ASUS ZenFone AR leaks reveal new Google Tango and Daydream VR handset

ASUS is hosting a ZenFone event at CES later this week, but one of the company's new devices leaked out today. The ASUS ZenFone AR will be the second Google Tango smartphone. Images of the ZenFone AR have been revealed by Evan Blass, showing a black slab of an ASUS phone with an array of sensors. ASUS ZenFone AR (2nd Google Tango phone) http://pic.twitter.com/ctKQ9IKfeC — Evan Blass (@evleaks) January 2, 2017 Meanwhile, Qualcomm today published an official announcement for the ZenFone AR. The problem is that the announcement is dated January 4, meaning that it went live a couple of days early. Qualcomm's announcement confirms that the ASUS ZenFone AR will support Google Tango and that it'll include a Snapdragon 821 processor, which is an upgrade over the Snapdragon 625 chipset in the first Google Tango phone, Lenovo's Phab 2 Pro. Qualcomm says that the Snapdragon 821 in the ZenFone AR will offer improvements to graphics, performance, and power efficiency. In addition to supporting Tango, the ZenFone AR will support Google's Daydream VR platform. "The ZenFone AR with Snapdragon 821 is built for VR with high-resolution display, ultra-smooth graphics, and high-fidelity sensors for precise head tracking," reads Qualcomm's announcement. While most of the details of the ZenFone AR are still up in the air, the news that it'll have a Snapdragon 821 as well as support for Tango and Daydream VR make this ASUS phone sound pretty interesting. We should hear more details about this device on January 4, so stay tuned. Sources: @evleaks, Qualcomm Android Match ae http://androidmatch.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

Screens lets you create shortcuts to launch apps in split-screen mode

Android finally added support for split-screen apps in 7.0 Nougat, but Google has been playing with the specifics of launching apps in split-screen. It removed the UI tuner's swipe gesture, and the home button behavior has been tweaked in 7.1. The whole system can be a little clumsy at times, but Screens makes split-screen mode a one-tap proposition. It's rather barebones, but it gets the job done. Screens creates shortcuts for your home screen that instantly launch two apps of your choosing in split-scr een mode. Read More Screens lets you create shortcuts to launch apps in split-screen mode was written by the awesome team at Android Police. Android Match ae http://androidmatch.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

ASUS says ‘world’s best processor’ to power upcoming ZenFone

Back in November, Qualcomm made its flagship Snapdragon 835 processor officially official. Now ASUS looks to be teasing that that processor will power one of its smartphones. ASUS took to Twitter to post a picture of a small ASUS-branded box with a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor tucked inside of it. While the processor itself doesn't show off any number badging, the 835 is the likely bet, with ASUS teasing the chipset as the "world's best processor." Unfortunately, ASUS hasn't revealed any real details of the upcoming ZenFone at this point, only pointing to an unveiling date of January 4 during the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. That event kicks off at 11:30am PST. Android Match ae http://androidmatch.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

Samsung updates Galaxy A series with better cameras, water resistance

Samsung's Galaxy A series of devices are a lineup of mid-range handsets, and today new models have debuted with some noteworthy changes. There are three models in the Galaxy A lineup: the Galaxy A3, the Galaxy A5, and the Galaxy A7. The biggest distinction between the three are screen sizes, with the A3 packing in a 4.7-inch, 720p HD display, the A5 with a 5.2-inch 1080p HD display, and the Galaxy S7 with a 5.7-inch 1080p HD display. Both the Galaxy A5 and A7 have the same 1.9GHz processor under the hood, while the A3 has a 1.6GHz processor. The two bigger siblings also have 32GB of built-in storage and 3GB of RAM. The A3, however, has 2GB of RAM and 16GB of built-in storage. All three devices feature dust and water resistance as well as a USB Type-C port. The other big new addition is the upgrade in cameras, with the Galaxy A5 and Galaxy A7 now both featuring 16-megapixel cameras on the back and front. The two models also feature Samsung's Fast Charge technology. Finally, all three devices feature a glass-back, similar to the S7 lineup, as well as a physical home button below their displays that also serves as a fingerprint reader. Samsung is launching all three devices in Russia this month, but it says it will land in other European countries at some point in the future. The company has not divulged pricing just yet. What do you think of the improved Galaxy A series? Android Match ae http://androidmatch.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

Top 5 most popular Android apps from last week: Pigment, ExaGear

Every week we cover new Android apps with Fresh Meat on Wednesday, followed by Android Gaming on Thursday and Top 10 App Updates on Friday. When Monday rolls around, we look back to see which apps were the most appealing to our audience. Read on for the five most popular Android apps from last week. These apps are ones that are most likely new and haven't appeared in the top five list more than three times. 1. Pigment App info: Pigment, coloring book for adults, is the ultimate stress reliever on the go! Take a break and relax with this unique adult coloring book app that lets you color like you would on paper, unlike other "tap-to-fill" coloring apps (Playboard) | (Play Store)   2. FastKey Launcher App info: Launch any app with just a couple of taps right from your home screen. Never lose an app again! Fast access to all your apps using the always-on keyboard (Playboard) | (Play Store)   3. Tiny Rails App info: Set out on adventure in Tiny Titan's immersive, world-spanning train game Tiny Rails! Your grandfather has handed down his train company and it's up to you to expand your modest engine into a multi-car masterpiece!  (Playboard) | (Play Store)   4. ExaGear – Windows Emulator App info: ExaGear is a virtual machine that allows you to run Windows PC applications on ARM Android devices and ARM Chromebooks. (Playboard) | (Play Store)   5. Contacts App info: Contacts helps you stay in touch with the people you care about. Easily add contacts and edit information like their photo, phone number, and email. Save contacts to your Google Account and access them on any device.  (Playboard) | (Play Store)   Note:  To ensure that all apps receive a fair chance to make the list, we will retire any app that has made the list for three consecutive weeks. Android Match ae http://androidmatch.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

Delivering Digital Experience: 4 Platform Essentials

You can't escape discussions about digital transformation and customer experience these days. As the chatter intensifies — and both topics integrate more tightly in analyst trend lines and reports — so does the inevitable attempt to converge these trends into digital experience (DX). *Glenn Johnson In simple terms, digital transformation can be understood as the changes brought on by the use of digital technology in all aspects of business. Customer experience (CX) is all about the "sum-totality of how customers engage with your company and brand," author, photographer and speaker Adam Richardson wrote in the Harvard Business Review. The Dawn of DX The logical intersection of these two megatrends can be thought of as digital experience: the automation and interactions of your brand platform with the customer. The digital experience is more than marketing automation. It is the convergence of all enterprise systems in service to the customer and their needs. But how can a business cope with the needed technology to transform customer experiences into digital experience? An enterprise seeking to deliver digital experience in a way that delights customers, fosters loyalty and raises Net-Promoter Scores (NPS) will need to make sure they are prepared for the following requirements: Select a CRM Platform with an effective API Since CRM alone is never enough to accommodate all the requirements of delivering exceptional customer experiences, your CRM platform needs to offer an effective API so that you can interface all the other needed technologies in your enterprise for a total Digital Experience for your customers. Choose a Multichannel Enterprise Mobility Platform Select a mobile platform that provides the flexibility needed to develop integrated apps across multiple channels. App development tools that serve only one mobile device community or that are not paired well with back-end integration solutions will prove to be very difficult to implement. A well-integrated mobile platform that allows you to develop once and deploy to iOS, Android, Windows, web and closed network environments will significantly reduce the complexity of app development and the skillsets required to build the apps used by your customers and employees. Select Marketing Automation Tools Appropriate for Marketing Users The classical marketing employee would typically be described as culturally and intellectually different from the typical computer programmer. Marketing automation tools that feel like programming are counter-intuitive to most marketers. The ideal solutions provide the power needed for highly personalized Digital Experience marketing while at the same time not requiring time-consuming and complex programming. Marketing campaign roll-outs simply do not have time for a six-month development project. The tools used by marketers need to make sense to marketers. Provide IT with the Integration Tools Needed to Support the Digital Experience The introduction of web, mobile, CRM and marketing automation tools in the enterprise creates a big requirement for integration. Point-to-point integration fails when systems change or are updated and they are increasingly difficult to maintain. A proper integration platform provides a basis for event-driven business process integration that spans enterprise software systems to create truly coherent customer experiences and interactions that provide a 360-degree view of the customer to your employees and a 360-degree view of your business to the customer. The Cultural Component To be sure, these platforms will not invoke the cultural change needed to transform a product-centric culture into a customer-centric culture. But having the right IT platforms in place will make it possible to support the changes in culture brought on by the increasing focus on customer experience and digital transformation. In a transformed customer-centric culture, digital experience is an inevitable heir to the customer experience and digital transformation trends. Originally posted at CMS Wire About the Author Glenn Johnson is SVP of Magic Software Enterprises Americas. He is the author of "Integrate My JDE" on ittoolbox.com and a contributor to the Business Week Guide to Multimedia Presentations (Osborne-McGraw Hill). ar9 http://blog.magicsoftware.com/feeds/posts/default

RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic review: A fun and faithful throwback

RollerCoaster Tycoon, originally created by the now-legendary developer Chris Sawyer, was released back in 1999 for Windows 95. The franchise has switched developers and publishers several times over its 17-year history, with seven published titles for PC, the Nintendo 3DS, and smartphones. The latest main entry in the series, RollerCoaster Tycoon World for PC, was a universally-disappointing game that was delayed several times in development. Earlier this month, "Atari" (or rather, whichever company is currently borrowing the Atari name) released RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic for Android and iOS. Read More RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic review: A fun and faithful throwback was written by the awesome team at Android Police. Android Match ae http://androidmatch.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default