Amazon Fire Phone Gets Another Fire Sale: $199 Unlocked

Amazon has already admitted that it priced its Fire Phone much higher than consumers anticipated, and now it’s making a significant adjustment to the device’s price tag: A fully unlocked Fire Phone now retails for $199.00, instead of $449.00. The GSM device is still U.S.-only, which means it’ll work with AT&T and T-Mobile, though not Verizon and Sprint.

The $250 price drop puts the Fire Phone into a price range that might be more in line with what consumers were expecting to pay – Amazon’s decision to release a full-priced device, especially when paired with some of its less-than-stellar specs and odd 3D head tracking visual effects, clearly didn’t do a great job of attracting buyers.

This is actually the second fire sale for the fire phone, after Amazon reduced the price of the on-contract, AT&T exclusive version to just $0.99 with a two-year agreement. Originally, the retail cost was $199 on a contract, which is ironically now the price for a fully free and clear contract-free piece of hardware, just about four months into its lifetime.

No matter how you look at it, this is a sure sign that the Fire phone flopped in a very big way for Amazon. The high price tag at launch likely reflects Amazon trying to recoup the huge amount of R&D spend it put into developing the phone’s glasses-free 3D interface effects, but the fact is that what customers expected from an Amazon device was something cheap and basic, much like its Kindle Fire line of tablets.

Even at $199, reviewers found a lot of basic problems with the device that might make other options, like the Moto G or even some of last year’s flagship hardware discounted a better option, but it will be interesting to see if this helps Amazon move some inventory during the holidays.

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Pebble watches can finally see all the notifications from your Android phone

Pebble has some pretty attractive watches on the market
Among all the pros and cons of a Pebble smartwatch has until now remained one glaring flaw: they couldn't get all the notifications from your Android phone.
Thankfully the latest Pebble Android companion app update has finally fixed that.
Prior to version 2.1 Pebble watches could only display notifications from select Android apps, including Gmail and others.
But now if your Android phone is trying to tell you something, your Pebble watch will display it, no matter what app it's coming from. You can adjust these settings in the app itself.
That's if you're using a smartwatch like the Pebble Steel with Android 4.3 or higher, while support for Android 4.0 and up will arrive later.
Pebble hasn't released a new watch in a while, but with the new apps and price drop its existing offerings just got now is a good time to pick one up.
Via PC World

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In depth: The Fire Phone isn't working, so where does Amazon go next?

Drones probably aren't the answer

Amazon is a company that is hard to define. Originally built as a book seller, the company has since grown into an immense online warehouse, filled with anything you could ask for.

It now manufactures phones, a tablet, has given birth to a range of e-readers, and much more. And all while making virtually no profit, essentially being bankrolled by investor money in place of profits.

In 2014 alone, the company made a loss of over $400 million and continues to do so, as all available revenues are ploughed back into generating double-digit growth.

Almost every major technology company in America has a single goal, or at least a single product line that generates the bulk of revenue and is therefore focused on by the company.

For Apple it was the iPod – and is now the iPhone. For Google it's search, for Facebook it's advertising based on 'likes', for Microsoft it's Windows, and for Twitter it's promoted tweets or trends.

Contrastingly, Amazon has no such single ambition. The company has its fingers in many pies across a seemingly infinite array of markets – but has it spread itself too thin?

Earlier this year, Amazon attempted to enter the smartphone space with the Fire Phone, a high-end handset to rival Apple's iPhone and Samsung's Galaxy range. In Q3 2014, Amazon announced that it was taking a $170 million write down on unsold stock of the Fire Phone.

Before this, many outlets in the US dropped the on-contract price of the Fire Phone to 99 cents in an effort to shift the phone; a plan that obviously hasn't worked as well as anticipated. Of course, Amazon has previously had success with hardware in the form of Kindles, which lead the e-reading space, and the Fire range of tablets – so why should phones be different?

The answer is that Amazon strayed from what it knows, and it's paid for it. Kindles and tablets are content consumption devices and Amazon sells content – books, films, music, and so on – so understands the market and the needs of those who buy the devices.

Phones are content consumption devices, but also communications devices and this is an area of which Amazon has very little knowledge. TechRadar gave the Fire Phone two and a half stars, summarising, "The Fire Phone is a shopping tool for Amazon with some phone features baked in." And this is exactly Amazon's problem: the phone was only "baked in," not an integral part of the experience.

Apple CEO Tim Cook expressed a minimalist sentiment to Charlie Rose in an interview this summer saying that Apple "can lay all the products [it] sells on a table" and yet Apple is inline to make $180 billion in revenue during 2014, a number other companies (especially those outside of the oil business) can only dream of.

Granted, the operational structure and product portfolio of Apple is entirely different to that of Amazon, and so the comparison isn't entirely fair. But there's much to be said for a simplistic set of ideals and projects. Many of the things that Amazon invests in – drones, for instance – have very little future revenue-making potential on a large scale, and investors are starting to get worried.

After Amazon announced its Q3 results, shares dropped 10% as investors balked at another quarter without profits; another quarter where their money subsidised a business running at-cost.

There are companies with a large portfolio of products that still generate vast incomes, such as Microsoft and (to some extent) Amazon. Where they differ, however, is profit. Microsoft has a headcount of over 100,000 and still manages to make billions in profit per quarter due to a profitable core business of selling licences for Windows to PC vendors and consumers.

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More Samsung Ativ S handsets are getting that Windows Phone 8.1 update

Samsung's Ativ S is finally getting Cortana

It's been exactly one week since a select few Samsung Ativ S began receiving their Windows Phone 8.1 updates, and now there's more good news for Ativ S users this Halloween.

The update was limited at first to Ativ S handsets in Austria, but Windows Central reports that their unlocked UK Ativ S has been upgraded as well.

Users on the site's forums are saying the same in other regions, so it seems Samsung has begun to push out the WP 8.1 Ativ S update in earnest at last.

The over-the-air update bumps the Ativ S up to Windows Phone 8.1, and it also includes the first minor update after that as well.

That bundling may be why it took longer for 8.1 to arrive on Ativ S handsets than it did on Lumia phones, the site speculates.

Windows Phone 8.1 adds speed improvements, bug fixes, new features, and - most importantly - Microsoft's virtual personal assistant, Cortana.

If you have an Ativ S you may be treated to the update just in time to ask Cortana what kind of candy you should eat this Halloween.

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Android Lollipop will let you wake your phone just by picking it up

Lollipop is shaping up to be a sweet treat

In these busy modern times, who can be bothered to manually wake up their phone? Not us (even though we do) and luckily Google feels our pain because with Android 5.0 Lollipop it's adding a new feature called 'Ambient display'.

Although the feature hasn't made it in to the developer preview it has been spied in an image taken from the full Android 5.0 ROM and leaked by developer Prashant Gahlot.

The image not only shows the setting toggle, but also an explanation that it will "wake screen when device picked up or notifications arrive."

This follows a similar but not identical piece of text on the official Android Lollipop page, which says "where supported by the hardware, your device will wake up as soon as you pick it up or tap the screen twice."

So it seems clear that whether it happens automatically or with a quick double tap, turning the screen on could become even faster and more intuitive than it is now.

It's a feature that's clearly inspired by Moto Display on the Moto X, but it's a good idea so we're happy to see it make its way to more phones.

As to which phones specifically will support it that's less clear, presumably it simply requires the right selection of sensors, which hopefully means most recent handsets will support it, but that remains to be seen.

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Check out Poki, a Pocket app for Windows Phone (pictures)

What to do before you install iOS 8

Check out these important tips and tricks to bolster your iPhone's privacy.

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Golden iPads, larger Nexus phone may come this month

Hype for Apple's next iPad grows with reports of a gold model, Google's Nexus 6 may stretch in size, and Microsoft adds Sway to the Office suite.

This October, as pumpkin spice engulfs the senses, we also plan to feast on a new Nexus and iPad. Watch CNET Update below for the latest reports on gold iPads and Motorola's 6-inch Nexus 6.

But there are some treats you don't have to wait for. Microsoft launched a new presentation tool called Sway , Google is giving students unlimited storage for free, and Alcatel's extra-large smartphone comes with a "Buddy" dumb phone:

CNET Update delivers the tech news you need in under three minutes. Watch Bridget Carey every afternoon for a breakdown of the big stories, hot devices, new apps, and what's ahead. Subscribe to the podcast via the links below.

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AT&T Lumia 820, 920 customers finally receive Windows Phone 8.1

AT&T refreshes pair of older Lumias

If you happen to be on the AT&T network with an older Nokia Lumia handset, the carrier has a bit of good news for you this week, with a software update that brings the latest and greatest features to two elder Windows Phone devices.

AT&T announced the availability of Windows Phone 8.1 for Nokia Lumia 820 and Nokia Lumia 920 smartphones, available as an over-the-air software update that delivers new features to some of the platform's most beloved models.

The carrier was already first in line to roll out the most recent Windows Phone software back in July on newer devices such as the Nokia Lumia 1520, followed soon after by the Lumia 1020, Lumia 925 and Lumia 520.

On Thursday, AT&T, Nokia and Microsoft enabled the update for Lumia 820 and Lumia 920, an on-device download that can be enabled from the Settings menu whenever the device is charged at least 50 percent.

One of the most highly anticipated Windows Phone 8.1 features for Lumia 820 and Lumia 920 owners is certainly Cortana, Microsoft's personal virtual assistant capable of setting reminders, searching for information or reminding users about nearly anything.

Windows Phone 8.1 also allows Lumia owners to customize their handset more than ever before, with multiple sizes, transparency and color options for pinning apps, music, people and more to the Start screen.

Nokia Lumia 820 and Lumia 920 users will also enjoy a full complement of Xbox games, music and video, as well as the complete Windows experience, including OneDrive, Skype, Office and Bing.

Last but certainly not least, Windows Phone 8.1 delivers a new Word Flow keyboard capable of integrating phrases, contacts and shape writing, all without the need to download and install a separate app.

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Phone network opens up iPhone 6 pre-orders, outs Apple secrets early

China Mobile don't play by the rules

Someone had to go too far and spoil the party: China Mobile has reportedly opened-up pre-orders for the iPhone 6, seemingly confirming Apple's next phone will come in 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch varieties.

Invites for the 9 September launch of the iPhone 6 have already been sent out, but China Mobile has reportedly jumped the gun by launching a pre-order campaign for the new phone, according to China Daily.

It's the Beijing branch of China Mobile that launched the contentious campaign, which asks prospective buyers to choose between 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch versions of the phone.

While we haven't been able to locate the web page for the pre-order, we're told that it doesn't also spill the beans about when the two phones will actually start shipping.

A China Daily source suggests we'll see iPhone 6s start to arrive by mid-month, although this is merely the standard for Apple launches. Once an Apple device is unveiled, you can be sure it'll be available within a couple of weeks.

The pre-order campaign has apparently attracted 33,000 orders as of Tuesday 2 September, even though it's only available in Beijing, and is for a phone that doesn't officially exist yet.

While we have not heard of any Apple reaction to this early leaking of the iPhone 6's core design specs, you can bet if it happened in the UK we wouldn't be looking at slapped wrists – more like cut off hands.

These long-rumoured specs come as no surprise, but we're still none the wiser as to whether the reported production issues for the larger 5.5-inch iPhone will result in a staggered release, or limited availability of the large iPhone.

via Mac Rumors

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Microsoft Windows Phone 8.1

Although its precise rollout timing is up to carriers, the release of vastly improved Windows Phone 8.1 is imminent, with support having officially started on June 24. You could say that Microsoft is playing catch-up with its mobile operating system, and in some ways you'd be right. But the company has gone the extra mile to improve and include innovations beyond those offered in Apple's iOS 7 and Google's Android 4.4 with Windows Phone 8.1.

Windows Phone's new Cortana voice-activated digital assistant blends the personality of Siri with the behavioral learning of Google Now. The OS's unique home screen, with live app tiles that are both easier to touch and more informative than the other OS's icons, becomes even more appealing. Wi-Fi Sense and Storage Sense are useful, unique tools. With all these changes, Microsoft has removed most of the barriers to Windows Phone's widespread adoption.

Microsoft first showed off the newest phone OS version at its Build 2014 conference at the start of April. If you can't wait for your carrier to update your smartphone, instructions for getting the Preview version are on this Windows Phone Preview for Developers page. Nokia chief Stephen Elop has stated that all Nokia Windows Phone 8's will be upgraded, but it's up to the mobile carriers to make it happen. And, of course, it will come preinstalled on new Windows Phones, available this summer.

PCMag got an early look at Windows Phone 8.1, running on a spiffy Nokia Lumia Icon—a reasonably priced PCMag Editors' Choice smartphone.

Though Windows Phone 8.1 has a lot of big new features, such as Cortana, new live-tile home-screen options, and a pull-down Action Center notification panel, the update doesn't break existing apps the way the move from 7.x to 8 did. I was able to run its new features and existing apps, such as At Bat and Words With Friends, with very few hiccups.

Cortana
The aim of Cortana, Microsoft's digital-assistant answer to Apple's Siri and Google Now, is to incorporate only the best features of both. Cortana, based on the female AI character in the Halo videogames, also replaces the woefully limited search features of Windows Phone 8. The previous search functionality was just a Bing Web search. Cortana can actually search within the phone for settings and apps (and run them). But Cortana is so much more than just phone search.

Cortana will also (with your permission) scan your email to, for example, find flight reservations and notify you if there's traffic or a flight delay. Cortana gives you more control over privacy than Google Now does, because you decide what personal information to share with her. You do this by entering your interests, locations, and relationships in your "notebook." Microsoft got this idea of the personal assistant keeping a notebook from actual human personal assistant professionals.

You can invoke Cortana by touching and holding the magnifying-glass icon at the lower right of any screen or by tapping her tile. If you do the latter, you'll see her daily summary for you, with the news, sports, weather, and other topics in which you've expressed interest. I only wish you could specify the order of the sections on this page. For some reason, Weather appeared all the way at the bottom.

Your Notebook includes sections for interests, reminders, quiet hours, inner circle, places, and music searches. You choose what to include on first-use setup, but also as you ask her things. For example, when I ask who the Mets are playing tonight, the page showing the evening's schedule also offers to add the team to my notebook as an interest.

You can tell Siri to create a reminder, but with Cortana, I can actually say, "Remind me to buy Ziploc bags when I'm near Costco." You can choose a particular Costco or any Costco. Without fail, when I show up at the bulk warehouse, the message pops up. This ability to use geo-fencing tied to Web and personal information is limited in Siri, though it is well supported in Google Now.

One of the coolest things in Cortana—and it's something not available in iOS or Android—is the ability to remind you about something based on events and conditions, sort of like IFTTT.com. For example, you can say "remind me to ask my sister about her new beau," and she'll pop up text with the reminder the next time your sibling calls or messages. She can automatically notify you about a flight change, and let you know when a good time to leave would be, based on traffic.

Unlike Siri, Cortana comes in only the one voice. On the other hand, one advantage Windows Phone has over iOS is that Microsoft's mobile assistant lets you use text as well as your voice—handy for quiet times. Speaking of quiet times, Cortana gives you the option of letting people in your inner circle contact you when your phone is set to quiet hours.

Cortana is definitely surprisingly smart, but she's young and has a bit to learn. I found that Cortana's speech recognition was nearly flawless and very fast, but the wait while she connected to the cloud servers was occasionally too long. Too often I just got a Web search result, but that's not an unfamiliar state of affairs to Siri or Google Now users, either. Siri is much better now than when it launched, because its servers learn as they are used, and the same should happen with Cortana. The feature is officially a beta (though you'd be hard-pressed to find that fact in the feature or on the Windows Phone webpages) until the second half of 2014.

New Home Screen Options
The tiled Windows Phone home screen was already a unique feature, and with 8.1 it gets even cleverer and more customizable. It now allows three large tiles across, great for those who don't like scrolling a lot. A Microsoft rep said people saw this capability on the big Lumia 1520 phone and wanted it on their smaller phones, too. If you made all your tiles the smallest size, you could actually have 66 on the Start screen without scrolling!

An even cooler new capability is that you can use an image behind these tiles, and tiles can be transparent.

Action Center
Cortana and the new start screen may be flashier, but, for me, the Action Center is the most-needed addition to Windows Phone 8.1. Similar to features that appeared in Android and then iOS, Action Center lets you swipe down from the top of the screen to get access to important settings and notifications. Unlike iOS, Windows Phone lets you choose which commands appear in the four large buttons atop the slide-down panel.

Easy access to Airplane Mode alone makes this feature a boon, but maybe even more important is that now you can see basic system info like time, battery charge, and connection signal from any screen. When an app was running in Windows Phone 8.0, access to that small strip of info at the top of the screen was completely gone.

View the original article here

Microsoft Windows Phone 8.1

Although its precise rollout timing is up to carriers, the release of vastly improved Windows Phone 8.1 is imminent, with support having officially started on June 24. You could say that Microsoft is playing catch-up with its mobile operating system, and in some ways you'd be right. But the company has gone the extra mile to improve and include innovations beyond those offered in Apple's iOS 7 and Google's Android 4.4 with Windows Phone 8.1.

Windows Phone's new Cortana voice-activated digital assistant blends the personality of Siri with the behavioral learning of Google Now. The OS's unique home screen, with live app tiles that are both easier to touch and more informative than the other OS's icons, becomes even more appealing. Wi-Fi Sense and Storage Sense are useful, unique tools. With all these changes, Microsoft has removed most of the barriers to Windows Phone's widespread adoption.

Microsoft first showed off the newest phone OS version at its Build 2014 conference at the start of April. If you can't wait for your carrier to update your smartphone, instructions for getting the Preview version are on this Windows Phone Preview for Developers page. Nokia chief Stephen Elop has stated that all Nokia Windows Phone 8's will be upgraded, but it's up to the mobile carriers to make it happen. And, of course, it will come preinstalled on new Windows Phones, available this summer.

PCMag got an early look at Windows Phone 8.1, running on a spiffy Nokia Lumia Icon—a reasonably priced PCMag Editors' Choice smartphone.

Though Windows Phone 8.1 has a lot of big new features, such as Cortana, new live-tile home-screen options, and a pull-down Action Center notification panel, the update doesn't break existing apps the way the move from 7.x to 8 did. I was able to run its new features and existing apps, such as At Bat and Words With Friends, with very few hiccups.

Cortana
The aim of Cortana, Microsoft's digital-assistant answer to Apple's Siri and Google Now, is to incorporate only the best features of both. Cortana, based on the female AI character in the Halo videogames, also replaces the woefully limited search features of Windows Phone 8. The previous search functionality was just a Bing Web search. Cortana can actually search within the phone for settings and apps (and run them). But Cortana is so much more than just phone search.

Cortana will also (with your permission) scan your email to, for example, find flight reservations and notify you if there's traffic or a flight delay. Cortana gives you more control over privacy than Google Now does, because you decide what personal information to share with her. You do this by entering your interests, locations, and relationships in your "notebook." Microsoft got this idea of the personal assistant keeping a notebook from actual human personal assistant professionals.

You can invoke Cortana by touching and holding the magnifying-glass icon at the lower right of any screen or by tapping her tile. If you do the latter, you'll see her daily summary for you, with the news, sports, weather, and other topics in which you've expressed interest. I only wish you could specify the order of the sections on this page. For some reason, Weather appeared all the way at the bottom.

Your Notebook includes sections for interests, reminders, quiet hours, inner circle, places, and music searches. You choose what to include on first-use setup, but also as you ask her things. For example, when I ask who the Mets are playing tonight, the page showing the evening's schedule also offers to add the team to my notebook as an interest.

You can tell Siri to create a reminder, but with Cortana, I can actually say, "Remind me to buy Ziploc bags when I'm near Costco." You can choose a particular Costco or any Costco. Without fail, when I show up at the bulk warehouse, the message pops up. This ability to use geo-fencing tied to Web and personal information is limited in Siri, though it is well supported in Google Now.

One of the coolest things in Cortana—and it's something not available in iOS or Android—is the ability to remind you about something based on events and conditions, sort of like IFTTT.com. For example, you can say "remind me to ask my sister about her new beau," and she'll pop up text with the reminder the next time your sibling calls or messages. She can automatically notify you about a flight change, and let you know when a good time to leave would be, based on traffic.

Unlike Siri, Cortana comes in only the one voice. On the other hand, one advantage Windows Phone has over iOS is that Microsoft's mobile assistant lets you use text as well as your voice—handy for quiet times. Speaking of quiet times, Cortana gives you the option of letting people in your inner circle contact you when your phone is set to quiet hours.

Cortana is definitely surprisingly smart, but she's young and has a bit to learn. I found that Cortana's speech recognition was nearly flawless and very fast, but the wait while she connected to the cloud servers was occasionally too long. Too often I just got a Web search result, but that's not an unfamiliar state of affairs to Siri or Google Now users, either. Siri is much better now than when it launched, because its servers learn as they are used, and the same should happen with Cortana. The feature is officially a beta (though you'd be hard-pressed to find that fact in the feature or on the Windows Phone webpages) until the second half of 2014.

New Home Screen Options
The tiled Windows Phone home screen was already a unique feature, and with 8.1 it gets even cleverer and more customizable. It now allows three large tiles across, great for those who don't like scrolling a lot. A Microsoft rep said people saw this capability on the big Lumia 1520 phone and wanted it on their smaller phones, too. If you made all your tiles the smallest size, you could actually have 66 on the Start screen without scrolling!

An even cooler new capability is that you can use an image behind these tiles, and tiles can be transparent.

Action Center
Cortana and the new start screen may be flashier, but, for me, the Action Center is the most-needed addition to Windows Phone 8.1. Similar to features that appeared in Android and then iOS, Action Center lets you swipe down from the top of the screen to get access to important settings and notifications. Unlike iOS, Windows Phone lets you choose which commands appear in the four large buttons atop the slide-down panel.

Easy access to Airplane Mode alone makes this feature a boon, but maybe even more important is that now you can see basic system info like time, battery charge, and connection signal from any screen. When an app was running in Windows Phone 8.0, access to that small strip of info at the top of the screen was completely gone.

View the original article here