Samsung to invest $1 billion in US chip production

After already announcing a $24 billion investment into semiconductors and display technology this year, Samsung has just unveiled plans for a further $1 billion cash injection into chip production in the United States.

The money will be used to invest in enhanced production capabilities at Samsung Austin Semiconductor in Texas. Specifically, Samsung will be enhancing its current System LSI (large scale integration) production facilities, which are used to build integrated circuits. The company intends to use this improve production line to cater for growing demand for advanced system-on-chip parts, including those used in mobile products.

This investment comes less than a week after Samsung announced a new record 27 trillion won (approximately 24 billion US dollars) investment into V-NAND flash memory chips and flexible OLED displays, which are again essential components for mobile products. Samsung is spending more than twice the sum it did last year on flexible OLED alone, suggesting much more to come in the form of curved edge and possibly other shaped displays.

See also: Samsung to invest $24 billion in chips and displays this year13

For the Texas economy, this latest announcement is, of course, great news also. The press release states that Samsung Austin Semiconductor supports around 10.755 jobs in the area and pays out around $498 million in annual salaries. A $1 billion investment suggests that Samsung will be sticking around in Texas for a while longer.

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Amazon deals: Anker chargers, discounted Kindles, Fossil Q Founder, and more

Remember when "Black Friday" was an actual, specific day in the calendar? Yeah, those times are gone.

Retailers are already announcing their Black Friday deals, and Amazon is leading the pack. The online retail giant hopes to get into your wallet right now with deals on its Kindle line-up and other electronics, as well as special promos for Alexa owners.

Right now, you can get:

• Kindle Paperwhite (2016) for $99.99 (regularly $119.99)
• Kindle (2016) for $59.99 (regularly $79.99)
• Kindle Voyage for $179.99 (regularly $199.99)
• Roku Streaming Stick for $39.99 (regularly $49.99)
• Anker 60W/12A 6-Port USB Charger PowerPort 6 for $25.49 (regularly $79.99)
• Lenovo ThinkCentre M700 Tiny Desktop for $306.99 (regularly $539.99)

Amazon is also offering various early access deals for subscribers of its Prime premium service. For $99, Amazon Prime provides free shipping on many products, access to millions of songs, videos, and books, as well as special deals on various products, including discounted smartphones. Read more about the benefits of Amazon Prime here or sign up for a free one-month trial.

Amazon really wants customers to use the Alexa personal assistant to shop, and to make the process easier, the company is handing out a $5 gift card for every customer who buys something via Alexa. The promo is open to Amazon Echo, Echo Dot, Amazon Tap, or Fire TV device owners. In addition to the five bucks, ordering through Alexa will net you special discounts on certain products, including the excellent Fossil Q Founder Android Wear smartwatch for just $160.

Make sure to check out Amazon's electronics gift guide if you need some inspiration and come back often for new promos. Amazon says it will have new deals every day through Black Friday.

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Google Pixel can’t charge at 18W, despite claims that it could

Google's Pixel smartphone is not capable of charging at 18W (Watts) despite Google marketing materials previously stating that it could.

The discrepancy was unearthed by respected product tester Nathan K, who outlined full details of the test and his methodology in a Google+ post. The reason for the lower-than-expected limit is thought to be linked to potential thermal concerns, though Google hasn't confirmed this.

See also: T-Mobile's excellent Google Pixel promo offer is now even better26

Google has since acknowledged the error – putting it down to a "marketing materials mistake" – and has updated its tech specs page for the Pixels to reflect the correct information.

It appears that the larger Pixel XL, however, is capable of charging at 18W. Nathan K speculates this in his post, and the Pixels' specs page also now indicates that the devices charge at "15-18W" (as oppose to simply "18W" previously stated), suggesting that the XL is not capped like the smaller handset.

See also: Why Google's Pixel phones should be a big deal for everyone255

What does the 3W discrepancy mean for the Google Pixel? Possibly not a great deal. Though a 3W improvement on 15W would theoretically represent an additional 20 percent charge being injected into the handset, the reality is that it probably wouldn't have had a like-for-like effect on load times (i.e the Pixel wouldn't have charged 20 percent faster if it could reach the 18W peak).

Charge speeds vary depending on many factors: the 18W limit would, on any smartphone, be reached only in certain circumstances, not consistently throughout the entire charge cycle. Daily smartphone usage is said to be unaffected the Pixel's imposed 15W cap.

Do you consider this is a major issue?  Let us know in the comments.

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Acer R13 Chromebook now has full support for Android apps (beta channel)

Thanks to their ease of use, affordable price tags, and great performance, Chromebooks are becoming more and more popular, especially in education, where they are currently being used by more than 20 million students.

In 2015, over 5 million of them were shipped out to consumers and according to the recent study, their sales are expected to exceed 17 million units by 2023. One of the reasons for their increased popularity is that back in May, Google announced that Android apps are coming to Chromebooks. This will obviously make the devices, which are already outselling Apple's Macbooks, even more in demand.

After the announcement, we saw quite a few Chromebooks hit the market. One of them was Acer's R13 that first saw the light of day back at IFA 2016. The device recently started shipping out to consumers but surprisingly without support for Android apps.

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Fortunately, it didn't take long for the functionality to become available. Acer's R13 Chromebook now has full support for Android apps in the Chrome OS beta channel, while support on the stable channel is expected to hit the device in December.

The R13 joins Chromebook Pixel 2015, Acer Chromebook R11 and Asus Chromebook Flip in the select club of Chrome OS devices that can run Android applications.

For those of you who already own the device and want to check out the new feature first hand, simply go to Settings > About Chrome OS > More Info > Change Channel > Beta. Wait a few minutes for the update to be downloaded, restart your device, and you're done. All that's left is for you to test drive the new feature and have some fun in the process. Enjoy!

This article originally appeared on our sister site TabTimes.

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Wear Dialer can initiate phone calls from Android Wear

Answering calls using your Android Wear smartwatch is no problem, but things aren't that simple once you want to actually place a call from your wrist-worn gadgets. Android Wear has no straight-forward way to do this, so third-party developers have needed to figure out their won solutions.

The latest one is simply named Wear Dialer, and it does exactly what the name entails. Initiate a call using the application's dialer, recent call history or contacts list. That's but the tip of the ice berg in terms of customization within this app, though.

There is a bevy of theme options you can unlock by paying the $2 premium fee. This will enable a quick dial mode, the ability to change Wear translation,, alter the color scheme, switch the speaker mode, enable the use of contact images and more.

See also: 10 best Android Wear apps46

Interested? The only requirements are that your phone has Android 4..3 or higher and that your watch sports Android Wear 1.3 or higher. There are plenty of compatible Android Wear devices listed, so chances are you can start making calls from your wrist right away.

How many of you have been looking for an app to do this? We don't make that many calls nowadays, but suppose it is helpful to keep the task simple when needed.

Download Wear Dialer now

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Google Wallet’s new web app is here

With the introduction of Android Pay, Google Wallet underwent some significant changes back in May of last year. Android Pay became Google's main virtual mobile payment platform, competing directly with the likes of Samsung Pay and Apple Pay. Meanwhile, Google Wallet became an app that allows anyone with a US debit card to send and receive money for free within minutes – even if the other person doesn't have the app. Well, the Google Wallet team just announced that its new web app is now available.

See also: Facebook Messenger will now keep track of PayPal payments in US6

If anything, Google Wallet is competing with PayPal or Venmo (which is owned by PayPal). The former is more ubiquitously used, especially for international transactions whereas the latter is limited to the US, and targeted at millennials specifically. I'm glad that the web app is finally here because I can now say Google's money transfer platform is on par with PayPal's, if not better. They are both intuitive, secure, and convenient to use, but one advantage that Google Wallet has is that it will automatically transfer your money to your bank. That's kind of a game changer for me because on PayPal and Venmo, the money you receive just sits there until you manually transfer it to your bank account.

The web app is unmistakably Google – it has a simple form in the middle, surrounded by Material Design elements. You set the amount, specify who the recipient is, and click send. It's as simple as that. I'm curious to see if Google Wallet will gain traction in the coming years given the already saturated field. On one hand you have PayPal dominating the money transfer realm, and on the other, you have much more commonly used apps like Facebook and Snapchat with mobile transfer options integrated into their apps. Google Wallet's approach of letting you receive money transfers even if you don't have the app – which is similar to Google Allo's – may work, but only time will tell if this strategy will pay off.

On one hand you have PayPal dominating the money transfer realm, and on the other, you have much more commonly used apps like Facebook and Snapchat with mobile transfer options integrated into their apps.

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Vivo X9 and X9 Plus to include 20MP and 8MP dual front-facing cameras

The China-based Vivo is getting close to officially announcing its two latest Android smartphones, the X9 and X9 Plus. These will be successors to the previously launched Vivo X7 and x7 Plus. However, the company is already posting teasers about the new phones' features, including a rather interesting move for their front-facing cameras.

See also: Best Android phones for taking selfies45

In a post on its official Weibo account, Vivo teased that the X9 and X9 Plus would both have dual front-facing cameras. One of them will be a massive 20MP camera, while the other will be smaller at 8MP. 

There's no doubt that having a 20MP front-facing camera in a smartphone is a huge step-up from the norm, but what the second 8MP front camera will do is still something of a mystery. Will each camera have a different degree of wide-angle lens? Will the 8MP camera serve as a way to capture depth of field for the larger 20MP camera on the phone?

Hopefully, all will be revealed when the Vivo X9 and X9 Plus are officially announced at a press event in China on November 17. In the meantime, what do you think the dual front-facing camera setup could be used for? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

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