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VanMoof refreshes its e-bike lineup with the $3,000 S5 and A5
The new models have a built-in halo ring interface, a phone charger and across-the-board upgrades.
Panasonic confirms the full-frame S5 camera is coming September 2nd
Panasonic has confirmed that the rumored S5 mirrorless full-frame camera exists and that it will launch on September 2nd at an online event. The new model is expected to be smaller and lighter than the existing S1, while offering many of the same features at a lower price point.
String a few Galaxy S5s together and you can mine bitcoin
Samsung read the last e-waste report from Greenpeace too, and likely wasn't too happy about the slamming it got from the organization. Which leads us to the Korean electronics juggernaut's system for upcycling old phones. Specifically, the company rigged a bunch of them together and turned them into a bitcoin mining contraption. According to Motherboard, Samsung strung 40 Galaxy S5 together to mine recently, and apparently just eight of them wired together can mine in a way that's more power-efficient than a desktop computer.
Galaxy S5 LTE-A is Samsung's first phone with a QHD display and Snapdragon 805 chip
Samsung has just announced a special variant of the Galaxy S5 for its home market. The phone -- simply dubbed Galaxy S5 LTE-A -- plays host to the manufacturer's first 2,560 x 1,440 display, which produces an even higher pixel density than the LG G3 (577 vs. 538 ppi) due to the use of a slightly smaller 5.1-inch panel. We're also seeing the first appearance of Qualcomm's Snapdragon 805 chipset (rather than an in-house Exynos processor), which is accompanied by 3GB of RAM and is built to handle 4K video playback and faster graphics in general. This chip supports LTE-Advanced too, which will apparently deliver data speeds of up to 225Mb/s to stunned, jaw-dropped customers on South Korean networks. Meanwhile, there's no word on whether this variant is headed to the West, or whether it's the fabled Galaxy S5 Prime that has been rumored for so long. But even if this is a Korea-only product, it can still be seen as a test-run for the global release of the impending Galaxy Note 4, which will almost certainly pack many of the same specs and components.
Verizon Samsung Galaxy S5 cameras are failing spectacularly
Well, this is embarrassing: the Samsung Galaxy S5 has only been on the market for two weeks, and it's already developed a major fault -- at least for Verizon customers. "Warning," the devices reads. "Camera failure." The camera module appears to be failing outright, with no hope of being revived. Users have tried restarting their camera apps, rebooting devices and even performing factory resets, but nothing works. For now, the only working fix seems to be replacing a device, but some users are still holding out for a software fix. Fortunately, Verizon and Samsung are both being fairly candid about the issue -- both companies have acknowledged the faulty camera and are asking customers to contact support for troubleshooting and warranty replacements. Most of the failed devices seem to be coming from Verizon specifically, but BGR says it's seen similar reports from Sprint customers, too. Have a faulty device? Skip past the break for Samsung's official response and customer service instructions.
Defiantly plastic: designing the Galaxy S5
"Our major aims were usability, friendliness and a more humanistic design. We wanted something with a pleasing feel ... and better grip. If we used metal, [we felt] the designs felt heavy and cold," explains Senior Product Designer Dong Hun Kim, pointing to why Samsung still plays in polycarbonate. "But with plastic, the texture is warmer. We believe users will find [the device] both warmer and friendlier. This material was also the best at visually expressing volume, better at symbolizing our design concepts." The design concept for Samsung's Galaxy S5? Modern and flash -- and boy, that blue GS5 is certainly flashy. In the middle of a design library deep inside Samsung's "Digital City" in Suwon, Jeeyeun Wang, Samsung's principal user experience designer continues, putting it to me this way: the smartphone is no longer a cold slab of technology; "it's a fashion product now."
Samsung Galaxy S5 Developer Edition coming soon to Verizon
Samsung released Developer Editions of the Galaxy SIII and S4, so it's not a huge surprise to see a similarly-equipped Galaxy S5 appear on the company's website. The listing reveals that a CDMA-capable version with Verizon branding will land at some point in the future, but fails to elaborate further. What we do know is that it'll be available in black with 16GB internal storage, and we'd guess that it won't be offered under subsidy -- but that's a small price to pay for an unlocked bootloader. There's no word on if AT&T will get a Developer Edition S5 of its very own, but we wouldn't be shocked if one popped up in the next few days.
Feedback Loop: Best Android phone, cameras in tablets, finding good deals and more!
Welcome to Feedback Loop, a weekly roundup of the most interesting discussions happening within the Engadget community. There's so much technology to talk about and so little time to enjoy it, but you have a lot of great ideas and opinions that need to be shared! Join us every Saturday as we highlight some of the most interesting discussions that happened during the past week. Happy Saturday! Did you survive April Fools' Day? We did and are here to bring you another edition of Feedback Loop. This week, we debated the merits of the Samsung Galaxy S5 versus the new HTC One, asked if cameras in tablets are a good idea, talked about how to find the best gadget deals online, sought advice on the best everyday cameras and wondered what's up with these crazy luxury feature phones. Head on past the break and join the conversation in the Engadget forums.
Galaxy S5 hits stores early in Korea, as carriers try to dodge sales suspension
South Korea's major carriers have pulled their Galaxy S5 launch date forward to, well, today, despite Samsung's efforts to keep the native networks in line with the global launch date on April 11. According to a statement received by Bloomberg, Samsung is "very puzzled." "SK strongly asked form an earlier release of the product by we delivered our stance that the global release date of April 11 remains unchanged." In South Korea, recent illegal discounts from carriers led to the government regulator slapping a 45-day ban on new customer sign-ups. Carriers apparently already have the GS5 in stock for both marketing activities and to cover their pre-orders on launch day.
Samsung Galaxy S5 might come with a fingerprint sensor
Folks excited to buy a Galaxy S5 so they can authenticate with their eyeballs and feel like Ethan Hunt might be in for a disappointment. According to Sammobile, Samsung's upcoming flagship will come with a fingerprint sensor -- one that's embedded on the home button à la iPhone 5S. If this report is true, however, that's about the extent of the scanners' similarities, as S5's is supposed to be markedly different and more sophisticated. Users reportedly need to swipe their finger from base to tip across the button (their print will appear on the screen as they swipe), and authentication will fail if their hands are wet. The phone can store up to eight fingerprints for different purposes, such as to launch particular apps or verify their Samsung accounts. Some of these stored fingerprints can also be used to access two new features called Personal Folder and Private Mode, where users can keep apps, widgets and files for their eyes only. We obviously won't know for sure until Samsung launches the Galaxy S5: thankfully, we might only have to wait a few more days to find out if any of these claims are even close to being real.
How would you change Acer's Aspire S5?
Were Acer's Aspire S5 an episode of Friends, it'd be "The One With the Motorized Port Cover," and if you've ever seen an episode of Thunderbirds, then you'll know how satisfying it is to watch the mechanized housing in action. Still, was this device worth $1,400 just for the excuse to hum this music while you wait for a USB slot to become available? When it was placed in front of our reviewer, they found that Acer had spent all of its money on gimmicks instead of good build quality, a better display and a better battery life. But for all of you out there, what is your take on this hardware? What did you like, what did you hate, and if the company wanted to hire you to be its next laptop designer, what would you change?
Lenovo ThinkPad S3 and S5 teased, show off aluminum 'floating design'
Starting to get bored of the ThinkPad's classic look but not keen on the Edge series? Then we have good news for you! Earlier today we received a couple of photos that show off two upcoming Lenovo Ultrabooks: the 13-inch ThinkPad S3 (codename "Labatt") and the 15-inch ThinkPad S5 ("Guinness"). As you can see above and after the break, both aluminum laptops feature a new "floating design" that might have taken a page out of Samsung and Vizio's book: shaving off the front outer edges of the bottom side to create that slim and floating illusion. Also, these will apparently come with either a black or silver lid. Some folks on Sina Weibo have received other teaser photos of the ThinkPad S5, with one confirming the presence of JBL stereo speakers. The funny thing is Chinese website Yesky reported on a charity auction that actually sold limited editions of the S3 and S5 earlier this month, but those unannounced Ultrabooks went under everyone else's radar. If you're curious, Yesky speculates that a launch is due in China at the end of this month, but you'll have to stay tuned for the prices and specs.
Acer Aspire S5 review: is this innovative Ultrabook worth $1,400?
With dozens and dozens of Ultrabooks on parade, you'd be forgiven if one skinny laptop with an ultra-low voltage processor started to look like the next. Even so, it's tough to forget the Acer Aspire S5: of all the ultraportables we've seen these last nine months, this is the only one with a motorized port cover. Yeah, that one. It's an intriguing product, to be sure, and the stakes are especially high given that $1,400 price: you'd have to really enjoy that form factor (and everything else) to choose it over some less expensive ultraportable. So is it worth it? Is that drop-down door anything more than a gimmick? Questions for the ages, and ones we'll tackle in our full review after the break.%Gallery-160173%
Acer Aspire S5 Ultrabook arriving this month for $1,400, S3 gets updated with Ivy Bridge and new color
It was only last week that Acer unveiled its first touchscreen Ultrabook, so you'd be forgiven if you forgot about the company's other pinch-thin laptop -- the one that was announced back in January at CES. That would be the Aspire S5, and now, five months later, it's finally going on sale. We just got word that it will hit shelves the last week of this month, with a starting price of $1,400. To recap (in case you've been overwhelmed by all the Ultrabooks on display lately), this is the one with the motorized, drop-down door hiding HDMI, USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt ports. If fourteen hundred bucks seems expensive, remember that these specs (a Core i7 Ivy Bridge processor and 256GB SSD) are actually pretty standard for the money. And, at 2.65 pounds, it's lighter than almost every other 13-inch Ultrabook we've seen. Still, at that price we'd expect something a little crisper than a 1366 x 768 display. For what it's worth, too, the S5 is the first product to ship in the US with the company's free AcerCloud service baked in. In brief, you get unlimited storage for backing up your stuff, all of which you can access remotely using an Android app (Acer has said iOS and Windows Phone versions are on the way). As with other syncing services, your computer needs to be asleep, not powered-off, in order for you to retrieve your files, so avoid shutting down if you think you'll need to reach into your PC later. In other news, Acer is refreshing its first-gen S3 Ultrabook with a new champagne color, and will now offer it with an Ivy Bridge Core i7 processor and 256GB hard drive. The starting price has dropped to $648 with a Sandy Bridge CPU, with the highest-end models fetching about $1,000. Look for these upgraded models sometime next week.%Gallery-158067%
Acer announces 'world's thinnest' 13.3-inch Aspire S5 Ultrabook at CES 2012 (update: pictures)
Not surprisingly, Acer's jumping on the quickly-expanding Ultrabook bandwagon here at CES 2012, with the Aspire S5 being the first out of the chute. It's a 13.3-incher that'll check it at under three pounds, offering up Instant On functionality, a magnesium-aluminum alloy cover (in Onyx Black), HDMI / USB 3.0 / Thunderbolt (!) ports and an SSD for good measure. We're told that it'll start shipping in Q2 of this year, but other details remain under wraps.
Sonos job opening signals entry into wireless home theater audio?
Well now Sonos, what's this? A job opening for a Senior Product Manager to help the company "re-invent home theater sound for the digital age." More specifically, the position will be responsible for leading "new product creation teams." Hard to say for sure, but sophisticated wireless audio for home theaters certainly sounds like a safe refuge now that Marantz, Denon, JBL, iHome, B&W, and countless others will soon be competing with Sonos' whole-home distributed audio solutions just as soon as Apple's new AirPlay technology can gain traction. Besides, just picture a fully synchronized wireless 7.1 channel surround speaker system that requires just a few minutes to setup and works as robustly as Sonos' other streaming audio gear. We imagine that it wouldn't take too many tweaks to Sonos' existing software and hardware (you can already convert two S5 all-in-one speakers into a more powerful stereo pair) to pull it off. And anyone who's ever tried to cleanly wire a home theater for multichannel sound will surely understand why the prospects of going wireless have us more than a little intrigued.
TUAW review: Sonos S5
A few weeks ago, I had a chance to visit the Sonos offices in Cambridge, MA to speak with Jon Reilly, Sonos product manager, and get a demo of the ZonePlayer S5 and the iPad app (free). Sonos makes wireless home music systems, which we've covered here before. I've also spent the last month with 2 S5 demo units. I can say that it's a fantastic product that could not be simpler to set up and use. With one in my office and one in my kitchen, my family has been rocking all month long. The S5 and iOS controllers are a beautifully executed union of hardware and software that's as simple as it is powerful and just plain fun. In fact, I'll be sad to ship these back! Here's our full review of the Sonos S5. %Gallery-104420% Click the link below to read more, and to see a gallery of the iPhone app, the iPad app and the Mac desktop app!
Sonos Controller for iPad: multi-room music dictation, supersized
Got yourself a smattering of Sonos ZonePlayers in need of some direction? Still trying to figure out exactly why you ripped someone's arm off to buy that last local iPad? At long last, the turmoil in your life can be settled... but you'll have to wait till late August for complete peace. You know -- 'cause the gratis Sonos controller for iPad ain't hitting the App Store before then. Head on past the break for a video of how it'll all go down, or just scroll on down if you've got the world's greatest imagination.
Sonos S5 all-in-one wireless speaker fades to black, like your career
The $399 black Sonos S5 is just like the original... only now it's a little bit older and a lot darker. Just like a former teenage popstar. Either is available to purchase now.%Gallery-94168%
Sonos 3.2 update and S5 stereo pairing put to the test
It's not a major update by any stretch. But Sonos owners are accustomed to regular software updates that extend or enhance the functionality of their distributed wireless audio system... for free. A good thing since a four room system can easily set you back a few thousand dollars -- a hefty price compared to some brute force solutions but relatively cheap compared to custom solutions offering similar functionality but with the additional burden of extensive in-wall wiring. Today's Sonos 3.2 update delivers crossfading to smooth the transition between songs and more sophisticated alarm settings allowing you to wake to any of Sonos' vast music delivery options at any time and in any room of the house. The gang from Santa Barbara also added Japanese and Simplified Chinese language support and tossed in access to the streaming iheartradio music service giving US owners access to exclusive content and some 750 national radio stations. But the flagship feature is probably the ability to join any two S5 speaker systems to create a stereo pair -- one S5 serving the left channel and the other serving the right. A union meant to achieve a balance indistinguishable from that of heaven and hell, yin and yang, or Nilay and Paul. Read our impressions after the break where you'll also find a spectacular press release using plain, bold, and italicized text!