrying our computers in our pockets," said Friis. "It is time to create the best possible communication tools, as beautiful as they are useful. Wire is just that."

According to the company, Wire users will be able to share images, YouTube video and SoundCloud music, and they'll be able to do VoIP calling and individual and group instant messaging.

To start a call, users simply click on the name of the person displayed in the friends list, and then click on the phone icon. To end the call, users must click on the X in the upper left corner. To transfer the call to another device, users must click on the "Transfer Call Here" button found on a banner flashing on the other device. Free calls require that both parties use Wire.

Check-Out The New "Wire"

Prior to that report, Microsoft revealed in October that as part of the WebRTC standard, the company is now supporting the new Object Real-Time Communications (ORTC) API. This will allow Skype users to chat and make calls directly from Internet Explorer without the need for a browser plug-in.

About Anna Harris:
Anna Harris working as web content writer and a strategist for a major IT firm specialized in various mobile application development services for iOS, Android, Windows Phone and other operating systems.

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High Speed Camera Captures Light At 100 Billion Frames-Per-Second

For most of us, high-speed image capture, say 120 or 240 frames per second, is enough to get a good look at stuff happening in the blink of an eye -- like a water droplet hitting the ground or a Bichon Frisé snagging his favorite ball.

For faster subjects, industrial-strength high-speed cameras can grab tens of thousands of frames per second (or more). But when your rapidly moving target is light itself, you're going to need something a bit quicker -- to the tune of 100 billion fps, according to Nature.

Using a technique called "compressed ultrafast photography" (CUP), researchers at Washington University in St. Louis can track light as it travels and interacts with objects. It's a new spin on the streak camera method, where a sensor moves along with the light to record its motion.

Previous streak camera setups have been limited to narrow, one-dimensional views, but the CUP technique allows for two-dimensional image capture. One example video shows a laser pulse sauntering by and reflecting off a mirror in a few tens of picoseconds (trillionths of a second).

So far, researchers have used the technique to explore a handful of phenomena, including how light reflects and refracts, as well as how photons behave when transitioning from one medium to another (e.g., from air to a resin). Nature reports the CUP technique could be used in the development of so-called invisibility cloaks that work by bending light around an object.

So while it may not be the absolute fastest high-speed camera system currently out there, perhaps someday it'll help us get a bit closer to realizing those Star Trek/Harry Potter dreams.

About Anna Harris:
Anna Harris working as web content writer and a strategist for a major IT firm specialized in various mobile application development services for iOS, Android, Windows Phone and other operating systems.

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Review Of The New Sony Smartwatch: Currently The Best Android Wear

It feels much longer, but it’s been less than 6 months since Android Wear hit the market. They have stealthily crept into use without much fuss, despite revolutionizing the wearables market. 

 

Reducing the time spent interacting with your phone, but still mining all of that lovely data for Google. The launch devices were pretty average, the Moto 360 wasn’t for everyone despite its anticipation. So now its time to see, perhaps one of the more experienced smart watch maker, Sony take on Android wear. The Sony Smartwatch 3 review is straight ahead.

Despite claiming they had no intention of making a watch for Android Wear, they have followed up two generations of Sony Smartwatch running their own OS, with a third – this time running Android Wear. 

 

The imaginatively titled ‘Sony Smartwatch 3’ has the same rugged lifestyle proof ratings that their phones do. Each Android watch has been water resistant, but the SM3 sports an IP68 rating mean you can submerge it in water for up to 30 minutes, should you feel the need.

Choose any color band you like, but they all are made of the same high quality rubber, with a matte finish. Matched with a clasp similar to that of a normal fashion watch, you have the making of foolproof comfy fitting. Unfortunately this is the sole area that lets the Smartwatch 3 down, and does it quite badly. 

Get A First Look On Sony Smartwatch 3

 

The screen is the same 1.6 inches we have seen before, with a new ‘Transflective Display’ providing the 320×320 display. This fancy technology means that while the screen isn’t as vibrant and colorful as that seen on the Moto 360, you can see it clear and accurately in even the brightest of sunlight.

A fantastic improvement to what was the biggest gripe of the first wave of Android Wear watches.

About Anna Harris:
Anna Harris working as web content writer and a strategist for a major IT firm specialized in various mobile application development services for iOS, Android, Windows Phone and other operating systems.

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iPhone 6 Drives Apple to All-Time UK Sales High

Strong sales of the iPhone 6 has driven Apple's share of the UK smartphone market to its highest ever level. Apple's share of the UK smartphone market has reached an all-time high thanks to strong sales of the iPhone 6.

iPhones now account of 39.5 per cent of British smartphone sales, the Californian company's highest ever UK market share, a rise of 10.4 per cent during the three months to October 2014.

The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus were released in the UK on September 19, and swiftly become Apple's best-selling product to date, shifting more than 10 million units within three days.

The new phones represented Apple's first foray into creating smartphones with larger screens, which are growing in popularity across the UK. The 4.7-inch iPhone 6 outsold the 5.5-inch 6 Plus by 4:1 in the UK, Kantar said.

Use of Apple's iOS operating system saw a 5.7 per cent rise across Europe, compared to a drop of 2.6 per cent for rival Google's Android system between October 2013 and October 2014.

Although Apple did not participate in Black Friday discounting, it donated a portion of every sale made through its retail and online stores on Friday November 28 Monday December 1 to the Global Fund to fight Aids.

Sales of iPhone 6 Crosses Mile High

About Anna Harris:
Anna Harris working as web content writer and a strategist for a major IT firm specialized in various mobile application development services for iOS, Android, Windows Phone and other operating systems.

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