The Samsung Galaxy S4 is one of the most popular handsets on the market right now; some might say the hottest smartphone released this year so far. But if you're a Mr. Du from Hong Kong, you're probably wishing it wasn't quite so hot, as this poor man's prized Samsung device caught fire and burned down his entire apartment. In one of the more bizarre stories to hit the blogosphere today, the Du's Galaxy S4 spontaneously combusted, caught fire to his sofa, and the rest, as they say, is history.
iMessage, Apple's cross device messaging service for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Mac, has been a relative success since first appearing with iOS 5 and subsequently, OS X Lion. Yet like most fledgling services, it has had its fair share of teething issues, with a notable lack of proper blocking / reporting feature in place for spam messages. iOS 7 will allow users to block Apple IDs causing offence as we already know, but now, the Cupertino has also rolled out a nifty spam reporting feature enabling users to take action against any kind of intrusive or otherwise unwanted behavior.
After what seems like an age, due to the unforeseen downtime of the Apple’s Dev Center, the Cupertino company has released the latest iteration of their in-development software, iOS 7. The latest seed, beta 4, has been a highly anticipated release as the bugs and issues with iOS 7 beta 3 were prevalent. That being said, it's clear Apple has taken everyone's feedback aboard when it comes to the bugs and usability issues, because beta 4 seems to be a very stable build.
Step by step instructions on how to root Android 4.3 Jelly Bean running on Nexus 4, Nexus 7, Nexus 10 and Galaxy Nexus.
Samsung has made two new Galaxy S4 ads available on YouTube before, presumably, putting them on every TV channel on the planet. If there's one thing Samsung knows how it do, it's blanket advertising. Check out the ads right after the jump!
Apple TV was once looking like a forgotten device. Once famously dubbed a "hobby" by then COO Tim Cook, the little black box has not seen much love inside Cupertino, let alone outside. Yet, while the talk of a more strenuous connected TV effort remains on the lips of many an analysts, the fruit company is pressing ahead with updates and improvements to the current generation, and now, enhancing its functionality looks to be squarely on the agenda. The latest Apple TV beta suggests music purchasing will soon become a native feature, and with Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity facilitating new setup features via iOS 7, there still appears to be plenty of life left in the set-top streamer.
Google is constantly looking for ways to broaden its reach and range of digital products, and with Zagat support having recently been integrated into its official Maps app, a standalone app of the restaurant-finding tool has just been released for Apple's iPhone and Google’s very own Android OS. Details, as well as download links, can be seen after the leap.
Arguably a week late due to Apple’s developer portal security breach and then that portal subsequently being offline for far, far too long, iOS 7 beta 4 is now finally in the hands of developers. Three weeks after the third beta was pushed out, this new fourth iteration brings with it the usual raft of interface changes as well as some tweaks under the hood. I've been using it for a good few hours at this point, and following on from my previous posts along the same vein, here's how beta 4 is shaping up in these early hours after I updated my iPhone 5.
One of the so-called "killer" new features of the upcoming iPhone has frequently been suggested as a fingerprint sensor, which would be somehow integrated into the home button and would offer added security whether shopping or unlocking. Although we did catch wind of a patent suggesting iPhone 5S fingerprint sensor would instead be integrated into the display rather than the home button, the new iOS 7 beta 4 seems to have slipped that the initial notion may instead be true.
Apple seems to be busily getting its developer releases out there today after the security breach which resulted in the entire system being dragged offline. Along with the news that iOS 7 beta 4 is finally making its appearance today, iTunes 11.1 has also been released to those registered to Apple's Developer Program. The updated iTunes 11.1 beta 1 is quite limited at this point, given that it only works on the fruit company’s very on OS X, but does include iTunes Radio integration for those living in the United States. More details can be found right after the jump.

