The Xbox One has been on the market for just four days, and while the vast majority of those in ownership of Microsoft's latest and greatest console have been pleased with their purchase, a small faction have encountered the issue of grinding disc drives, or the dreaded "Sorry, We Can't Play This Disc" error. As we reported over the weekend, some Blu-ray drives start making clicking noises when attempting to load a game, and as a result, the Redmond outfit has begun the process of replacing them. It has now emerged, though, that the issue in some units can be solved, and whilst hardware fixes are often daunting or overly technical, this fix required little more than a couple of good, old-fashioned whacks.
BlackBerry's OS and brand in general may be tanking right now, but the Canadian company seems determined to turn things around, and following the recent release of its prized BBM app for iOS and Android, it looks as though users of the latter ecosystem may begin to see the instant messaging app installed as standard on some future devices. If there's one thing consumers tend to loathe, it's the pre-installation of unnecessary bloatware that cannot be removed, but the good news - at least, for much of the western world - is that it's unlikely to be finding its way to your favorite Android brand of handset any time soon.
It's been available to buy for a couple of months now, but getting your hands on a new iPhone 5s still isn't the easiest thing in the world. Things are starting to get better though, as Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster points out while pointing at a nice colorful graph that backs up his claim. It's a shame it's not the same graph that says when the Apple television well be released, eh Gene?
Valve's Steam Machine initiative is an interesting one, even if we can't help but wonder about its longevity. Regardless, anything that shakes up the PC gaming industry is fine by us, and Steam certainly did that. Can the Steam Machines do the same? We'll have to wait and see.
The Xbox One, as most of you will already know, retails at a full $100 more than its Sony-made rival - the PlayStation 4. The early PS4 teardowns suggested that its Japanese creator was making no money on the console itself, since the raw material cost was predicted to be in excess of $380, and considering a retail price of $400, it would be hard to glean much by way of profit. With the Xbox One shipping the new Kinect sensor, it was always going to be more expensive to produce, and with the first teardown now in, it seems that the Redmond's next-gen machine costs a full $90 more than the PlayStation 4.
Tech evolves in many different ways, and although we tend to focus our attentions on the mobile industry, Philips has demonstrated that there is still room for interesting niche products with its Hue bulb collection. The beautiful, colorful glimmer emitted by the bulbs is glorious in itself, but by integrating with mobile devices for control of colors, dimness and other such settings, geeks far and wide have been sucked in by their glow. Philips may have been fairly unrivalled in this market hitherto, but the Lumen Bluetooth 4.0 LED bulb looks set to change all that. The company took its idea to the crowded world of tech start-ups, and is now set to hit a retail outlet near you. Details after the break.
Apple's iPhone 5s includes a wealth of exciting new hardware features, but whilst we've been more than impressed by the new 64-bit A7 processor, much has been made of the Touch ID fingerprint sensor. Allowing iPhone users to unlock their devices without going through the tiresome rigmarole of typing in a passcode, it has been a big hit in its short lifespan, and according to a recent patent filing by Apple, could be about to get even better.
Sometimes it's easy to forget that Apple's iPad isn't the only tablet in town. The world may sit up and take notice whenever Apple's announced a new iPad as shown by the latest iPad Air and iPad mini releases, but the same can't be said about the competition. That's why that competition often tries to gain notoriety by prodding Apple and sometimes even the people that buy its products. Yes, we're looking at you Samsung.
This week, in the unlikely case that you weren't already aware, is Black Friday week, and the deals and special offers will be running from most of the major retail outlets. In technology terms, it's a great time to go shopping in preparation for the holiday season, particularly since many of these price-cuts don't occur at any other time of year. Apple is a prime of example of a company that seldom alters its price structure except for on Black Friday, and those holding out on an Apple purchase in hope of making some savings later on this week will be pleased to learn that the Cupertino outfit has just announced the details.
The folks of Square Enix are back with another App Store installment of Final Fantasy for fans of the series to enjoy. The long-running series, which has been around for well over a decade now, has already seen a number of releases on Apple's iOS - some notably more successful than others - and after Final Fantasy IV seemed to finally get things right, its sequel has just arrived for iOS and Android. Final Fantasy IV: The After Years is now ready to download worldwide, and you can check out the 2-minute trailer after the break.
