One of Samsung's top executives in the their mobile division has slipped out news which we have all been waiting for. Lee Young-hee, who operates as Vice President of Samsung's mobile arm, has confirmed in an interview with local press that the South Korean company will indeed by introducing the world to two new products as part of their Samsung Unpacked 2013 media event. As we expected, the third-generation of the gigantic Galaxy Note will make an appearance, but it's perhaps the confirmation regarding the existence of the Galaxy Gear smart watch that will manage to capture most attention.
The Nexus 7 has proven itself to be one of the most popular tablets in the 7-inch department. A gorgeous little form-factor mixed with powerful internal specifications has managed to push the device ahead of the competition, and the 2013 Nexus 7 also follows the same footsteps of its predecessor from last year. However, as popular as the Nexus 7 has proven to be, it's immediately evident that it differs in some aspects to other Jelly Bean powered tablets.
Motorola has stayed good to the word of their Vice President of Product Marketing, by updating the "ways to buy" page on the Moto X website to indicate that a Developer Edition of the device will be "coming soon". It was only a matter of days ago that Punit Soni informed the smartphone loving public that Developer Editions of Motorola's flagship device would be arriving imminently, and the website now reflects that promise from the company's executive.
With any new Android device - smartphones and tablets alike - the first thing that people are on a lookout for is ways to customize it even deeper. Now, in the world of Google’s open source operating system, root access is usually the first base that you have to cover to reach somewhere on that front, and that’s exactly what we’re going to teach you to do in this post for the new Nexus 7, also labeled Nexus 7 2013.
Changing hidden settings is a concept that is bound to attract any techie, no matter how mundane the settings might actually be. That’s because the basic idea of playing around with something that’s otherwise inaccessible is catchy to the geeky mind, and the challenge that it poses is sure to intrigue. For smartphones and tablets, this applies even more, because these are devices that we almost invariably use on a daily basis, and like to carry with us at all times.
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.
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.
Gameloft has taken to the mobile industry like a duck to water, and with a wide range of different titles available for both iOS and Android, the company has built a solid reputation for high-end, graphically-intensive fare. Asphalt, a nitrous-charged racing game, has been a staple part of the company's range for a number of years, and today, the company has released Asphalt 8: Airborne for both iOS and Android. In addition, the Paris, France-based developer has revealed that the game will soon be arriving for Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8, while also outlining its intention to port a multitude of titles over to Microsoft's fledgling platforms.
While clamshell devices have been regarded by most consumers as a distant memory in today's mobile world, Samsung simply will not let the form factor drop. We've already seen and heard quite a few reports out of Korea suggesting the S4-maker was planning to release a series of flip phones, and today, a short while after announcing the Samsung Hennessy, the company has announced the Galaxy Golden. It features two displays, the antiquated flip styling, and, all told, a fairly decent set of hardware specs. Details after the break!
Yesterday, we shared with you that YouTube v5.0 had been seeded to users by Google. Up until now however, this new version has been reserved for Android users, but we quickly found out that an iOS version was on the horizon - and it just dropped onto the App Store in the form of YouTube v2.0 for iOS. As Ben pointed out in his earlier post, the biggest change in this update is without doubt the new in-app multitasking functionality that allows you to watch a video, and browse the app itself with ease simultaneously.

