Sony may well be a long-established maker of premium tech products, but in the smartphone industry, it remains one of a number of companies playing catch-up with Samsung. Following on from the water-resistant Xperia Z, the so-called Sony Honami smartphone has been rumored for quite a while, and today, the Japanese company has delivered a couple of teaser snaps via Twitter in an attempt to build up some sort of hype. With a 5-inch display, the Honami is certainly edging towards phablet territory, and with the upcoming Galaxy Note 3 for company, it will be intriguing to see whether Sony's latest export will fare better than the last few.
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Intel's latest Haswell processors may not have increased performance a grand jot over last year's Ivy Bridge, but in terms of efficiency, the improvements are clear for all to see. With Apple's MacBook Air 2013 range already reaping the benefits with vastly increased battery life, the MacBook Pro notebook would seem next in line, and according to a report, Haswell-powered MacBook Pros will begin shipping next month.
Late last month, MoDaCo.Switch for HTC One was released, allowing owners of the device to readily flit between Sense and stock-based ROMs on the exact same device. Now, the developers have brought forth a corresponding version for the Galaxy S4, adding more diversity to the already very powerful Android handset. So, if you like the idea of having both untouched Android and Samsung's TouchWiz-ified version at your disposal, then check out the details after the break.
Blackberry's BBM instant messaging service was once very popular, back when the company was at the top of its game, and indeed, on top of the smartphone market. Things have changed quite a bit in recent years, though, thanks in no small part to the likes of Apple's iPhone and a deluge of Android devices, products have collectively left BlackBerry's once-domineering brand on the brink of collapse. With the For Sale signs now up and the Canadian company on the hunt for investors, the fact that BBM for iOS and Android for both being announced is perhaps of little consequence, but in light of today's leaking of the user guides for both the new apps, it would appear that a release is nigh.
Microsoft's Windows Phone platform continues to struggle against the might of both iOS and Android in the battle of the mobile ecosystems, and while the UI and functionality of the Redmond company's mobile software has been praised and lauded by many - including Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak - the lack of apps over at the Windows Phone Store has been more than a slight problem. While one app certainly won't be enough to completely change the fortunes of the still fledgling platform, an official Instagram app for Windows Phone has been conspicuous by its absence, and while there's still no sign of the Facebook-owned product making its way to the tiled interface, a third-party offering by the name of 6tag finally offers an almost fully-functional Instagram experience.
The battle for supremacy in the next-gen console wars is really heating up, to the point now where every day, either Microsoft or Sony has something to reveal regarding their respective consoles. With the latter having disclosed the PS4 release date for the whole world to drool over, today is Microsoft's turn, and the Redmond company now has the Xbox One on display for all to see at it own retail outlets. Unfortunately, they're securely housed within the confinements of glass boxes, but with many consumers still on the fence with regards to which console they will eventually choose, a close-up look at the new design could tempt some into going ahead and pre-ordering.
Google's $35 Chromecast dongle has scarcely been out of the headlines since its release, and although it is rather limited in what it can currently offer, this hasn't prevented developers and general Android enthusiasts from pushing the boundaries in trying to improve the service. Dev Leon Nicholls is one such individual, and his new Fling app allows Chromecast owners to stream a variety of video formats from their PC or Mac straight to the device.
As smartphones have continued to advance over the past few years, so too has the quality of displays, and with visible pixels quickly becoming a distant memory, LG Electronics has just shown off a 5.5 inch display boasting an incredible 2560 x 1440 resolution. This places it alongside the Apple Thunderbolt display in terms sheer number of pixels, and considering how much smaller this new panel is from LG, one cannot even begin to decipher how crisp the aptly named Quad HD LCD panel would be on a phablet.
Microsoft has dominated the headlines over the past couple of weeks with its very public preparations for the launch of the Xbox One. But the present days are all about Sony and the PlayStation 4, though, and as well as announcing the PS4 release date, the Japanese company has taken the opportunity at Cologne-based Gamescom to announce some interesting news regarding the all-important initial titles. There will be no fewer than 33 games available for the next-gen machine by the year's close, and although the sum total doesn't quite match the number of titles available for the Xbox One, there's still plenty of variety therein.
We've seen plenty of leaks of the low-cost iPhone 5C's rear shell; so much so, in fact, that it's almost as if Apple has already announced it. But while we may have seen it compared with the likes of the iPhone 5, we haven't seen how it will potentially cope with those everyday scrapes and bumps, but Taiwenese blog Apple Daily has come through with a video that shows the back cover being put to the sword. Lining up to test the resolve of the iPhone 5C's rear housing includes a collection of your day-to-day smartphone nemeses, including keys and coins. How did the soon-to-be-released handset fare against a tidal wave of objects? Find out after the break!
