New Android Lollipop developer preview and SDK now out

Google has now outed updated Android 5.0 Lollipop preview images for both the Nexus 5 and the 2013 Nexus 7. The new developer preview is based on build LPX13D.

The original developer preview for what was then only known as Android L was announced back in June. The images were updated once in the meantime, in August, when they received support for Google Fit.

And now we're at the third iteration of these images, and almost certainly the last - since Android 5.0 Lollipop is due to become available as a software update for the Nexus 5 and Nexus 7 in the coming weeks.

Right now it's not clear what's new in the just-published images, but hopefully they'll show an Android 5.0 release that's almost finished. That said, they don't represent the final bits of Lollipop, and they're bound to still have some bugs. Hence, if you're not a developer, you should probably stay away from them, and wait for the official software to start rolling out.

Speaking of developers, they will be happy to know that the Android 5.0 SDK is now out too. This allows developers to start working on getting their apps ready for the new OS version. Lollipop comes with 5,000 new APIs. The new SDK follows the preview release from this summer.

Apple iPad Air 2 and mini 3 go on pre-order

Just as planned, the Apple store is back up today and it has some new goods to offer. The company's latest tablets are now available on pre-order and you can book your unit for next week shipment right away.

The iPad Air 2 will start at $499 for the 16GB just as before. Just as on the iPhone, the 32GB version is now gone and the 64GB version will be at $599. A 128GB iPad Air 2 is also there for $699. You can get LTE on each storage version but it will cost you $130 extra.

As usual European prices aren't quite as attractive (although the difference is smaller than with the iPhone). In the UK the Apple iPad Air 2 goes for £399/£479/£559 for its three versions, while LTE support adds a further £100. In Germany you need to pay €489/€589/€689 plus €120 for Cellular connectivity. Across the border in France prices go slightly higher - €10 extra for each version.

The Apple iPad mini 3 is available in the same three storage options as its bigger brother - 16GB, 64GB and 128GB. It's priced at $399/$499/$599 ($130 extra for LTE) in the US, £319/£399/£479 (plus £80 LTE charge) in the UK and €389/€489/€589 (€120 for the LTE) in Germany.

Going by the specs alone the Apple iPad Air 2 looks like an upgrade worth considering with its new 6.1mm profile, laminated display and beastly A8X chipset, but the mini 3 is merely a TouchID enabled version of the mini 2 that also comes in gold. Your thoughts on the duo are welcome in our comments section.

Motorola Moto X (2014) now just $50 with Verizon contract

Looking to get the latest and greatest Motorola smartphone? If you don't mind tying your next two years with Verizon now's the time to reach for your credit card.

The largest US carrier has launched a promotion for the Motorola Moto X (2014), allowing you to get the 16GB version of the smartphone for just $50 upfront. Naturally, you will also have to sign a two-year contract with Big Red, but you are still saving $50 from the usual price. You still get the option to fully customize the device, using the company's Moto Maker service.

You have to act quickly though - the promotion will only last until the end of the weekend. Anyone willing to try the Moto X (2014) should follow the source link to place their orders.

iOS 8.1 unveiled on stage - Apple Pay, app permissions and more

Apple event featured a long portion on new software and the highlight of that was the announcement of iOS 8.1. Apple Pay is, of course, the headlining feature but there's more.

Apple has changed how apps are handled – users can now check the permissions required by third-party apps and they can be disabled individually and re-enabled later.

Also, Camera Roll is coming back after a brief absence in version 8.0. The other enhancement of the Photos app is that the Recently Added section now shows your full history, not just the last 30 days of photos. Photos can be viewed in full resolution too, no downscaling.

There are some subtle changes too, like the ability to turn off voice dictation in the keyboard, bigger icons for widgets and a new iBooks icon.

The new iOS 8.1 will start seeding on Monday, October 20.

Samsung Galaxy Note Edge to hit Russia and India this year

Samsung has made it clear that the Galaxy Note Edge is going to be a limited availability device, but at least two more markets may breathe a sigh of relief today. The company has said in an announcement the phone will start selling in India and Russia.

In Russia, the phone will start selling some time between November and December for $1225 (RUB 49,990). Samsung didn't specify a time frame for the phone's launch in India, but we guess it will be similar to Russia's. The phone is also planned to go on sale in the UK with a price tag of £650.

The Samsung Galaxy Note Edge is also carrying a high price tag in China where the phone should launch by the end of October. There, customers will have to cough up about $1,139 or €880 (CNY 7,000) for the pleasure of owning the curved phablet.

Judging by the latest FCC filings, Samsung is going to introduce the phone in the US as well. AT&T is yet to reveal its pricing conditions for the Galaxy Note Edge. We do expect it to start at $399 on contract in the best case scenario.

Sony adds Xperia Z1, Z2, M2 to AOSP, unveils unified kernel

Sony is enhancing its reputation as a ROM-friendly maker. It added AOSP code for the Sony Xperia Z2,Xperia Z1 and Xperia M2 to the SonyXperiaDev GitHub. The company denied making AOSP ROMs and this indeed isn't it – the camera and the modem have been disabled (so you can't make calls), really not a daily driver.

Sony did announce unified kernels though – the above three devices plus all Qualcomm MSM8974-based devices (that's Snapdragon 800) will be based on the same kernel, which will make custom ROM development easier. Before each device had a separate branch for the kernel, making things harder for device maintainers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dEh0ITemlM

It's not just custom ROMs either, the company says this change will make contributing to the official kernel easier.

MSM8974-based devices include the Xperia Z1 Compact and the Xperia Z Ultra (which also had a Play Edition version at one point). Interestingly, the Xperia M2 (and its dual-SIM and Aqua versions) are based on MSM8926, Snapdragon 400.

Apple's iPad event starts soon: what to expect

October 16 is here and Apple's event is hours away. The two new iPads are the hotly anticipated announcements but we're also likely to see new iMacs, the chances of new MacBooks are lower according to the rumor mill. The event will be held in Apple's Town Hall auditorium on the Infinite Loop Campus in Cupertino, California at 10AM PT / 1PM ET.

iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3

The Apple iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 will be the stars of the show no matter what else gets announced. We've seen multiple leaks, even one from Apple itself. Whether that was a genuine screw up or Apple just wanted to steal some of Google's thunder we'll leave to conspiracy theorists to discuss.

Both tablets will support Touch ID, which was only available on the iPhone 5s last generation, presumably as a test run. Apple Pay is also expected as part of the new iPad package, which will be secured with the Touch ID fingerprint reader and will include single-purpose NFC.

The rumor mill is pointing to thinner bodies too – 7mm, down from 7.5mm. There was speculation that shaving the thickness will lead Apple to drop the mute switch on the side but yesterday's schematicssuggest otherwise.

Both cameras will be updated though, front and back, the back camera in particular jumping from 5MP to 8MP. The storage will be increased as well, now starting at 32GB and going all the way up to 128GB. This would be nice to see as the iPhone setup of starting at 16GB and skipping 32GB just means youhave to splurge $100 extra for the 64GB. 16GB would work even worse on a tablet.

There will be more processing power too, thanks to the Apple A8X chipset. It will allegedly be a beefier version of the A8 from the new iPhones with more GPU resources and 2GB RAM. In fact this might be Apple first RAM upgrade since the iPhone 5/iPad 3 of 2012.

Going by the chatter there may be a new display – Retina HD. However, Apple's marketing machine calls both the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus screens "Retina HD" despite the smaller phone having the exact same pixel density as the iPhone 4. The screen tech might change to a laminated design though (similar to the iPhone screens), which will help make the tablets thinner.

Mac computers

The iMac – Apple's All-in-one computer – may be getting an upgrade. All we've heard so far are the screen resolutions - 6400 x 3600, 5760 x 3240, and 4096 x 2304 pixels. The latest iMac addition is from June this year with a new entry-level 21" device, these will be presumably be higher end and bigger.

A new class of 12" MacBooks with Retina display may be born on stage but there's no more info than that. The MacBook Pro and MacBook Air got small bumps in July and April respectively but there haven't been any properly new MacBooks in a year.

Software

Finally, Apple will be showing off new software (says the rumor mill) – new versions of iWork and iLife, a redesigned iTunes 12, plus new iterations of the beta Mac OS X. iWork got a minor update in May this year, but like the Macs there should be brand new versions instead of small changes.