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mercredi 7 décembre 2016

Unofficial Android 7.1.1 Released for MediaTek MT6752-based Jiayu S3

Within days of the Android 7.1.1 release, the MediaTek MT6752-based Jiayu S3 has received a custom ROM that brings to it the latest version of Android. Check it out!



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U.S. Supreme Court Sides with Samsung Over Apple in Latest Appeal

There are multiple lawsuit cases going back and forth between Samsung and Apple right now. At the end of last month, we learned that Samsung was denied an appeal against Apple in regards to their slide-to-unlock, quick links and auto-correct patents. On this case, Samsung can either pay the $119.6 million, or attempt to take it to the Supreme Court. Now, in a completely separate case, the U.S. Supreme Court has sided with Samsung.

This other case was one that Samsung had lost as well, and was ordered to pay Apple $930 million for copying "key iPhone designs." While the penalty for this specific case was supposed to be $930 million, but it was cut by $382 million before Samsung decided to pay. So last year, Samsung paid Apple $548 million and then decided to take the case to the Supreme Court, hoping they could have that penalty cut again (this time by $399 million).

Generally for patents, it's said that the person or company who violates them will have to pay its entire profits from the sales of products using stolen designs. This is generally known to be true even if the design patents are only for a portion of the overall product being sold. Samsung felt this was unfair and asked the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on the issue. They agree with Samsung and feel they shouldn't have to pay the entire $548 million penalty.

Samsung feels they should have that total cut by $399 million, but now it's up to the lower courts to figure out a new penalty total. The thing is, the U.S. Supreme Court did not present a way for the juries and lower courts to come up with this new total. Apple will continue to argue that it was innovative designs that made the iPhone a success (and therefore the majority of a product's profits), while Samsung will continue to say these features are small and do not reflect the overall product.

Source: Reuters



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Universal TA Backup Tool is Available for Xperia Phones

Yesterday, Recognized Developer rayman released a new TA Dump tool for Xperia phones that should work on all recent Xperia phones which are currently vulnerable to the Dirtycow exploit.



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It’s Official, Pebble has been Acquired by Fitbit

It's no secret that Pebble has been struggling when it comes to making enough money to stay afloat. Reports of this started to swirl around the tech community even before they launched the Kickstarter campaign for the Pebble 2, Time 2, and Pebble Core. The crowdfunding campaign was incredibly successful as they were able to bring in over $12 million from over 66,000 backers.

Still, the company hasn't been able to bring in enough funds to meet their own demands.

Reports of this $40 million acquisition began at the end of last month, but even then it doesn't seem like a good thing for Pebble's future. The deal was reported by some to be as low as $34 million, and even that wouldn't even be enough to cover Pebble's current debts. Some said that Fitbit will only be taking on parts of Pebble, owning some of the company's IP like their operating system, watch apps, and cloud services, while leaving them to deal with their current stock and remaining server hardware.

Now, the acquisition is official and we should expect substantial changes because of it. We're told that Pebble will no longer be promoting, manufacturing, or selling any devices. While they are telling us Pebble devices will continue to work as normal, they do make sure to say "functionality or service quality may be reduced in the future." Warranty support for Pebble watches are no longer available, and returns of Pebble.com orders that were successful before December 7th will receive full refunds.

Speaking of Pebble.com, the website will no longer be accepting or fulfilling orders (including Pebble 2 pre-orders). If you purchased your Pebble device from a retail store, you'll have to go by their return/exchange policy instead of contacting Pebble. Kickstarter backers who have yet to receive their product will receive a refund within 4-8 weeks in the form of a chargeback (with no action needed from the consumer).

Source: Pebble



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Google is Using File-by-File Patching to Reduce App Update Size

Back in July of this year, Google announced a new method of reducing the file size of application updates. They haven been using delta algorithms since 2012 to help reduce the file size of app updates, but earlier this year they rolled out a new one. This new algorithm is called bsdiff, and it was created by Colin Percival. Their experiments showed this new algorithm was able to reduce the file size of updates by 50% or more.

This was an impressive change to how the Play Store handled application updates, but Google wasn't done there. The company did more work and more tests, and have now announced a new approach that is said to go even further. This new process is called File-by-File patching, and Google's tests show that this method can reduce the file size of application updates by 65% (on average). In some cases, this new method can reduce the file size by more than 90%.

With this new method, Google projects they will be able to save up to 6 petabytes of user data each and every day. With some only having internet access via their mobile plan, and others having a metered home internet service, this could save people a lot of data. For this to work, File-by-File patching will detect changes to the uncompressed data. So they have to decompress both the old and new files so they can compute the delta.

Then to apply the patch, they decompress the old file and apply the delta to the uncompressed content before recompressing it into the new file. In Google's testing, they used apps like Netflix, Kindle, Gmail, Google Maps and even Farm Heroes Super Saga. The new File-by-File patching would sometimes only result in a file size reduction of 8% (when compared to bsdiff), but others showed as much as 40% more than bsdiff (Netflix), which resulted in the app update being reduced by 92% compared to the original file.

Source: Android Developers Blog



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Fulmics Deodexer Automates ROM Deodexing on Windows

If you wish to deodex your ROM for customization purposes, check out Fulmics Deodexer. With an easy-to-use GUI and support for deodexing ODEX and OAT files for Marshmallow and later, FulMics can automate your deodexing needs.

 



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Best Holiday Tech Deals Under $50

Looking for some of the best holiday deals with a budget of $50? This video will highlight the top five deals that I was able to find for a decent price. Check out the deals below with our affiliate links.

Fire Tablet 7″

tablet7

Fire features a 1024 x 600 IPS display with 171 ppi for a bright display with vivid colors and whiter whites. Enjoy a great viewing experience at all angles through a combination of IPS (in-plane switching) technology and an advanced polarizing filter.

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Echo Dot

echo

Echo Dot is a hands-free, voice-controlled device with a small built-in speaker—it can also connect to your speakers or headphones over Bluetooth or through a 3.5 mm audio cable to deliver stereo sound to the speakers you choose. Dot connects to the Alexa Voice Service to play music, provide information, news, sports scores, weather, and more—instantly.

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Type-C USB Flash Drive

drive

Transfer and backup files between your smartphone, computer or tablet. Use the USB Type-C connector on one end and the USB Type-A connector on the other end to easily transfer content between devices. It also functions as a convenient content bridge between devices with a standard USB-A input and those with the new USB Type-C.

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EMIE Portable Power Bank

cat

The adorable kitten design makes this more than just a charger, but a friendly companion. The 10,000mAh capacity will keep your devices fully charged for more than a day. It can charge the iPhone 6 four times, the Samsung S6 two times times, and the iPad mini one time.

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Photos Live Case

case

Make a Live Case you can call your own. Start with your favorite photo, choose a style, and you're done. Your Live Case comes with a companion live wallpaper that turns your screen into a personal slideshow.

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