The Xbox One may have arrived late on in the day compared to the February launch of the PlayStation 4, but Microsoft seems determined to make up for lost time. Towards the end of last week, we saw Major Nelson run a special unboxing of the forthcoming console for fans to drool over, and with a short clip focused on the controller also arriving on the same day, the Redmond company has now come through with a feature-length video tour of the new game pad.
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.
Although every iOS device now ships with built-in support for FaceTime, Microsoft-owned Skype still enjoys a decent following on Apple's range of mobile products. Today, many months after Windows Phone was treated to HD video calling support, the Redmond has updated its iPhone and iPad apps to deliver the same functionality to those in ownership of the iPhone 5 and iPad 4. Despite Microsoft dragging its heels in rolling out this update, there's quite a noticeable difference in quality, so if you're a Skyper who just so happens to own a fourth-gen iPad or the iPhone 5, you'll want to pick up the updated Skype for iOS app right now from the App Store.
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.
It’s a no-brainer that loyal Samsung fans have September 4th penciled down in their diaries for quite some time, which is the rumored Galaxy Note 3 release date. We are getting to that time of the year when we are about to see product announcement and launch events happening from a number of large players in the technology scene, with Samsung being one of the biggest. It's widely expected that the South Korean electronics giant will introduce us to the third-generation Galaxy Note on the 4th of September but, like a lot of others, it's the potential specifications of the purported device that has whet our appetites.
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.
It’s all but confirmed! Apple will unveil the next generation iPhone at an event on Tuesday, September 10th. The news comes from WSJ’s AllThingsD which has a great track record of accurately reporting such event dates.
We're hitting that time of year in which talk and rumor of a new smartphone from a certain California-based company begins to gather steam. This year, however, we could be in for a double-whammy, with the consensus -- backed up by a boatload of leaks -- indicating that Apple could be releasing a low-cost "iPhone 5C" to accompany the flagship "iPhone 5S." Today, Vietnamese site Tinhte -- fairly astute when it comes to legitimate leaks of Apple products -- has its hands on mockups of both the iPhone 5C and iPhone 5S, and for the benefit of the tech world, has released a bunch of shots of the devices side-by-side.
If, 18 months ago, you'd have told people that Apple could well have a smaller and larger iPad available to match the main 9.7-inch model, you'd have probably been laughed at. Yet Tim Cook's Apple seems a lot more open to the idea of change, and with the iPad mini now a well-established product in the consumer market, the notion of a larger device suddenly doesn't sound so inconceivable. Murmurings dating back to May have suggested that the famed tablet range could introduce a larger, possibly 12.9-inch / 13-inch iPad model, and to give an idea of what that could look like, CiccareseDesign has cooked up a couple of tasty concept renders.
In breaking news, the International Trade Commission (ITC) has just delivered its verdict on a long-running case between Apple and Samsung, ruling in favor of Apple in a decision that will see certain Samsung devices banned from import to the US. The case has been running for a number of years, and this particular ordeal began when Apple counter-sued Samsung in 2011 after the Galaxy maker claimed that a handful of the Cupertino-based company's devices were infringing on its patents.
