Although we like to think that our smartphones help to keep us generally more productive and on top of our daily tasks, one has to wonder how many hours we lose by playing games and simply daydreaming digitally. The seemingly endless possibilities mean there's always something out there to keep us occupied when wielding our handhelds, and in the case of the Sphero robotic ball, that something is directing a glowing, robotic ball in all kinds of different directions. Having been around for a while now, its maker Orbotix has, for lack of a more apt phrase, just rolled out version 2.0. And yes, it's more awesome than ever before.
Yesterday, we heard reports out of Asia that Samsung was readying yet another stab at the antiquated flip-phone niche with the so-called 'Hennessy,' and today, those rumors have been confirmed as true. Today, the South Korean electronics giant has officially announced the dual-screen device, which runs on Android 4.1, packs a 1,500 mAh battery and a quad-core processor. Details, as ever, can be found right after the break.
Google's Chromecast peripheral only debuted a couple of weeks ago, but with its cheap price and emergence as a relatively hackable product, many consumers have jumped on board. For $35, the receiver lets you stream content from any device to your HDTV, but at this point, limitations mean that only a handful of video and audio services are currently compatible. Thus, some have opted not to pick up the Chromecast, and if you're one of those individuals holding off for the time being, you might be tempted by CheapCast, an app that can turn your Android device into a makeshift Chromecast receiver.
Google's Android firmware may be continually improving in a number of key areas, but one category of constant concern is that of Android malware and general security threats, which seem to be rising just as readily as the platform is. Worryingly, security outfit Trend Micro notes of how the number of malicious apps in existence across the Web has increased to 700,000, with almost 200,000 having manifested in the last quarter alone. With up to 99 percent of devices potentially at risk, the threat is very real, and although users are at least becoming more cautious and aware, it would seem the malware makers are more determined than ever.
Google only recently announced its new Chromecast streaming device, which, in a nutshell, attempts to turn your normal, run-of-the-mill HDTV into a modern, all-singing Smart TV. While the concept is great and the price - at just $35 - is even better, the streaming is options are somewhat limited, and besides Netflix, you can only really push content from YouTube or the Play Store. Of course, it won't always be this way, and we expect many other such services to bring support for Chromecast at some point in the future, but if you're the impatient kind and don't wish to wait for the updates, there's a little CyanogenMod tweak soon-to-be available that will let you stream from essentially any app.
Google Glass has made waves since the search giant first announced the project last year, and with many developers and creatives currently testing and helping to enhance the wearable tech ready for launch early next year, we've just caught wind of the kind of price point we should be expecting. Glass has long since been perceived as an expensive gadget, and as such, many analysts and commentators have been quick to suggest that $1000+ would simply be too steep a climb for the average consumer. But if a report originating from the China Post carries any weight, the actual retail cost of Glass will be significantly cheaper than that.
Until Apple see fit to release of the next generation iPhone, which may be sooner than you think, the iPhone 5 is the hottest competition from the iOS camp for the Android flagships, the HTC One and the Samsung Galaxy S4. For this reason, if anyone is wanting to pick up an iPhone 5 in the coming weeks, you may want to think on it just a little bit. From my experience with both the HTC One and the iPhone 5, both are incredibly capable devices, but there is certainly enough differences to bring you 10 reasons which top the One above the 5. These can be found in the video embedded at the end of this post.
Google has once again delivered a weighty bundle of features in the second iteration of the famed, ASUS-made Nexus 7 slate, and if you happen to reside in the UK and wondering when you would be able to purchase the heavily-lauded 7-inch tablet, you'll be pleased to learn that it will hit the Play Store before the end of the month. As confirmed by ASUS, the new Nexus 7 will be available in Britain from August 28th, and with the base, 16GB version retailing at just £199, it offers the same incredible value that made it a hit this time last year.
It was back towards the end of June that Facebook announced some significant new implementations to Instagram for iOS and Android, bringing both apps up to version 4.0 with the introduction of a new, Vine-like video feature, also known as Instagram Video. Over the past six weeks, users have taken to the new feature like a duck to water, and now, version 4.1 is upon us. The update, which once again spans both iOS and Android, offers different alterations to each, with the most notable being an auto-straightening feature in the iOS iteration. Catch the full details after the break.
As the market continues to be pummeled with powerful, large displaying, top-end handsets LG has just added another to the fray with its G2 - a follow-up to last year's release of the Optimus G. With a weighty 2.26GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor and 2GB of RAM bundled in, it's not exactly a smartphone for the general user, and with a 5.2-inch 1080p display, should have no problems with clarity, intensive gaming or movie-watching.
