News

By July 1, 2016 Read More →

Lycamobile expands its network to 21 countries

popup-lyca-simLycamobile, the world’s largest international mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), has launched its service in Macedonia, the 21st country in its international network.

Macedonians can now benefit from Lycamobile’s low-cost rates for international and domestic calls as well as data services. Lycamobile’s proposition will particularly appeal to Macedonians looking to call or visit friends and family abroad, as there are large communities of Macedonians worldwide and Lycamobile is able to offer them an impressive no roaming charges in 18 countries worldwide. This reflects its companywide vision which is to give all its customers the opportunity to connect with friends and family around the world at the most competitive price.

Macedonia’s goal for EU candidacy since 2005 has allowed for close economic ties with the Union, resulting in increased development to the telecom sector as it prepares for the competitive environment encouraged in the EU. Subsequently, the telecom market accounts for 7% of the country’s GDP*, which is well above the EU average, making it a strategic decision for Lycamobile to take advantage of such a growing market.

Founded with a mission to connect friends and family around the world, Lycamobile has grown quickly to serve 15 million customers around the world, including in Europe, the USA, Australia, Hong Kong and Tunisia.

Lycamobile chairman Subaskaran Allirajah commented: “Macedonia is an emerging country situated in the heart of Southeast Europe. Surrounded by some of our most thriving countries, its telecoms industry has received significant foreign investment in recent years. One of those was Thailand and they followed the boi thailand requirements. With this in mind, Macedonia is the next step as we continue to expand internationally.”

Posted in: News, Press Releases
By June 24, 2016 Read More →

European monitor market grows again

downloadaAccording to the latest figures from the analyst Context, the monitor market in Europe made a big step of recovery after decreasing for more than 18 months. The recent growth rate of seven percent in the first quarter of 2016 is the highest for the segment since more than five years. The driving force behind this growth, according to Context, is mainly characterised by higher resolutions, better colour reproduction, panel or screen size upgrades. But also new gaming features provided fresh inputs to the market. In general, this trend is predicted to be valid for the coming quarters, leading AOC and MMD to expect a continued growth. As a matter of fact, AOC and MMD, license partner for Philips monitors, performed extraordinarily well in this recovering market: Together the two companies increased their sold volume of monitors by 35 percent in the first quarter 2016 compared to the same quarter the year before. Following this development their joint market position took two steps from Number 4 a year ago to Number 2 this year. AOC and MMD both are subsidiaries of TPV, the global leading display specialist.

Also in Western Europe the market grew by seven percent in the first quarter 2016. And also here the two brands outperformed the market. Philips grew in volume by 27 percent, AOC by 29 percent in the first quarter 2016 compared to the same quarter the year before. AOC and Philips are the fastest growing brands in Western Europe and together the two brands reach a market share of 11 percent – which leads to a Number 3 position in the Western European monitor market.

“The recent development is a very good sign for the monitor market in general and especially for our two brands AOC and Philips”, says Thomas Schade, Vice President Europe for AOC and MMD. “Both our brands outperformed the market development. This underlines that our innovation driven and monitor-focused strategy pays off. In 11 European countries we are now on the Number 1 position and we have strong top 3 positions in many more countries. Together with our partners in the trade we will further develop our positions with our ongoing delivery of innovations.”

After a decrease during last year, the monitor market of the United Kingdom and Ireland grew by more than ten percent in the first quarter 2016 compared to the same quarter last year. AOC and Philips both outperformed the market with a volume growth of almost 30 percent. As a result the two brand’s market share grew by 17 percent and together, they now hold the Number 4 position in the market

Posted in: News, Press Releases
By June 17, 2016 Read More →

AOC AGON Premium Gaming Monitor with NVIDIA G-SYNC and IPS

AOC, one of the top global brands in the display market, presents the NVIDIA G-SYNC™ edition of their AGON premium gaming monitor with a colourful IPS panel – the AGON AG271QG. With its native 2560 x 1440 pixel resolution the display delivers extremely fast images at 165 Hz without motion blur, screen tearing and display stutter, thanks to the built-in NVIDIA G-SYNC™ technology, which synchronizes display refresh rates with those of the graphics card. On top of this astonishing gaming performance, AOC equipped the AGON AG271QG with IPS panel technology (AHVA) showing digital colours at their best for a vividly-thrilling gaming and video experience.

By ensuring smooth and vivid images the AGON AG271QG furthermore supports competitive gamers’ aspirations with minimal input lag ensuring instantaneously-executed input commands and AOC Flicker-free technology eliminating screen flicker and therefore decreasing eye discomfort and fatigue, enabling gamers to stay on target undauntedly.

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The most relentlessly competitive gamers need far more comfort than just for their target-trained eyes. For the gamer’s body to stay strong, a comfortable posture, even in a gaming chair, is of utmost importance to endure endless gaming sessions unimpaired. The adjustable stand AOC Ergo Dial features height-adjustment with a scale for its users to remember their preferred setting. Furthermore gamers can fine-tune the comfort settings by adjusting the tilt of the AGON AG271QG and using the swivel adjustment when needed.

The AOC AGON AG271QG premium gaming monitor, specially designed for enthusiastic gamers, will hit the stores in July 2016 for an MSRP of £639.

More details about the AOC AGON AG271QG: http://aoc-europe.com/en/products/ag271qg

Posted in: Desktop Computing, News
By June 13, 2016 Read More →

Blockbuster Independence Day returns with AOC as its official monitor partner

-ykhHR7y_400x400Twenty years after the first film, the long anticipated epic action-adventure Independence Day: Resurgence, which stars many of the original actors as well as Hollywood newcomers, finally hits the cinema screens this summer. Display specialist AOC teams up with 20th Century Fox as the official monitor partner of the upcoming movie, in which AOC displays will appear. Moreover, AOC and its retail partners will have access to exclusive Independence Day: Resurgence online and offline promotional materials.

AOC_IDR-Advert

Epic marketing materials
As part of the cooperation with 20th Century Fox, AOC displays will not only appear in the long anticipated science-fiction sequel by star director Roland Emmerich, but AOC and its retail partners will also have access to exclusive online and offline promotional materials for use during special promotional events and more. Selected artwork can be used online, e.g. as screen content or background for AOC monitors. Further online materials include banners and e-mail signature designs, while roll-up banners will be available for POS or other indoor/outdoor use. This way, both AOC and Independence Day: Resurgence will gain optimal exposure to an even broader audience.

A promising sequel
The current cooperation is not the first one for AOC and 20th Century Fox, who previously teamed up for other hit movies including last year’s critically acclaimed sci-fi film The Martian, the 2014 blockbuster Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, the 2013 superhero comic book adaptation The Wolverine and the 2012 animated film Ice Age 4. A variety of marketing materials for all of these titles helped increase visibility for both the AOC brand and the movies, a success story which the two cooperation partners are now excited to continue with Independence Day: Resurgence.

Posted in: Desktop Computing, News
By June 10, 2016 Read More →

Lenovo brings the Motorola Moto Z And Moto Z Force

Moto_Z-Back_575pxYesterday at the keynote address of Lenovo Tech World 2016 in San Francisco we saw the launch of the much-awaited Moto Z and Moto Z Force smartphones. Both devices are to launch globally from September, alongside with their Moto Mods add-ons. In the US, they will be renamed to the Moto Z Droid and the Moto Z Force Droid and are launching on Verizon Wireless. The company has not detailed prices of either smartphone yet. The Moto Z is said to be the thinnest premium smartphone in the world. Most interestingly both devices omit the 3.5mm headphone jack, meaning you will need a set of Bluetooth headphones, USB-C wired headphones, or a USB-C to headphone jack adapter!

These devices are to be launched with fairly interesting Moto Mods magnetic snap-on back panels from various partners, including JBL and Incipio. Both smartphones will also feature support from Motorola’s popular Moto Maker customisation. The battery is reported to deliver up to 30 hours of battery life, with the TurboPower charger giving 8 hours of battery life in 15 minutes. On the Moto X Force is a Moto ShatterShield, this technology protects the display and the company insists will not crack or shatter.

As mentioned above Moto Mods connect to the 16 pogo points on the rear. To provide extra hardware functionality, much like the LG G5. Examples that will be available for purchase in September will include the JBL SoundBoost, the Moto Insta-Share Projector and the Power Pack battery life extender. The Insta-Share Projector can deliver a 70-inch projected picture Power Pack can provide up to 22 hours of additional battery life. Style Shells will also be available offering like real wood, leather, and fabric finishings.

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Motorola Moto Z

  • Operating System: Android 6.0.1
  • Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 820
  • RAM: 4GB LPDDR4
  • ROM: 32GB / 64GB + microSD
  • Screen: 5.5-inch 2560×1440 AMOLED, Corning Gorilla Glass
  • Dimensions: 153.3 x 75.3 x 5.19 mm
  • Weight: 136 grams
  • Front facing camera: 5MP, 1.4µm pixels, f/2.2, LED flash
  • Rear camera: 13MP, 1.12µm pixels, f/1.8, Laser AF, OIS, Auto HDR, dual-color LED flash
  • Battery: 2600 mAh non-removable
  • fingerprint scanner
  • USB Type-C port

Moto_Z_Force-Hero_575px

Motorola Moto Z Force

  • Operating System: Android 6.0.1
  • Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 820
  • RAM: 4GB LPDDR4
  • ROM: 32GB / 64GB + microSD
  • Screen: 5.5-inch 2560×1440 AMOLED, Moto ShatterShield
  • Dimensions: 155.9 x 75.8 x 6.99 mm
  • Weight: 163 grams
  • Front facing camera: 5MP, 1.4µm pixels, f/2.2, LED flash
  • Rear camera: 21MP, 1.12µm pixels, f/1.8, PDAF + Laser AF, OIS, Auto HDR, dual-color LED flash
  • Battery: 3500 mAh non-removable
Posted in: News, Phones
By June 10, 2016 Read More →

Lenovo launches the Phab 2 line with Project Tango

610201610846AM_635_lenovo_phab_2_proAt the Lenovo Tech World 2016 in San Francisco, Yang Yuanqing, the Chairman and CEO of Lenovo announced the first consumer facing Project Tango smartphone during his keynote address on yesterday. For a consumer launch, Google has graduated from the project phase whilst keeping it Tango.

The first device to feature this new technology will be the Lenovo Phab 2 Pro, a smartphone Lenovo has design in collaboration with Google. The new technology makes “AR and VR as pervasive as your GPS.” In other words, Tango is centred around the cameras vision with sensor setup that provides motion tracking, depth perception, and area learning. This can enable augmented reality applications like indoor navigation and mapping, searching, and gaming. With depth sensing, it can use gesture tracking in virtual reality.

The smartphone will become globally available on retail shelves in September, and Lenovo said they are expected to start shipping from online stores in August. The Lenovo Phab 2 Pro is priced at $499. UK price will differ slightly, hopefully.

We saw the first Lenovo Phab at IFA in Berlin last year and whilst a good looking device it was not destined for our shore. So the Phab name is not one well known amongst the British public.

  • Display – 6.40-inch QHD IPS display
  • Resolution – 1440×2560 pixels
  • Processor – 1.8GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 SoC “Tango Edition”
  • RAM – 4GB
  • Storage – 64GB
  • Front Camera – 8-megapixel
  • Rear Camera – 16-megapixel RGB camera
  • Battery capacity – 4050mAh delivering 15-hours battery life


Additionally, the Lenovo Phab 2 Pro houses the depth-sensing, infrared camera with an imager and an emitter, as well as the motion tracking camera. It also sports Dolby Atmos audio technology for its speakers, apart from Dolby Audio 5.1 Capture technology for recording 3D sound.

Also mentioned was a new, special, Tango app store featuring 25 apps at launch, with the hope to reach 100 apps by year-end.

In addition to the Phab Pro 2 the company also announced the Lenovo Phab 2 (priced at $199) and the Lenovo Phab 2 Plus (priced at $299). Both smartphones feature 6.4-inch displays, but where the former features an HD display, the latter bears a full-HD display. The Phab 2, with a 13-megapixel rear camera and a 5-megapixel front camera and a quad-core MediaTek MT8735 SoC, coupled with 2GB of RAM. The Phab 2 Plus with dual 13-megapixel rear cameras with Fujitsu Milbeaut imaging software, and a 8-megapixel front camera, an octa-core MediaTek MT8783 SoC coupled with 3GB of RAM and the fingerprint sensor on the rear panel seen on the Phab Pro 2.

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By June 8, 2016 Read More →

The Patent Scam to destroy app development soon

urlIt would seem a specific type of Patent trolling is starting to take grip. Austin Meyers, the designer of the X-Plane series illustrates in a short video on Youtube how he is being taken to court over submitting his popular game to the Google Play Store. In the lawsuit from the lawyer for theft crimes that is dragging on for almost 5 years Mr. Meyers takes the viewer a fairly disgusting journey of scummy law deals and corruption that could easily destroy many forms of innovation.

One of the hardest parts of defending the actions here is that the Jury might not have a full understanding of what actually is going on. The system appears to be too corrupt for any changes to be made. Thankfully, Mr. Meyers isn’t afraid of the task and manages to illustrate the story in a lightweight manner, especially when you consider how infuriating this must be for a farce to carry on so long. One can only hope Google will step in here with their army of lawyers. Google, Microsoft, and Apple, have every interest in destroying this type of action as this is an industry that will destroy their developer community.

Find out more at www.patentscam.com

Posted in: News
By June 7, 2016 Read More →

Have Three screwed their customers again? #Makeitright

kwOR1FfRSeveral months ago in the UK Three announced that they would be changing their contracts structure and forcing all of those who were enjoying the £15 a month all-you-can-eat bundle onto a vastly more expensive tariff with less benefits. The Hashtag #Makeitright became an avenue for angry customers to vent their frustration as Three swung their axe.

On the All-You-Can-Eat, £15 a month, SIM only tariff you could enjoy unlimited minutes, unlimited messages, truly unlimited data (without a cap,) and unlimited tethering. This was on top of Three’s already excellent value for money Feel At Home benefit when it came to calling home from abroad.

Of course all good things come to an end. And with Three it was like dropping an hammer on your toes. A few months later and most of those customers have either moved on to another network or are paying potentially double for a lot less than the contract before. To keep something similar to the All-You-Can-Eat tariff would cost the customer £30 a month and they will lose the unlimited tethering.

This was a no escape scenario you were moving contract whether you liked it or not. Regardless of how long you were on the Network, attempting to haggle with call agents resulted in little movement on Three’s part. Their new contracts were set in stone and there was absolutely no wiggle room. Threatening to leave the network resulted in Three merely suggesting that you close the door on your way out. However, they knew their contracts were still slightly better value with slightly more bonuses than you would find on other networks.  Three forced customers regardless.

Now a source inside Three has suggested that the reason why the cheap deals have been removed is that Three had spent millions of pounds on extra bandwidth to cater for the purchase of O2 and when the deal fell through they no need to increase their customer base. Losing customers was helpful and those who stayed would help subsidise the cost of expansion. They lost a lot of customers with their heavy handed approach and now they’re trying to win them back with more cheap deals, for example:

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Those customers who stayed loyal will have to continue on the contract that they have agreed whilst new customers are going to be paying possibly half the price for six months before moving to a regular price for the last 6 months. Obviously this is going to leave a bad taste in the mouth of anyone who has recently renewed a contract begrudgingly taking one of the lesser value contracts.

Posted in: News, Phones
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By June 7, 2016 Read More →

Samsung may launch two foldable displays in early 2017

folding-display-galaxy-samsungWe keep hearing rumblings from Samsung that a phone with a foldable display is on it’s way and now a new report from Bloomberg suggests the phone will be unveiled at next year’s Mobile World Congress. The South Korean manufacturer is said to be mulling two models with “bendable” displays. One phone with likely feature a 5-inch display that can be unfurled into a tablet-sized 8-inch screen. The phone will not be the first to feature a bendable AMOLED screen, as Samsung already uses the technology on its current edge devices and even dating back to the Gear S smartwatch. The difference is that the edge screen is fixed in place, Project Valley is said to offer a malleable display.

From Bloomberg:

The devices using organic light-emitting diodes could be unveiled as soon as early 2017, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private. The second Samsung model will have a 5-inch screen when used as a handset, that unfurls into a display that’s as large as 8 inches, similar to a tablet, the people said.

Codenamed “Project Valley,” Samsung could unveil one or both of the devices as soon as February, when Mobile World Congress takes place in Barcelona, one of the people said.

Project Valley has been bouncing around for a while now and seems to be one of the hottest new technology since VR took the spotlight from Smartwatches.

Posted in: News, Rumours
By June 3, 2016 Read More →

Zappar brings AR and VR creation to the masses with ZapWorks

stdZappar, a global leader in augmented reality (AR), has launched a comprehensive set of augmented reality and virtual reality creation tools called ZapWorks at Augmented World Expo. The suite is designed to let digital creatives author the best, snackable and immersive AR/VR content experiences in the market.

ZapWorks has been in development for more than five years, and was originally built to meet Zappar’s own need for powerful AR creation tools, as the company created world-leading AR campaigns for partners like Rovio/Angry Birds, Coca-Cola, PEZ and Warner Bros.

“Worldwide, we’ve made thousands of bite-sized AR experiences for hundreds of brands over the past five years, using our proprietary authoring tools to help partners engage with their audience on mobile and sell more product,” said Caspar Thykier, co-founder and CEO of Zappar. “Instead of keeping the tools to ourselves, and in line with our mission to truly democratize AR for the first time, we’re setting the full suite loose through ZapWorks—re-imagining what’s possible on the mobile canvas as we begin to not only look at our phone screens, but see through them. We’re delighted to announce that with ZapWorks, those experiences can now extend beyond AR to creating short form VR content as well. This is a game-changer.”

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Key ZapWorks features include:

  • Fully vertically integrated tools provide a single user interface for creating and distributing content and gathering analytics
  • Tiered, per-seat subscription with unlimited free zapcodes
    • Basic seat: £30 per month, allows users to manage codes and use the Widgets and Designer tools
    • Pro seat: £90 per month, access to the entire suite, including ZapWorks Studio, which allows users to build more advanced AR and VR experiences
  • Unparalleled feature set for creating short-form content, including AR, VR, 3D model support, JavaScript actions, and single-click previewing and publishing
  • Uniquely, gives the ability to publish VR content over the air without creating a stand-alone app and enduring the hassle of app store submission processes

In addition to augmented reality creation, ZapWorks supports the creation of virtual reality experiences for devices such as Google Cardboard, aligning with the company’s and experts’ belief that the two technologies will increasingly be presented together.

“ZapWorks was used to create the fantastic AR experiences on our dispensers tied to the Angry Birds Action! game,” said Gabriele Hofinger, Head of Marketing, PEZ International. “We pride ourselves on being the pioneer of interactive candy, so it’s a natural next step to move into AR and add another layer of interactivity for our customers. What Zappar is doing with these tools will really bring this tech to bear in the marketplace.”

The three modules offered in ZapWorks are:

  • Widgets: Quick and simple way to create basic AR content (i.e., images, videos, contacts, etc.)
  • Designer: Allows you to create more customized, interactive AR content, including  experiences with advanced image tracking
  • Studio:  A fully scriptable, 3D toolkit for advanced users for AR and VR

Zappar co-founder and CTO Connell Gauld will be giving a talk at AWE on today at 7:30pm BST (2:30pm PDT) to unveil ZapWorks and discuss its potential to transform AR/VR creation.

 

For more information, visit ZapWorks [and try it out for free!] at https://zap.works

Posted in: Apps & Games, News, Press Releases
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