Apple quietly released a new iPod touch yesterday, adding a 16GB offering to the fifth generation of the popular iOS-based music player. More than just a new, smaller capacity clone of the existing models though, the 16GB iPod touch variant is actually a new design when compared to the other iPod touch models, and it even loses one or two of their features in the process.
Regardless of personal opinion on Google, it's pretty fair to say that a significant portion of technology enthusiasts make use of at least one of their products - or services - on a day-to-day basis. A large section of us regularly allow the company to handle our email needs through Gmail, and it's been evident in recent times that Google has been working fairly tirelessly in an attempt to enhance its extremely popular email offering and make everything a little less cluttered for all of us. The latest of those efforts has manifested itself with a fairly significant update to Gmail for web and mobile based users, that now offers a tabbed inbox experience with mails sorted into varying categories for easier organization.
A short while ago, we saw a beautiful unofficial 3D render of the Xbox One courtesy of Sketchfab, and to accompany that, Microsoft has delivered some insight into the design of its upcoming console in a new video posted to YouTube. The clip, which is entitled “Xbox One and Design” looks at how the aesthetics of the Xbox One came about, and how, in turn, the Kinect 2 and Xbox One Controller were also crafted in its image to create a very uniform product line.
It may not have been the biggest announcement made at Google's I/O developer conference, but the unveiling of the company's Google Play Music All Access service outlined the Big G's intentions to compete with the modern day streaming music services. Google Music has provided a platform for music fans to listen to and store some of their favorite tracks, but with All Access thrown into the mix, the likes of Spotify and Pandora now have a genuine contender from Mountain View. The accompanying app was updated for Android straight away, and while any kind of Google Music app for iOS has been conspicuous by its absence, Google has announced a version for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users is now incoming.
Microsoft's Xbox One is a fairly good looking device. Yes, granted, it is a little bit set-top boxy for some people's liking, but all told, it will make a nice aesthetic impression on most living rooms. Some unofficial renders of the machine have just popped up on Sketchfab, and if you fancy taking a closer look at the forthcoming Microsoft console, now you can. Bear in mind, these are not endorsed officially by Microsoft, but since Xbox LIVE's Larry Hryb a.k.a. Major Nelson tweeted about the designs, they've at least been dealt an air of legitimacy.
Samsung has officially unveiled the Galaxy S4 mini smartphone, and we have all the details about said handset put together in one place. Check it out after the jump.
We are used to seeing Apple holding large press and media events, with the intention of generating the maximum interest possible for any new hardware launch. But it seems that the relatively silent launch of the new 16GB iPod touch has passed by without any fuss coming from Cupertino campus. The immediate release of a 16GB variant of the fifth-generation iPod touch may have taken a few by surprise, especially considering the timing is only a few weeks shy of Apple's annual WWDC, but it serves as a replacement for the fourth-generation 16GB model that remained on sale when the larger 4-inch iPod touch 5G was announced last year.
Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference commences from next month on June 10th, and the well-informed Jim Dalrymple has waded into the ongoing debate by casting his expectations on the forthcoming event. He suggests that, in terms of new hardware, we shouldn't hold out any hope of a significant new iOS device, but we could see some alterations to the Mac line. As well as that, he goes into detail with regards to OS X and iOS, both of which will certainly be seeing new versions. Details can be found right after the break.
The battle of the next-gen consoles is really hotting up, and both Microsoft and Sony will be vying for the attentions of the gaming faithful come the end of this year. In fact, the fight to secure the interests of gamers worldwide is already in full swing, with Sony having announced the PlayStation 4 back in February, and the announcement of the Xbox One last week finally put a name and a face to the plans of Redmond-based Microsoft. While some key details remain a mystery at this point in time, we now have a general idea of what to expect, and designer Ralph Cifra has put together a nice little infographic based on the information currently known.
Gmail is widely considered to be one of the best email services going, and one of the main reasons for its continued success is the fact that Google has been resilient in updating and improving it over the past nine years. Today, the Big G has announced new services for both desktop and mobile which aim to "put you back in control."
