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Friday, May 6, 2016

LG G5 and V10 Certified for Enterprise and Military Use

Thanks to LG’s Guarded Access to Enterprise — better known as GATE — the G5 and V10 have been certified for use in fields that require top-notch security, enterprise and military. Certified by the U.S. National Information Assurance Partnership (NIAP, for short), both devices meet the international standards for security in corporate environments.

LG GATE offers enhanced platform, network, and application security that allows for “secure, reliable” access to enterprise data. Developed in 2013, GATE’s promise is to provide a variety of security solutions, such as anti-hacking, on top of mobile device management. Featuring layered security components, corporate data is safeguarded, but no system performance is compromised. More simply, your sensitive data is kept very safe, but your smartphone won’t feel sluggish while jumping through the various security hoops.

On top of GATE, both G5 and V10 feature Google’s Android for Work, which separates work apps from personal apps. Android for Work is primarily managed by a corporation’s IT sector, but it allows for users to have work profiles associated with a smartphone that offers enhanced security when using specific applications. Android for Work features default encryption and enhanced SELinux security enforcement.

The NIAP certification is recognized by 25 Common Criteria member countries, including Canada, France, Germany, India, Japan, South Korea, and the UK.

Long gone are the days where all government peeps rocked BackBerry devices.

Via: LG

Check It Out, This Could be the Galaxy S7 Active on Its Way to AT&T

A little over a month ago, we talked about the idea of there being a Samsung Galaxy S7 Active, not only because Samsung mentioned the device in a listing for one of their apps, but because this is a long-running line of exclusive phones for AT&T that makes a lot of sense. It’s a pretty brilliant product idea (super high-end rugged phone) that should live on, even if we do all hate the fact that you can’t get it outside of a single carrier.

Today, thanks to a leak out of a Vietnamese Samsung-focused site, we get what might be our first look at the phone. As you probably expected, it’s rugged as hell and has all the camo a rugged person could ask for.

Like last year’s Galaxy S6 Active (our review) and phones before it, we see a similar design with hefty exterior padding, camo back plate, separate “Action” button above the volume rocker, and that three-button setup on the front, all of which are physical. There is certainly a good amount of thickness here, but that’s also not new, as the Active line tends to sport larger batteries than its leaner cousins and needs padding for when you drop hammers on it or run it over with dump trucks. Other than that, there isn’t much to see.

I think we are all still assuming that this phone will carry identical specs to the Galaxy S7 or S7 Edge, meaning QHD display, Snapdragon 820 processor, 4GB RAM, 12MP Dual Pixel camera, IP68 water/dust resistance, etc. On top of that, the phone should be shock resistance as well.

Is this a phone on your radar?

Via: SamsungVN

Verizon Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge Get Updates With Various “Improvements”

Verizon approved an update this morning for its variants of the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge as software version VRU2APD2. The update includes both security patches and “improvements to various settings and features.” None of those improvements seems to be of the headline variety, but they are worth being aware of.

Verizon and Samsung added a reminder as you open or close the SIM tray to make sure it isn’t left open, you know, for water resistance reasons. They made it “easier” to check individual app performance, added clearer instructions for turning on/off Always on Display, tossed in a “Roaming” title for dual clocks in different time zones, fixed some bugs, and got rid of those silly multiple SD card pop-up notifications. Specific to the S7 Edge, the Calendar Edge panel also now shows a quick glance of upcoming events and their location info.

To check for the update, head into Settings>About phone>Software updates.

Via: Verizon [2]

Thursday, May 5, 2016

#TBT: It Won’t Happen, But a New Sony Xperia PLAY Would be Cool

At a time when mobile gaming was starting to get a real feel for itself, with new games launching all of the time on the Android Market (before it was Google Play), Sony introduced the Xperia PLAY at MWC in Barcelona. It was essentially a mobile PlayStation. Good idea, right?

The device launched on Verizon in the spring of 2011, but never really caught fire. It featured a 4″ display, 1GHz processor capable of producing 60FPS, 5MP camera, and ran Android 2.3. In 2011 speak, that isn’t all that bad. Imagine if Sony produced something like this in 2016? A PlayStation phone with QHD display, quad-core processor, 4GB of RAM, and the ability to stream Fallout 4 directly from your PlayStation 4 console at home. That would be dope.

There are various workarounds to get Sony’s current Remote Play app working on basically any Android phone, but I’m talking about something official. An Xperia PLAY for 2016. Given Sony’s current stance in the smartphone market, it’s a safe bet we will never see this happen, but as a gamer, one can dream.

Did anyone here own the Xperia PLAY? If so, share your memories, fond or not-so-fond, below in the comments.

Video: Huawei P9 – A Week With the New Flagship

For the better part of the last week, I have had the Huawei P9 in house for testing. That may sound odd, since we don’t typically give much coverage to phones that will never arrive in the US, but with Huawei seemingly on the verge of making a big splash here, we wanted to see what their non-Nexus flagships are like. We wanted to see if their Android skin is as bad as its reputation, if the hardware is as good (or better) than that of the 6P, and also begin to familiarize ourselves with the world’s new number 3 phone manufacturer.

The video below will walk you through all of this, but to summarize, I’ll just say this – the software is worse than expected, but the hardware might be the best I’ve held this year.

Sure, the design of the Huawei P9 is somewhat iPhone-esque, but it also has its own personality with mixture of glass and metal, dual camera setup, and combination of colors. The build and design are superb, as is the in-hand feel, size, and placement of buttons. Honestly, I would argue that this phone is more of a joy to hold than the Galaxy S7. Call me crazy! There is some magic here and I now wish more than ever that Huawei was building another Nexus.

Unfortunately for that beautiful body, there are major problems here that all stem from Huawei’s insanely terrible Android skin. I believe it’s called EMUI and this is version 4.1. Outside of the fact that it looks like an iOS knock-off, my major beef (which makes this an unusable Android experience) is how it handles notifications. Or maybe that’s better put – how it doesn’t handle notifications. In fact, this phone is so poor with notifications that even iPhone users would be shaking their heads at whatever Huawei has cooked up here.

From the lack of notification access on the lock screen (you can’t even pull the notification bar down) to the timeline layout and the lack of standard Android icons in the status bar, it’s a disaster. It took me an hour and a chat with a Huawei employee to get notifications to even show on the lock screen in any way. That meant tweaking power settings and permissions and I don’t even know what else, all on an individual app basis. It’s so bad, I installed a 3rd party lock screen for the first time in like 5 years.

But this skin is also such an aggressive service killer, probably in the name of extending battery life, that it often just breaks everything you spent hours setting up. Take LastPass for example, an app that needs system notification access to work properly. This phone, every hour or so, just kills that access and then leaves LastPass as a non-working service. It keeps doing the same to that 3rd party lock screen app I mentioned as well.

If you can somehow ignore the software (and you won’t be able to), I do think most would really enjoy the hardware. Plus, the dual camera setup is capable of taking some lovely pictures, especially that monochrome shooter. In the end, I can’t help but be mostly excited over Huawei making strides here in the US, but man, they need to clean up this software. They certainly know how to do hardware already.

DEAL: Buy a Galaxy S7 From Costco, Get a Free 32″ Samsung HDTV

How’s this for a deal? For a limited time, if you walk into your local Costco and activate a Galaxy S7 on Verizon, AT&T, or T-Mobile with a device payment plan, you will also walk out with a Samsung-made 32″ HD television. Not too shabby, right?

In addition to the television, Costco is also bundling in a $25 Costco Cash card, as well as a Member Exclusive 5,200mAh portable battery. Seriously, Costco is raining down goodies for those that purchase this really good smartphone.

The only real downside to this deal is the carrier device payment plan. We are not exactly fans of that option, but if purchasing a $600+ smartphone at full retail just isn’t in the cards for you, this is a solid option. Not only are you getting a new phone for a decently low monthly rate, but you are also getting a new TV for the bedroom, $25 to spend however you see fit inside of Costco, and a portable battery. That’s pretty good.

This promotion is limited to in-store shoppers, so gather your Costco card, prepare for yummy churros, and take advantage of it.

Via: Costco

T-Mobile Reportedly Content With Offering Unlimited Data Plan

Back in November of 2015, T-Mobile raised the price of its unlimited data plan, alongside the announcements of UnCarrier X. With a price increase of $15, bringing the monthly total to $90 for unlimited data, talk and text, T-Mobile also threw in a larger bucket of data for those who want to tether. According to analysts from Jefferies, a financial analyst firm, T-Mobile management is happy with where the company sits currently, and does not view itself as a “price discounter.”

With the introduction of Binge On and Music Freedom, T-Mobile has apparently not seen much strain on its network, even from those with an active unlimited plan. Binge On is the feature that allows customers to stream video from select services on the T-Mobile network without incurring any data charges. While T-Mobile can still be one of the only major carriers in the US to actively promote an unlimited plan, Binge On is automatically turned on once a line is activated. Only manually turning the feature off will deactivate it. Essentially, T-Mobile is offering an unlimited plan and charging you $90 a month for it, but customers aren’t exactly taking complete advantage of it.

As stated by T-Mobile’s COO, Michael Sievert, “We’re really proud to be able to offer unlimited. We’ve got the network that has the capacity and we don’t have any plans to change the fact that we offer unlimited.” Continuing, Sievert says, “Keep in mind that offering unlimited has become much more network efficient since the launch of Binge On because the vast majority of our unlimited customers keep their Binge On control activated for a number of reasons, including the speed and reliability of the rest of their data.”

For T-Mobile, all of this adds up to delivering these unlimited data plans with much better network efficiency. According to T-Mobile’s CTO, Neville Ray, Binge On has reduced overall network traffic by 10 percent.

For customers with unlimited on T-Mobile, be sure you check your monthly bill to see just how much data you are using. If you really don’t need unlimited, then you shouldn’t be paying for it. Binge On and Music Freedom are available to all T-Mobile customers, so if a bulk of your usage comes from Netflix and YouTube, you might as well be paying less each month.

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Friday, May 6, 2016

LG G5 and V10 Certified for Enterprise and Military Use

Via: LG

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Check It Out, This Could be the Galaxy S7 Active on Its Way to AT&T

Via: SamsungVN

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Verizon Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge Get Updates With Various “Improvements”

Via: Verizon [2]

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Thursday, May 5, 2016

#TBT: It Won’t Happen, But a New Sony Xperia PLAY Would be Cool

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Video: Huawei P9 – A Week With the New Flagship

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DEAL: Buy a Galaxy S7 From Costco, Get a Free 32″ Samsung HDTV

Via: Costco

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T-Mobile Reportedly Content With Offering Unlimited Data Plan

Via: Fierce Wireless

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