Moto Mod lineup grows with Incipio car dock, many more Moto Z add-ons coming next year

Excited at the prospect of an augmented reality-enabling Moto Z Tango Moto Mod? As you may have suspected, it’s not the only potentially game-changing idea for the next wave of snap-on smartphone modules.

While LG is reportedly hesitant to go down this road after G5’s commercial woes, Lenovo feels quite encouraged by the Moto Z family’s early box-office numbers. More importantly for the future of the modular phone concept, it seems roughly half of the Moto Z, Z Force and Z Play’s owners have quickly embraced the ingenious accessories, including 20 percent that use the pricier projector and camera add-ons.

Discounts and bundle deals probably helped incentivize adoption, but it’s also essential to note people are actually finding Moto Mods useful and practical, operating their projectors for 10 hours a week on average, and milking those extra battery charges for 37 hours.

It’s no wonder therefore each and every Indiegogo proposal is taken seriously, with over 380 submitted already, and stuff like alarm clocks, e-ink screens, game controllers, keyboards, walkie-talkies, kinetic chargers and even 5G radios all very much “in play”, according to Moto Mod “ecosystem director” Stephen McDonell.

Before moving to an ambitious release schedule consisting of four new Moto Mods per quarter starting “mid next year”, Motorola is today unveiling a far lower-profile Incipio car dock module. Priced at $65, this will charge your phone’s battery while mounted to your automobile’s dashboard, connect it to your audio system via a 3.5mm port, and automatically launch the overhauled Android Auto app. Simple, straightforward and, well, a little boring.

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from Pocketnow http://pocketnow.com/2016/12/02/moto-mod-incipio-car-dock-many-more-coming-soon

Lenovo sees lack of “pull in the market” for new Moto 360

Lenovo has already confirmed that it would not be pushing out another Android Wear smartwatch in 2016. And it has further confirmed that 2017 will likely not see another Moto 360 — not even with the advent of Android Wear 2.0.

Chief of global product development Shakil Barkat has said that the company isn’t seeing enough “pull in the market” at the moment for a new Moto 360.

“Wearables do not have broad enough appeal for us to continue to build on it year after year,” Barkat said. “We believe the wrist still has value and there will be a point where they provide value to consumers more than they do today.”

Instead of an annual update, as Motorola has done for the past two years, perhaps a smartwatch would fit into a multi-year release slot. Other Android Wear OEMs have pulled back further hardware releases until the release of Android Wear 2.0, which has been delayed a couple of times already.

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Verizon LG G5 Android Nougat update is official

The Nougat spread rolls on in the US. Next stop? Verizon with its LG G5.

It follows T-Mobile and Sprint in delivering Android 7.0 to what’s claimed to be the first global phone overall to receive the update. Big Red is encouraging owners to have a reliable data connection and a full battery before loading the OTA.

A bevy of feature updates include new theming abilities, interface changes, keeping a backup unlock method if you delete a fingerprint, being able to charge another device through a USB-C cable, multi-window display and others.

The over-the-air rollout will occur over several days.

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iPhone 7 parts orders said to be falling off as focus turns to iPhone 8

Taiwan has been pushing fewer iPhone 7 units to market lately and industrial insiders are expecting a decline in shipments year-on-year. But the payoff could be at the end of another year-long tunnel.

Sources to Digitimes say that while the iPhone 7 performed great out of the gate, especially as it was bolstered by the introduction of the Jet Black finish and the Galaxy Note 7 recall, demand in certain markets — China among them — has fallen over the past few months. The supply chain is expecting to report 5 million fewer shipments in the first half of 2017 than this half of 2016.

In the meantime, the 2017 iPhone has offered Asian manufacturing their own bed of challenges. With new rumored factors such as a nearly-all-glass chassis, a mixed reality camera, OLED displays and a third model in play, manufacturers are getting their ducks in order and hope to get a piece of what could be revived enthusiasm over the decennial iPhone.

The Street has also been concerned about Apple punching below its weight in demand.

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Spotify may turn profit in 2017, strike an IPO

While we’ve known that the Swedish music streaming company Spotify has been posting steady growth in its business, its overall cash flow has been in the negative and it has needed continued investor support.

But one of the company’s first investors and board members has told Reuters that while “growth, growth, growth,” may have been the directive of the past, perhaps “profitability will start to become a priority too.”

Par-Jorgen Parson, general partner at venture capital provider Northzone, expressed hopes that Spotify could turn in black ink as early as next year. That could come in part due to an initial public offering of stock.

“As an investor – and I’ve been in the company now for almost 10 years – we’re looking forward to an IPO at some point in time,” Parson said.

Spotify is currently valued at $8 billion and, if offered on an exchange, would be Europe’s biggest initiation since 2014.

It has posted operating losses for every year of its existence thanks to its market additions and the need to pick up new licenses per territory. But the enormity of its paid subscriber base — 40 million as of late — could finally outpace expenses for the first time. Operations could spill over into China, Russia and South Korea. Spotify will be looking to do more to serve artists next year, including tour planning and ticket and retail promotions.

Parson believes that Spotify co-founders Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon have “found their calling in life,” and are in full control of the company’s destiny.

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ZTE Axon 7 mini makes waves in UK, gets discounted in US

The smaller ZTE Axon 7 model is beginning to make itself apparent in the marketplace at large.

Carphone Warehouse in the UK has launched the Axon 7 Mini on its site and is the exclusive source for the Snapdragon 617-equipped mini-loudmouth — even with its shrunken size compared to the regular Axon 7, we’re still talking about some major speakers. Customers can grab it in gold SIM-free for £249.99. The grey color should come soon.

If you’re in the US, prepare for a major discount at Best Buy as both gold and grey colors are going on sale from their $299 price marks starting December 4: it’ll be $249 for the Platinum Grey version and $199 for the Ion Gold one.

The deal will be available through December 10.

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from Pocketnow http://pocketnow.com/2016/12/01/zte-axon-7-mini-makes-waves-in-uk-further-waves-in-us

What could the FitBit/Pebble deal ultimately mean?

I think I owe you all an apology. Unfortunately, a few months back, (actually about a year and a half or more) I wasn’t thinking clearly, and I accidentally bought a Pebble Time. It was so stupid! I mean, I know I have a habit of jinxing platforms, but it was just so awesome, well, I just couldn’t help myself. And I’m very, very sorry. I’ll just go ahead and hang up my Pebble next to my Pre 3 and Nokia 920 in my killed platform trophy case and light a candle.

Ok seriously, it’s not necessarily all that bad. Of course, by now most of us have heard rumors of Pebble being bought by FitBit. Some of those rumors indicate that this is an intellectual property-only purchase meaning that Pebble is going the way of Palm before it, and in much the same way, only far, far cheaper. But these are still rumors for now, so there’s no need to push the panic button just yet. But I wanted to take a look, along with fellow Pebble enthusiast Juan Carlos Bagnell, at what this could mean going forward.

What’s next?

Here are Juan’s thoughts:

If Pebble is allowed to operate as a unique division of FitBit (BIG MASSIVE IF), this could be a terrific move for the company. No other smartwatch manufacturer has quite nailed the daily lifestyle experience of a daylight readable gadget that also lasts for almost a week on a charge. Having access to better fitness tracking software and tying into the FitBit hardware ecosystem could be an exciting transition for fans of the brand. The only concerns now, what might this mean for Time 2 pre-orders (mine included) which have yet to ship?

This is a remarkably positive view of the situation, and one that makes a lot of sense. That’s why we loves us some Juan. Some rumors have indicated that Pebble will basically be killed off, but let’s examine Juan’s thoughts just in case that big massive if comes into play, or if this leads to a FitBit that could rightly be called a smartwatch.

Activity tracking is not enough

See, in my world, fitness trackers have basically zero place in my life. They should, don’t get me wrong, but my level of activity isn’t consistent such that I need to track it on a daily basis. Yes, I do go for 10 mile hikes, and 40 mile bike rides. During the summer, I average 15 miles per day on my bike.0 But the rest of the time, I’m not active enough to meet daily goals. I’m not an exercise guy. Which is why I’m fat. Nice how that works out, isn’t it? At the same time, I’ve used devices like the Moto 360 and Moto 360 Sport, which track your activity, but also function as a smartwatch. I’m not interested in a FitBit, but I might be if it was a full and complete smartwatch, like the Pebble Time.

In that sense, this is a great direction for the Pebble legacy. Bringing a fully functioning smartwatch to an activity tracker might attract folks like me who want a smartwatch, but not necessarily a stand alone fitness tracker. I’m convinced more of us are out there.

The sad grab

But, if this is just a property grab, this smacks of a Palm 2.0, but a couple of billion dollars cheaper. I personally think the Pebble brand will be killed, but what I can’t figure out is why FitBit would pay 40 million dollars to do it. Maybe the answer lies somewhere between Juan and my thoughts. That being the case, I will mourn for Pebble, because Pebble brought smartwatch awareness to the masses. Pebble arguably is the reason why I’m wearing a Moto 360 Sport today, and why the Apple Watch exists.

Ultimately, Pebble couldn’t compete with Apple and Google. But, let’s face it, very few companies can. Which is why Pebble’s days were numbered when Google announced Android Wear. Android Wear and Watch OS are just too beautiful to compete, no matter how awesome the Star Trek face looks on the Pebble Time. The hammer hasn’t fallen yet though, so there is some amount of hope. But, to be perfectly honest, if not FitBit today, it’ll be someone else tomorrow.

Probably the worst part about this (still unconfirmed) news is that if Pebble can’t make it against Google and Apple, then who can? Pebble was the first significant presence on the market, and if it doesn’t have the staying power and following to fight off the Apple Watch and Android Wear, then it seems very likely that Apple and Google will further define where the wearable industry goes. In other words, you better be happy with what Apple and Google are doing, because it looks like they’re the only ones that are going to be doing it in the future.

In memoriam?

Here’s hoping those preorders of the Time 2 do indeed ship. It would be a fitting end to a company that built a category of technology that we all love today and while the final nail isn’t anywhere near the coffin just yet, I would like to say, “So long, Pebble. And thanks for all the fish.”

Juan Carlos Bagnell contributed to this article.

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from Pocketnow http://pocketnow.com/2016/12/01/fitbit-pebble-deal