Cristopher Hall, Author at Argyll Free Press

Pepsi to Launch Mid-Budget Smartphones in China

October 13, 2015 By Cristopher Hall Leave a Comment

Pepsi to launch mid-budget smartphones in China, notes an official spokesperson. The company behind one of the most popular soft drinks on the planet has recently confirmed that is collaborating with a partner in order to release a smartphone product line in China. When? Well, in the near future. I assume that this means sometime during 2016.

In an email interview with Reuters, a company spokesperson notes that this effort resembles what Pepsi is doing with other licensed products – like accessories and apparel. She says that there are no long-term plans for Pepsi to get into the smartphone industry. At least, not now.

Along with the Pepsi announcement we also have some info leaked regarding their first smartphone. It will be called Pepsi P1 and it will be a mid-budget device. It’s rumored to come with a 5.5-inch FHD screen at 1920 x 1080. It houses a 1.7 GHz MT6592 proc paired with 2 gigs of RAM and 16 gigs of internal storage.

The Pepsi P1 is reportedly featuring a 13-megapixel primary rear-facing camera, and a secondary 5-megapixel front-facing unit for those special selfie moments. Finally, it has a 3000 mAh battery unit packed inside. It is more than capable of running Google’s Android 5.1. Lollipop. We don’t know if Marshmallow will roll out for the Pepsi P1 or not.

The Pepsi P1 will most likely retail at roughly $205, that’s CNY 1299.

As far as we can tell, the Pepsi P1 seems to feature a metallic finishing for the case. Capacitive buttons, one fingerprint sensor and, of course, the Pepsi logo engraved on the back of the smartphone.

If you’re not interested in mobile phones, but love Pepsi to bits, you should know that the soft drink company has confirmed that accessories will be available for the Middle Kingdom. Yet, the spokesperson didn’t disclose any specifics regarding what will the company actually sell.

Pepsi to launch mid-budget smartphones in China doesn’t really come as shocking news – we expect Coca-Cola to up their game and announce their home-bred smartphone anytime soon. Take Lamborghini, they unveiled just at the dawn of 2015 their very own smartphone. It’s called the 88 Tauri and it comes with a hefty price tag of $6000. Still, it doesn’t beat the new Vertu Signature Touch smartphone that starts at a whooping $10,000 – it comes with a sort of personal valet.

Marshall, a company famous for their music gear such as amps, pre-amps and the likes, has recently announced that they too are branching out to the mobile industry with the Marshall London designed for audiophiles.

We are curious to see if Nestle or Ikea both announce their homegrown smartphone in the near future.

Anyway, would you buy a Pepsi P1?

Image Source: 1, 2, 3,

The Beginner’s Guide Tries to Make You a Better Human

October 5, 2015 By Cristopher Hall Leave a Comment

The Beginner’s Guide isn’t your run of the mill video-game – it’s thought-provoking and it asks gut-wrenching existential questions. More or less . It opens with a huge dilemma. Can you know someone by analyzing their art?

As you play the game – a fairly short experience mind you; compelling problems arise. They relate to how you can recognize selfishness, fostering intimacy – how it’s more important to some than to others; and how does someone maintain a friendship and its difficulty throughout the years.

Even though it’s rather short, clocking slightly over the two hour mark, The Beginner’s Guide is a beautiful mourning filled with the very best kind of surreal. Images of a wormhole suddenly appearing and opening during a self help talk, that ominous door aimlessly floating in space, and that country coffee shop that turns into a prison will haunt you for days to come.

It starts with the The Beginner’s Guide author, Davey Wreden communicating with the player. Davey even gives his e-mail – unfortunately, he didn’t reply to my message.

It sets a comfortable and patient tone throughout the game just because Davey makes a personal calling. It seems like he’s saying to just relax and take it as it is. Afterwards, he tells the gamer that he’s going to be playing a few games developed by Coda, one of his friends.

Yet, these games are somewhat broken and abstract. Because they are deeply flawed, Wreden says, the human element is painstakingly obvious.

Don’t go in expecting Tim Schafer writing, nor Limbo-like puzzles – you are just observing these games, you are grabbing as much information as you can and Wreden solves them for you. You don’t have a set objective, an ultimate quest to fulfill. As the game’s description showcases, The Beginner’s Guide is about the story of a person who struggles to deal with something that he just can’t understand.

That something is another human and the game makes it painfully clear that you never truly know someone, regardless of how much time you spend together, or how many things you both went through.

Just scraping the surface, the story seems to be about a tortured soul – a recluse artist who creates games that are ultimately incredibly hard to play. You can take it as a relationship between an idol and his fan, with the latter exploring his misguided expectations.

In the end, you’ll be prone to think that The Beginner’s Guide is about utter loneliness, how friendships dissolve through time and how these connections can be easily shattered, never to be rebuilt again.

I highly recommend The Beginner’s Guide to casual and hardcore gamers alike. Casual gamers will fall in love with how immersive the world is – beautifully painting surreal experiences on top of an abysmal sadness. Veterans should play Wreden’s title to get a glimpse of how hard it is to actually develop a game that pleases players. At the same time, hardcore gamers could learn a valuable lesson – in the end, it’s all about having fun and building relationships while gaming.

Image Source: 1, 2

Verizon Launches Free Go90 Video Service

October 3, 2015 By Cristopher Hall Leave a Comment

The telecommunication behemoth just launched their free Go90 video service designed to be a sort-of next generation TV for smartphone lovers born after the year 2000.

Go90 is filled with almost 8,000 TV clips and episodes – more will be added on a regular basis. The Go90 video service has 35 exclusive original TV shows from Verizon’s partners – Endemol Beyond, New Form Digital, Vice and Awesomeness TV.

Yet, with Netflix, Hulu and Amazon already battling each-other for the throne, does Go90 stand a chance?

Analysts are more than skeptical of the new video service’s prospects. It’s clear that Verizon is buying, or developing content to appeal to millennials, but what is unclear is the long term costs they are facing, Paul de Sa, a Bernstein Research Analyst said in his notes.

Brian Angiolet, known as the senior Vice President of consumers products for Verizon says that Go90 is somewhere between Netflix and YouTube. The company wants to bridge the gap between Netflix, Hulu, other premium subscription-based VOD services, and everything that goes on YouTube.

To be fair, Verizon is buying original series left and right and is paying for actual TV shows from CBS Sports, ESPN, Viacom, Discovery Communications, Univision, and Scripps Networks Interactive – shows include the new Daily Show hosted by Trevor Noah and the classic MythBusters.

Original series will be produced by AwesomenessTV, Icon Network and even Vice. A new daily live show type called Top Five Live will feature YouTube star Hunter March – it will be hold in front of a live audience and it will be about recapping the hottest online topics, with guest appearances from the mainstream and digital medium.

Michelle Phan of Icon Network, as well as Vice, will develop an original programming to Verizon – nobody knows what it will be all about.

What we do know is that New Form Digital has six scripted series already lined-up – expect announcements to roll out soon.

The Go90 video service is available for Android and iOS devices. This means a huge potential for social media features. Verizon announced a few of them – crews can be formed with other social media users that have the same common interest, as well as the ability to clip content segments and share them on Facebook.

Publicis Groupe just made a huge commitent to Go90, AOL’s global head of mobile Chad Gallagher said recently. Publicis announced that its agencies and clients will have exclusive advertising inventory on Verizon’s new Go90 video service for three months. This deal begins in the fourth quarter, and it will extend to Q3 of 2016.

Whether the Go90 video service will be a hit or not, we’ll have to wait at least until 2017. Until then, let’s jump on it and see what TV series we can binge watch this weekend.

Image Source: 1, 2

Work Startup Asana Gets a Visually Rework and Retool

October 1, 2015 By Cristopher Hall Leave a Comment

Work startup Asana has been retooled by Facebook co-founder Moskovitz. It’s a brand new start for the magical tool that replaced the so-dubbed tyranny of the E-Mail!

The work-collaboration market is estimated at $50 billion – no wonder Moskovitz decided to redesign Asana so it can push it to more businesses around the world.

Asana isn’t the only company that tries to take a chunk out of the huge billion-dollar-filling pie. Companies such as Basecamp and Slack are looking more into new ways on how to revolutionize work collaboration tools by leveraging how humans naturally work together.

This is also Asana’s main quest at the moment.

Asana is six years old and it was started by one Facebook co-founder named Dustin Moskovitz, and a former Facebook lead engineer called Justin Rosenstein. Yesterday, they announced that their software aims to further simply how groups of people interact at work.

Key features that you can find in the new Asana tool include a complete makeover on how we use e-mail. Called Conversations, it will turn your old timey e-mail into a huge organized thread with a ton of options and actionable lists.

Another new feature, Track Anything will allow Asana users to easily group search using information found on a spreadsheet form.

Moskovitz notes that the Track Anything feature was a vision of his since the beginning of his venture company. At the current moment, Moskovitz’s company has about $40 mil in funding and over 140,000 corporate users, with 10,000 of them paying customers. Users include the Major League Baseball and The New Yorker publication.

Moskovitz noted on Wednesday that the company’s revenue has more than doubled over the past year.

Work startup Asana has a basic version which is entirely free – it’s aimed at a group of people that has no more than 15 members. The premium version however, costs $21 a month and its designed for teams of five members and it can even go upwards.

Rosenstein notes that he wants to put a stop to people who decide to talk about doing work, instead of actually doing it. Moskovitz adds that he feels a sort of sense of accomplishment when he sees non-profit organizations plan an attack strategy for the betterment of a community using his tool.

All of the changes have gone live starting today, except for the Track Anything feature. It’s still in its beta phase and Moskovitz says that it will be ready for users sometime in early 2016.

Newly hired Chris Farinacci, who formerly worked for Google for Work as a top exec, is now in charge of work startup Asana as a business operations manager.

Qualcomm Snapdragon Flight Platform Makes Drones Cheaper

September 14, 2015 By Cristopher Hall Leave a Comment

We all know that when it comes to mobile phones processors, Qualcomm is top dog. But what about drones?

The Qualcomm Snapdragon Flight platform is the company’s answer to the ever growing drone market. It’s been reported that Qualcomm is aiming at a second wave of growth.

The complexity of smartphone chips is growing at an exponential rate, and Qualcomm is noting that now they have powerful-enough procs that make them best suited for drones. Amazon and Facebook have both reported testing drones for either product delivery or drone-delivered internet access.

In a recent statement, regarding their Qualcomm Snapdragon Flight platform, the company notes that they believe they can bring robotics to a whole new level. Qualcomm Snapdragon Flight platform is aimed at helping manufacturers and developers across the world to build consumer drones. The company notes that they don’t shy away from robots either.

It’s going to be a platform that consists of a highly integrated board. This board will be based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 proc.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon Flight platform will consist of a Snapdragon 801 SoC paired with a quad-core 2.26GHz proc. It will support dual-band Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. It has support for real-time flight control system, 4K video processing and GNSS, which is Global Navigation Satellite System.

Another sweet feature is that it has quick charge enabled – it’s the size of a business card.

Now, consumers wishing to acquire a drone are met face to face with a huge question. Do I want to buy a powerful and expensive UAV? Or will I get the same amount of fun out of a cheap drone?

This confusion will most likely disappear with Qualcomm cementing its position in the drone industry.

They even have their first customer. Yuneec, a Chinese drone manufacturer will launch a drone based on Qualcomm’s board in 2016.

Every drone manufacturer meets this challenge – all the parts that make a drone are expensive. From cameras to navigation to wireless tech. They all come from different vendors, and keeping it cheap is a pain in the chipset.

However, expensive drones that will be the epitome of the industry will still remain highly sought after. Take the DJI Phantom 3 drone, it costs $799, it can shoot in 2,7k and it can fly around for twenty five minutes on a single charge.

Yet, Parrot continues to make bank with their toy-like drones. They cost slightly over $200 and they come in all shapes and sizes.

I would very much love the Qualcomm Snapdragon Flight platform to reduce the prices of UAVs, but how cheaper can you get?

Image Source: 1, 2, 3

Samsung Galaxy View Launching This October

September 7, 2015 By Cristopher Hall Leave a Comment

Samsung Galaxy View was unveiled at the IFA 2015 Berlin

The IFA 2015 Berlin event 5-10 September

During the Berlin IFA 2015 event, Samsung teased their upcoming next gen tablet the Samsung Galaxy View. Rumors were plentiful but now we have an official date.

The South Korean-based manufacturer will release their ginormous tablet this October.

It’s a 18.4-inch device tasked with increasing the company’s tablet sales. Unfortunately, popularity for this kind of device is slowly decreasing. Apple and Samsung are witnessing a decline in sales – the iPad and Galaxy Tab aren’t doing that well compared to last year.

The main reason is that there are more flagship smartphones manufactured with bigger displays than ever before. Take a look at Apple’s iPhone 6 Plus or Samsung’s Galaxy Note 5 and S6 Edge Plus.

Smartphone screen size is bigger and functionality is almost on par. Why would a consumer buy a tablet when he can acquire a smartphone that he can keep in his pockets?

With the Samsung Galaxy View 18.4-inch tablet, the smartphone manufacturer is hoping to entice consumers to make a 180 degrees turnaround.

Apple is also aware of this. Their counter-attack could very well be a new 12.9-inch iPad Pro, rumors have it.

The new SM-T670, dubbed the Samsung Galaxy View, will sport a 1920 x 1080 resolution on the 18.4-inch display. However, screen quality is somewhat sub par to what we are accustomed to. There will be no AMOLED display on Samsung’s new tablet.

Samsung HQ

The Samsung Galaxy View houses the company’s proprietary Exynos 7580 proc and 2 gigs of RAM. The gigantic device will have 32 gigs of built-in storage. At the current moment we don’t know if we will be able to expand size via a microSD card slot.

For such a big device, there has to be a bigger power source. Samsung features a 5,700mAh battery to juice the 18.4-inch display. The company notes that the device will be packaged with an integrated stand. This means that you will be able to use it as a monitor in order to fully take advantage of its capabilities.

We don’t know the display’s ppi and we don’t know at how much the Samsung Galaxy View will retail at. What we do know is the basic specs and that it’s going to be available this October.

We will have to wait until October to see if the entertainment behemoth’s new device will increase tablet sales, or if it’s a dead and gone tech.

However, if you can’t wait until then, you might want to take a look at Lenovo’s new phablet line. They are pretty weird but the specs on those babies are just to die for.

Image Source: 1, 2

Meet Rolly, The First Rollable Keyboard By LG

August 27, 2015 By Cristopher Hall Leave a Comment

The official description of the product we’ve all been craving for is here and has us fangirling over LG’s solid “roll it yourself” keyboard. LG knows what most tablet and smartphone users lack: space. So they’ve been working on a rollable keyboard that compacts into a stick when you don’t use it.

The wireless portable keyboard‘s announcement took place before the German tech show, IFA, which will start on September 4th in Berlin. After the model will be officially unveiled and launched, the gadget will be ready to hit the shelves in the US, Europe, Latam and Asia.

LG has been known for their home appliances, but in recent years they’ve been focusing on smartphones and tablets as well. Their latest release, the rollable keyboard, will be made from impact resistant polycarbonate and plastic.

When unfolded, it will have four rows of keys and two foldable arms at the top edge that will support your smartphone or your tablet.

With a single AAA battery and Bluetooth 3.0, Rolly should keep you powered up for a maximum of three months. After it’s unrolled from its stick shape it is automatically enabled for auto pairing.

The full sized QWERTY keyboard will save up on storage and portability so you can say good bye to straining your eyes and fingertips to type on your tablet.

LG didn’t compromise on size too much. While regular keyboards having 18 mm, Rolly’s keys will be 17 mm. We’re still in the dark about its costs, but that’s really overshadowed by the thought that this rollable keyboard will fit in a purse or a bag.

According to LG, their purpose was to design an item that would enhance LG smartphones and tablets without sacrificing the looks or feel. Following this goal, they didn’t create a mere silicone keyboard, but went for physical keys that would withstand even the most furious typist.

Although the rollable keyboard lacks a row entirely dedicated to numbers, LG promises the key pitch will give you the satisfaction of a full fledged keyboard.

Rolly will also be able to connect to two devices at once. Pressing a special button on the keyboard will help you switch back and forth between the devices.

LG has even bigger plans for the future: there have been talks about some other mobile accessories. With a start like this, we’re setting high expectations for LG, who’d better live up to their reputation and deliver other top notch devices like the Rolly.

Image sources 1, 2, 3

Samsung Vs Apple Drawing Closer To An End?

August 24, 2015 By Cristopher Hall Leave a Comment

With the two smartphone giants pitted against each other, it’s no wonder everyone is keeping their eyes people on the Samsung vs Apple patent suit. Which one of them are you rooting for?

The war between the two companies begun back in 2011, with the iPhone maker hitting Samsung with various patent infringement suits. In July 2012 the companies had opened over 50 lawsuits world wide against each other and were both taking the hit in the form of billions of dollars in damages. A year later Apple was receiving a favorable ruling in the USA, while Samsung was winning in South Korea, Japan and the UK.

Fast forward to 2015, when Samsung vs Apple is still ongoing, making the headlines and wasting the companies’ money. The newest development is Samsung’s decision to request the Supreme Court of the United States to rehear their appeal. A San Jose federal jury found Samsung guilty of violating the iPhone’s patents back in 2012.

According to the ruling from 2012, Samsung violated Apple’s patents in twenty three products. As a consequence, Samsung has to pay $548 million, well under the $1 billion Apple originally requested.

While Samsung’s appeal has already been denied twice now, they’re running out of options. So they decided to take it up with the Supreme Court and argue before them. Other big names are expected to show up in the Samsung vs Apple epic battle.

So far, Samsung has benefited from support from Hewlett Packard, Google, Dell, eBay and Facebook, all backing up the South Korean phone manufacturer’s efforts.

On August 19, Samsung said they intend to ask SCOTUS to take over the case, after a couple of years of unsuccessful tactics, appeals and patent lawsuits.

We can understand Apple is only trying to protect its intellectual property, but how much is too much? The ongoing Samsung vs Apple lawsuit speaks volumes about the two giants’ determination to dispute each and every patent suit.

An overall view on the two smartphone manufacturers’ business betrays their noble intentions. The effects of the fifty open lawsuits translate into expensive law and courtroom tactics that have ended up far away from the original intent of the first suit.

Will the Samsung vs Apple patent war that seems eternal ever end? Neither of the two parties seem bent on finding an amicable solution for the battle, especially when each loss from one of them translates into the other’s win.

Image sources 1, 2, 3

Square Enix’s Triple Triad is a Freemium App, Sharpen Your Pitchforks Guys!

August 22, 2015 By Cristopher Hall Leave a Comment

Welp, this took only years to see the light of day.

Triple Triad is a petite card game found in Final Fantasy VII. It’s much more fun to play it rather than spending countless hours just watching boring cutscene after boring cutscene. If you want to take a walk down on memory lane, here’s a link to the Triple Triad Card Game.

Nobody can ever forget the soundtrack that accompanied the game – sproing, peew, sproing, crackle!

Triple Triad hasn’t been forgotten by Square Enix. In their Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, released in 2013, on August, the card game makes an appearance. Although, a shallow one at best.

Developer Square Enix has since then decided that Triple Triad deserves a little bit more love and, of course, polish. So, they unveiled their plan of releasing TT on mobile devices. Great idea – people tend to play card games on tablets and smartphones.

The annoying bit? Besides taking just forever for it to launch, the Triple Triad game for Android and iOS is a freemium app.

As we all know, freemium is known as the bubonic mobile plague. You’ll be able to play the game without paying for anything, but if you want the full experience then you’ll have to cough up some cashola. That is, if you don’t mind waiting minutes, hours, and even days to play.

If you want to play a TT game, it will cost one crystal. By default you get five. It takes 30 minutes for you to restore a single crystal. Want to play more? then you need to purchase gils, which is an in-app currency that can be bought using real-world money.

The almost free Triple Triad card game isn’t a standalone app. It comes packed within the Final Fantasy Portal app. If you get that, then you’ll also have Final Fantasy 1 for free – it’s a limited time offer, so you better hurry with this one.

Furthermore, Final Fantasy VII is available on iOS devices starting today. It has a beefed up price-tag of $15.99 – considering the fact that the majority of paid games commonly cost 99 cents or $1.99, and they are riddled with ads, FF VII might be a bargain. Might.

Square Enix recommends players to use it on at least an iPhone 5, or an iPad, iPad Mini 2 third-generation tablet with iOS 8.

Using older hardware and software might make possible an appearance of ” unforeseen errors”, notes Square Enix.

Before you Cloud Strife fans pop a vein out of excitement, you’ll need 4 gigs of space, and 2 gigs of RAM to be able to play it.

Image Source: 1, 2, 3

SwiftKey Reveals Popular Emojis For Each State

August 19, 2015 By Cristopher Hall Leave a Comment

SwiftKey, the Android and iOS program for predicting the next word the users will type, has just revealed which are the most popular emojis in each state. SwiftKey gathers its data by analyzing the users’ previous messages as well as looking at social media posts.

So what did the results tell us about the United States of Emoji? After analyzing more than a billion popular emojis from its users, SwiftKey let everyone know that California really likes taxis, while Nevada is mesmerized by eggplants.

The company that was founded in 2008 revealed that they now know a great deal about how people interact and communicate. And this includes popular emojis use. SwiftKey’s US Emoji Report revealed where Californians’ emojis stand at: they ranked high for taxi icons (Uber and Lyft are based here), but also for healthy, positive things like sushi, sunset, bike and lemon.

An unexpected discovery came from Hawaii. You’d expect their SwiftKey users to rank high for rainbows, waves and volcanoes, but everyone was surprised to see they also like to use the basketball emoji as often as the can.

The firm’s report doesn’t come alone. They just brought out a new feature that is momentarily only available in iPhone beta which will let you know what your distinctive emoji is. And if you’re an iOs user, besides learning what you signature emoji is, you can also check out which state best represents you.

Let’s expand our horizons and look over the borders. What are other countries’ most popular emojis? While Americans are in the lead with overall emoji use, Canada and Malaysia are right behind, on second and third place, while Vietnam ranks last on the list. Wondering what country really digs romantic emojis? The Russians are in the lead, using three times as many love emojis than the average.

Brazilians showed a preference for religious emojis such as prayer hands and church icons, which were more than double the average. Malaysians seemed hooked on the sleep related icons, while Australians don’t shy away from overusing drug emojis like cigarettes. The US ranks first in the meat department, with the French people using the least meaty emojis.

If you were wondering where Spain falls in all of this, they lived up to their reputation and ranked first in party emojis. At the same time, Arabs really like using the red dressed dancing lady.

SwiftKey seems to continuously improve its knowledge, which is not only limited to popular emojis. That means the software can predict your next word while you’re typying, and it can also auto correct your messages. By storing your preferences online, users can easily access them from any gadget. You didn’t know you’re already using so much artificial intelligence to your benefit, did you?

Image sources 1, 2, 3

Categories