android
Seagate’s External Memory For Your Smartphone
Good news for iPhone users, you are no longer limited to the memory on your phone now. If there was a disadvantage to having an iPhone compared to other devices it would be the fact that memory on the iPhone is fixed and there was no way to expand that memory, unlike other devices where you could add memory of up to 32GB thanks to microSD slots.
However all of that is set to change thanks to Seagate who will be introducing their GoFlex Satellite hard drive which is a wireless hard drive that can be connected via WiFi to smartphones and tablets including iOS and Android devices. The drive holds 500 GB and comes with its own rechargeable battery and can hold virtually all your data. The GoFlex Satellite hard drive can connect to up to three mobile devices at a time and supports a free HDD app that is offered by Seagate via the Android and Apple app stores.
The GoFlex Satellite hard drive will be available come July and can be pre-ordered via Amazon, BestBuy or Seagate for $200. While it does seem rather pricey it does offer a certain amount of flexibility in terms of storage capacity due to its wireless nature. Perhaps it might not see that much use on phones perhaps tablet users might find it more useful since tablets pretty much act like netbooks/laptops already, the extended storage capacity will allow for more files, photos, and audio to be stored and you would not have to lug around a set of cables either.
The Fairphone 2 was first unveiled in June earlier this year, where this particular handset carried a modular design while featuring majority of its components that have been sourced from conflict-free mines. It seems that this particular handset that you can purchase with a clear conscience has begun to ship to those who happen to live across Europe.
Fairphone announced in a blog post, “It’s been almost two years in the making, and some of the earliest buyers have been patiently waiting since July to receive their new phones. As community manager, I want to personally welcome the new batch of Fairphone owners to our community.” The initial 1,000 units are tipped to ship this month, before the other pre-orders follow in January 2016.
In terms of hardware specifications, the Fairphone 2 will run on a Snapdragon 801 chipset, has a 5″ 1080p screen with Gorilla Glass 3 protection, 2GB of RAM, an 8MP camera, with Android 5.1 Lollipop in tow. It will be a dual SIM capable handset with a microSD memory card slot and plays nice with 4G LTE networks, retailing for approximately €525 a pop.
It looks like the upcoming flagship model from Xiaomi will feature NFC support, at least based on a document that was released by China UnionPay. Just in case you are scratching your head and wondering who China UnionPay is, they happen to be the only domestic payment gateway supplier and card organization, and hence, to see them offer detailed support concerning the newly released NFC-based payment system points to the very real possibility of the upcoming Xiaomi Mi 5 featuring NFC capability.
After all, the Xiaomi Mi 3 was also mentioned on the list, which so happens to feature NFC, and there is no mention of the Xiaomi Mi 4 which does not come with NFC. Still, such a new payment system would be the ideal tool to see the reintroduction of NFC to the flagship model.
OnePlus did make an announcement in the previous month that the Ceramic variant of the OnePlus X will be released on November 24. True to their word, they did exactly that – although only a pitiful number of units were made available, and not only that, this was through a charity auction. Thankfully for the rest of the masses who are on the lookout for this device, it has gone on sale officially already.
Needless to say, this particular variant is available only by an invitation, although do bear in mind that standard OnePlus X invites are not good here – you will still need to snag yourself a specific Ceramic variant invite before you make a purchase. OnePlus is also on the lookout to offer additional methods of picking up this smartphone, although no further details were revealed.
The OnePlus X Ceramic will be available only in select markets, where among them include Europe, India, and Hong Kong. To date, we do know that OnePlus had made only 10,000 units of the handset available. A case of the early bird getting the proverbial worm here?