Google's Chromecast, which was announced and released without much fanfare last year, seems to have made a lasting impression on the streaming content / set-top box market. Since its arrival, competitors have been noticeably stepping up their games, and you only have to look at the increased range and variety of content on the Apple TV to see how wary companies are of the alternatives now on offer. Roku, the California-based maker of streaming entertainment devices, has responded to the popularity of the Chromecast with its own downscaled, cheap solution that, like Google's effort, connects straight into your TV's HDMI socket.
The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), which recently struck a deal with Apple to begin the production of some of its device's hardware components, has reportedly gotten to work on the new A8 processing chip, which will power the upcoming iPhone 6 later on this year. The report, which has arrived courtesy of the Commercial Times in Taiwan, notes that the A8 SoC began production last month, and although we'd expect it to serve as the workhorse of the next Apple smartphone, it's also reasonable to speculate that the iPad range could also benefit from the upgraded chip at some point this fall.
Google's Nexus smartphone and tablet range has proven time and again to be a huge hit with Android users, and following the successful launch of the Nexus 5 late last year, details are beginning to emerge of its would-be successor. The Nexus 6, which looks set once again to be manufactured by Korean outfit LG, will be revealed later on this year alongside Google's very first smartwatch, according to a report over at Gizmodo.
Antonio De Rosa, leader of ADR Studios, frequently dazzles us with some great Apple-centered concepts, and today, has delivered another neat design based on the company's supposed wearable tech endeavors. The iWatch, as it is unofficially known, looks set to finally make an appearance at market in 2014 after years of speculation, and De Rosa has given us yet another visual representation of what it might look like when it does finally manifest. The 'iMe,' as he has called it, features a strap not too dissimilar to that of the Nike+ FuelBand, and with a slick, curved display, much like the Gear Fit, looks rather different to the currently-available smartwatches from the likes of Pebble, Samsung and Sony. Check it out after the break!
Batman: Arkham Knight the game has been officially announced for the Sony PlayStation 4, Microsoft's Xbox One, as well as the PC. Accompanying the official unveiling is a very exciting-looking trailer, and if you're a fan of your Batman games, this is one you won't want to be missing. Check out the feature-length clip, as well as all of the details, right after the break!
Microsoft pushed a rudimentary system update for its Xbox One console exactly one month ago, and at the time, we were informed that a further, more significant update would be following in March. As per a blog post from Larry Hryb, AKA Xbox LIVE's Major Nelson, the new bundle of features will begin rolling out as of today, and will include improved party and chat support, as well as preparing systems for next week's big release of Titanfall.
Logitech's peripherals serve a wide range of consumer electronics, although in recent years, the company has increasingly seemed to target products bearing Apple's unmistakable logo. Its Harmony series has sought to reinvent the way we interact with our digital devices at home, and the feature-packed new Harmony Smart Keyboard follows this same ethos by providing a novel way of controlling the likes of the Apple TV set-top, as well as pretty much anything else one could possibly own in the world of living room gadgetry.
The iPhone 5s, as is often the case with new iPhone releases, brought with it a bunch of new and exciting features, including Touch ID, gold color configuration, and a 64-bit processor - the first to be found within a smartphone. Allied to the new A7 SoC was the M7 motion coprocessor, and not only did this pave the way for more advanced fitness and motion-related apps, but took the strain off the standard CPU while also conserving battery. But the M7 coprocessor may be even more powerful than we first imagined, with one Redittor having discovered that it tracked his movements for days, despite the device seemingly dead through lack of power.
Many of us are too preoccupied by our digital worlds to realize that, in actual fact, many billions of people across the world don't even have access to the Internet. An initiative by Internet.org hopes to stem this rather outrageous tide, and social company Facebook is a well-known backer of the cause. In an attempt to further its efforts to spread the Internet beyond the developed world in which it is most prominent, the Menlo Park-based firm is said to be in talks to acquire Titan Aerospace, a company that creates solar-powered drones capable of flying for five years straight, and according to a report over at TechCrunch, the deal is said to be in the region of $60 million.
With CarPlay having been demonstrated heavily by Apple and its auto partners over the past couple of days, we have more than a slight inkling that iOS 7.1 won't be too far away. After all, betas of the forthcoming release have served as virtually the sole source of information pertaining to the in-car flavor of iOS, and although the automobiles themselves won't be shipping just yet, it would make sense for Apple to begin distributing the necessary iOS updates as soon as feasibly possible. Previously, we'd heard that iOS 7.1 would hit the scene "mid-March," and now, as surmised by the folks of Daring Fireball, it could be set to make its début in the next few days.
