Amazon rumoured to be developing a US$50 tablet

While Amazon struggles in the high-end market for tablets, they do have a fighting chance with the low-end market. And that is supposedly what they’re banking on with a tablet they plan on releasing for the holidays. According to The Wall Street Journal, Amazon plans to out a US$50 tablet with a 6-inch screen. It’ll be half the price of their existing 6-inch Fire HD tablet and even less expensive than their $79 Kindle reader. As for what they can pack into a real cheap tablet, we don’t know yet. It might compromise the quality but we can’t say for sure. We’d just have to wait and see.

Source: The Wall Street Journal | Via: The Verge

Samsung takes the fight to Sonos with new 360-degree speakers

Samsung’s taking on Sonos with the company’s three new wireless, multi-room speakers launched at IFA 2015. The R1, R3, and R5 features a 360-degree enclosure that Samsung says has ring-radiator technology to fill any room with sound. The tubular speakers run with Samsung’s Multiroom App for iOS and Android or you can physically control the speakers from the top panel. The physical user interface lets you play and pause music, adjust volume, and switch music sources. The speakers will be available by the end of the year and come in prices ranging from US$199 to $399, which is roughly how much Sonos products cost.

Source: Samsung | Via: Engadget

Sony’s Wena smartwatch takes aim at luxury brands

A side-project by a small team from Sony is looking to be an example luxury watch brands should emulate if they intend to enter the smartwatch space. The Wena Wrist, which was successfully crowdfunded through Sony’s First Flight platform for employee pitches, isn’t the “smartest” smartwatch out there but it has enough tech to get some users by and still retails that classic look of a chronograph. Designed by the Wena team and manufactured by Citizen, this watch still looks like a simple chronograph but has tech that lies within the watch’s band. Its strap has an NFC chip that supports Japanese FeliCa standard for mobile payments; a pedometer for basic activity tracking; and a clasp that’ll light up and vibrate when you get a notification on your smartphone.

The project is in its early stages and there isn’t the iOS app to show off the features yet. The Wena team hopes to launch the device in Japan sometime next year. And once they do that, they might consider an international release and Android compatibility.

Source: Engadget

Skype beta shows off new Windows 10 Mobile features

If you’re running the preview build of Windows 10 Mobile, you can now catch a glimpse of how the new Skype is going to run. Microsoft plans to make Skype its go-to communication app on Windows 10 (think Google Hangouts for Android and iMessage for iOS). Skype will replace the default Windows 10 Mobile SMS app. It’ll make it easier for you to switch between SMS and Skype chat. A new Skype Video app will become your destination for video chats and standard Skype voice calls will be integrated into the built-in phone app.

There’s no word yet if Microsoft plans to release these beta apps to the public. And at the moment, the full Windows 10 app, those universal apps designed to run across all Windows 10 devices, isn’t available for download.

Source: Microsoft | Via: The Verge