Review: Motorola Moto E4

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

The new Motorola Moto E4 is a bit of a nostalgia job. It is reminiscent of the first generation Moto X, a device that brought a lot of innovation, customization and laid the foundation for what Motorola has become as an Android OEM that can successfully differentiate itself in this super saturated market.

At 5-inches, the Moto E4 is sized just right for many users, it comes clad in durable and splash-resistant plastics. It has a removeable battery (a sizeable one at that), and it reflects a utilitarian yet uncompromising handset that's budget-focused but thoughtful nonetheless.

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LG rumoured to be launching V30 at IFA

One of the rumoured leaks of the V30 shows the secondary display sliding out of the bottom of the device

If the recent report coming out of South Korea is to be believed, LG plans to launch the latest V30 flagship at IFA in Berlin. But they’ll be announcing it supposedly a “day before the opening day of IFA 2017,” which puts that at August 31^st. Bringing the phone to IFA will be a first for the brand’s V series. It’ll reportedly also be the first time LG is holding preorder sales for the V line for at least three mobile network providers in South Korea. Whether that’ll extend to other countries isn’t known. But if LG does launch the V30 at IFA, it’ll give them a slight advantage over the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 and new iPhone release, which are rumoured to be launching sometime in September.

Source: 9to5Google

Apple reportedly asking music labels to take smaller revenue cut from Apple Music

Apple is supposedly renegotiating its licensing deals for Apple Music and iTunes with major music labels. Apple is hoping the labels are up for reducing revenue shares from streaming to bring them closer to the rate that Spotify pays labels. The deals with the record labels are said to expire at the end of the month but there’s a likelihood it will be extended if the parties can’t agree on new terms—at least according to the sources of Bloomberg who asked not to be identified since they’re sharing private information.

Streaming has been seen to be a source of hope for the music industry after a decade of decline in this digital age. With the help of the likes of Apple Music and Spotify, the industry grew by 5.9 percent last year worldwide. Under Apple’s existing deal, labels get around 58 percent of revenue from Apple Music subscribers, which is considered a higher cut than other services. But labels are supposedly amenable to the cut, if Apple meets other requirements. Apple overpaid labels to placate those concerned that the streaming service will cannibalize iTunes, which as shown hasn’t quite happened. But labels are still asking for precautions. Apple won’t comment about the report.

Emporio Armani joins the smartwatch market

Emporio Armani is the latest fashion brand to release an Android Wear device. Coming by September 24^th, the Connected line of smartwatches will feature both Android Wear-powered devices and different hybrid models. These will run on Android Wear 2.0 with Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2100 processor and will have circular AMOLED display. And since it runs on Google’s wearable platform, it gets things like Google Assistant support. There will also be Armani-specific watchfaces as well as eight different interchangeable straps made from materials like metal, fabric and leather. No word on the pricing yet but they will be sold both online and where Armani watches are sold.

Source: 9to5Google