It may not be Prime time as reports say HTC One M8 Prime 'suspended indefinitely'
When whispers of a super-premium HTC One M8 known as the 'Prime' began doing the rounds, some of those who'd just snapped up the company's flagship handset weren't best pleased.
After all, the argument went, would they have bought an M8 if they knew an improved version with superior innards and a better screen?
Well that angst may be over following word the Taiwanese smartphone firm may have curtailed their interest in launching the HTC One M8 Prime.
According to evleaks "development on Prime has been indefinitely suspended."
Prime power
Previous rumours had suggested the HTC One M8 Prime would have a 5.5-inch 2560 x 1440 (QHD) display, which would be up in both size and resolution from the 5-inch 1080p HTC One M8 display.It was also claimed the HTC One M8 Prime would be powered by a 2.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon 805 processor coupled with 3GB of RAM and a 3000mAh battery back.
Has HTC ditched the phone completely, or might we see Prime's time come later than originally thought?
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Leaked Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.5 looks like every other Samsung Galaxy Tab
Samsung's latest tablet sizing experiment, the Galaxy Tab 10.5 (or Galaxy Tab S) is all set to land on June 12, but you don't have to wait until then to get a glimpse of the slate in all of its official-looking glory.
The world's leakiest leaker @evleaks posted a series of polished press renders of the new, so-called 'super tablet' on Saturday, ahead of the rumoured New York media gathering in less than two weeks.
While the shots don't give away a lot, one thing is clear; Samsung may have boosted the display from 10.1-inch to 10.5, but that design language remains extremely consistent.
However, judging by recent leaks we can expect a lot more from this latest model in the specs department.
Spec-heavy
It's rumoured to have a 2560 x 1600 AMOLED display (the first of its kind in a Samsung tablet since the Galaxy Tab 7.7 in 2012), 3GB of RAM, an 8-megapixel camera and Android 4.4.2 KitKat on board.There's also thought to be an Exynos 5 octo-core processor with four 1.9GHz Cortex-A15 cores and four 1.3GHz Cortex-A7 cores, doing the hard grind beneath the surface.
Also confirmed by a recent trip through the FCC in the United States is the oft-rumoured fingerprint scanner. Sounds like it could be Samsung's most solid slate yet.
Tabs for a Pro? Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Pro rated
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Gotham is the font Twitter deserves, but is it the one it needs right now?
Just weeks after rolling out its spiffy new profile pages, Twitter has continued its spree of visual renovations with a brand new typeface.
Late on Friday, the social network announced it had ditched the trusty and time-tested Helvetic Neue font in favour of Gotham.
The change is now in effect on the browser-based Twitter.com site, but hasn't yet gravitated to the firm's suite of mobile apps.
Twitter posted a tweet on Twitter saying: "Starting today, we're rolling out a new font on Twitter.com moving from Helvetica Neue to Gotham."
Elegance
While some design and typeface experts have decried the move, Twitter explained that the font was chosen because it was stylish, but not exclusive.On its brand assets page, the firm wrote: "Words don't just hold meaning; they communicate by their very form. We primarily use the Gotham font family: elegant and direct, stylish but not exclusive. Putting well-designed words in our product enhances the user experience."
How do you like Twitter's foray into Gotham? Let us know your thoughts below.
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Android TV set to land at Google I/O with focus on content rather than apps
Google is all set to reveal its latest stab at owning the living room television with Android TV expected to be announced at the Google I/O conference in June.
Gigaom claims the firm will use its annual conference, which kicks off on June 25, to showcase a new platform that puts content front and centre, rather than apps, with a heavy focus on Android gaming.
Android TV will be powered by a brand new UI, that's been referred to internally as Pano, giving users the opportunity to jump right into movies, TV shows and games without entering individual apps first.
The user interface will be similar to the Amazon Fire TV platform and will be Chomecast compatible, according to the sources.
Saddle up, partners
The report claims Android TV won't be a device per se, but will exist as a platform Google hopes will be adopted by TV manufacturing partners, who could be part of the launch announcement in a few weeks.The key question, though, is why Google would be looking to launch such a platform given the abject failure of Google TV and the subsequent success of Google Chromecast?
We're likely to find out on June 25.
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In depth: Behind Lenovo's plan to become king of the smartphone
Lenovo's plan to become king of the smartphone
It was a phone call that started it. A phone call to sell a phone business. Eric Schmidt, Google's executive chairman, rang Lenovo and asked if it was still interested in buying Motorola Mobility - a company that Google had acquired just three years previous.The answer was a resounding 'yes' and Lenovo's big move towards mobile dominance was revealed.
For both companies this is a marriage of convenience. The $2.1 billion deal is set to go through in the next few months - it still needs approval from the courts in China and the US - and once it does Google will have found a company that will take away its hardware headache while it retains Moto's patent power. On the flipside Lenovo is getting the helping hand it needs to pursue the lucrative mobile avenues of the US and Europe.
The deal is a huge one for Lenovo and a massive part of its future going forward. But to understand just how it got to being on the precipice of global smartphone domination you have to look to its past - something TechRadar did when it went to China to learn more about how the company operates.
Chasing characters
2014 marks 30 years for Lenovo as a company. Born in Beijing in 1984, Lenovo started out as a reseller of IBM products before making its name when it invented the Han Character Insertion Card.This technology significantly shortened the number of keystrokes it took to input Chinese characters, making the process twice as quick and proving to the population of China that computers were something that was needed not just for business but for helping in the education of children.
Before long it was creating its own computers, using older processors that were sold back to China when upgrades were made. So, when the West was flooded with computers packing 486 Pentium processors, China were given the 386 variants and so on.
Then in 1993 when the Chinese government 'opened up' the country to western brands that wanted to compete in the market, Lenovo began selling computers under its English name of Legend. At that time it was 26th out of 26 companies competing for PC dominance in China. By 1996 it was top.
When the second wave of Western brands hit China in 2000, Legend had a plan to make sure it could retain its market share and fight the influx of cheap computers from the US and beyond - it came in the form of a button.
In 1999 access to the internet was a complicated thing for consumers, so Legend simplified the process with the Tian Xi, a desktop computer with one-button web access.
Couple this with offers of landline access and a year's free internet and this computer raised the company's market share by 6%. To put this into context, at the moment only Apple can command that much trading excitement with one device.
Skip to 2005 and Legend became Lenovo (a portmanteaux of Legend and Novo, greek for 'new') and to show the world how far it had come, it bought the ThinkPad computing arm from IBM, the very company whose products it made a living from back in 1984.
30 years on and Lenovo is the number one computer seller in the world.
PC Plus points
The person who oversaw this careful maneuvering through the computing space was Yang Yuanqing. YY, as he likes to be known, is now CEO of Lenovo and he is hoping to do the same again with mobile, hence the Motorola buyout.The deal is set to be completed in the next few months and in many ways can be seen as the brand's mobile equivalent of the ThinkPad - a brand that can bridge the global gap where the Lenovo name doesn't quite reach.
This all clearly points to where Lenovo is going next: to a PC Plus world, where mobile and PC categories are blurred by the rise of tablets.
Although this acquisition alongside the potential purchase of IBM's server division tested the confidence of investors when they were announced earlier in the year, YY told TechRadar that Motorola was a brilliant buy for Lenovo.
"I definitely think the Moto deal is the perfect thing for Lenovo's strategy. We got a good deal at a good price," he said.
"We need to globalise our smartphone business. But to become stronger and faster we needed to be bold. Motorola gives us the elements we need to globalise and compete. It is a well known brand that has strong relationships with carriers. "
As for how investors reacted he explained: "Market reaction is not important to us. We understand our strategy. We understand what we need and what we want to get."
Hello Moto
Lenovo is out to do something that many PC-focused companies have failed to do before: become a global mobile force.Its current figures prove that in many ways it is already achieving this. In China it is number two only to Samsung when it comes to tablets and phones. And it is currently making similar gains in India, Indonesia, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam.
All of these countries recognise the Lenovo brand as a mobile one but this simply isn't the case for the US and Europe - two of the biggest smartphone areas - and this is where Motorola comes in. Currently Lenovo is the number four phone manufacturer in the world, behind Apple, Samsung and Huawei, mainly due to its popularity in China, and it believes Moto is the key to getting even higher up the ranks.
"Motorola is a good brand with worldwide awareness. This is the company that invented mobile phone, not just smartphones," said YY.
"Motorola will give us a good retail relationship. It has a strong portfolio of IP and rights and will help us become one of the clear global leaders.
"We will not be satisfied with number three, we will want to be number two in the future."
Wuhan clan
This intent was made clear when TechRadar visited Lenovo's latest manufacturing plant in Wuhan, a thriving city that's capital of the Hubei Provence in China.Wuhan is not a city that many will be familiar with but there's a good bet you have a gadget that's been manufactured in its confines. Alongside Lenovo there are a number of other big product manufacturers - including Apple's go-to manufacturer Foxconn.
Opened in December 2013, in an area called the Optics Valley, Lenovo's Wuhan Industrial Base has the ability to produce 100 million mobile devices - which just happens to be the number of smartphones and tablets Lenovo wants to sell this year.
Currently there are 3,000 people working at the plant but there's room for 8,000. And, according to Lenovo, most of the workers come from the neighbouring universities.
Jack Zhu, Lenovo's manufacturing lead executive for mobile, told TechRadar that it takes around seven minutes to make a phone and everything in the factory is done by people power.
"There's no automation, everything is checked by our workers. In all 34 people work on making one device," he said.
Think ThinkPad
Even without the Moto deal, mobile is definitely taking precedent within Lenovo. Recent figures showed that for four quarters in a row, tablets and phones have outpaced the sale of PCs.Its new strategy smacks of this too. According to YY it wants to protect PC and attack PC Plus, a division that was announced in 2010 that essentially marries PCs with tablets. It sees itself as number two in this area, with Apple at number one - a spot YY is eyeing up.
"In the past couple of years, tablet has canibalised the PC market but now this is changing. We now believe tablets have become part of the PC," said YY.
"Tablets are PCs without keyboards and we are a proven winner in PCs. The Yoga tablet helped us have our best year. It is shaking up the market with unconventional design and we want to become number one in the broad PC market."
To achieve this, Lenovo needs Motorola to work for them. It needs the brand to plug the gaps in the market that it can't currently reach with its Lenovo range of phones, much like the ThinkPad name did back in 2005.
And this brings us full circle to that initial phone call. If Lenovo hadn't contacted Google as soon as it had bought Motorola, the deal may never have happened. It was a long game of second guessing that eventually worked in its favour.
"We first approached Moto when Google first announced the acquisition. Google was the owner of Android and we thought maybe it wouldn't want to own the hardware side of the business," said Liu Jun, EVP President of mobile for Lenovo to TechRadar.
"To us, it was clear that Google wanted to own the IPs. So we thought we had an opportunity to own the hardware side.
"Google initially tried to do the hardware itself but then a year and a half later they reconsidered their strategy. The end of last year we got a call from Google, from Eric Schmidt. We were asked if we still had the interest.
"We always thought Motorola was a good buy so we said yes and signed the contract quickly."
Without Motorola, Lenovo managed to increase its mobile shipments to 50 million smartphones and 9.2 million tablets in 2013 - a growth of 60% year on year. This helped Lenovo achieve its most successful year ever.
So what could happen with Motorola? YY wants this number to be at least 100 million which is a high prediction but maybe the signs that Moto is the company to help with this were there way before a purchase was proposed.
"My first phone was a Motorola," explained YY to TechRadar. "And hopefully now that means it was a Lenovo."
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Tech support industry: war in a new battlefield
Some of the most significant changes that technology has delivered over the past few years have changed the approach to most markets, but for the break-fix market, it has come to a point in its evolution that has placed it on the brink of turmoil.
At the heart of the technology support industry, field engineering and the associated service supply chain is emerging as the new battlefield.
The advancement of the industry is emerging as an issue now because technology products have been simplified and the need for traditional, high-end engineering skills required in the field is diminishing - almost to the point of extinction.
The result is that continued market pressures are pushing the legacy fragmented technology support -the service supply chains - into a non-competitive position.
Stagnant market
This has come to a head as customers no longer require high-end expertise to repair retail, hospitality or print technology; the priority is to replace the unit in the shortest time possible, ensuring an immediate return to productivity at the lowest possible cost.When compared to wider innovative technology development, the break fix market remains fragmented and stagnant, having progressed over the years into silos which have operated in ivory towers.
Evidence of this is seen in major contracts where the supply chain for a single IT hardware call involved one service provider sub-contracting to three different repairers, three individual logistics loops, two technical couriers and three parts providers.
These businesses are refusing to modernise the outdated service supply chain model currently plaguing the industry.
Where's the battle?
This reluctance to change the way businesses think and operate is harming the technology support industry, and Glyn Dodd, managing director of technology support specialist Centrex Services, believes the worst is yet to come."Hardware technology is always evolving yet the support business is stuck using an antiquated supply chain which hasn't offered true value or innovation to the customer for years," he says.
Dodd sees a distinctive, yet variable change in the approach and structure to the service supply chain. The level of skilled expertise required to service complex technology is still necessary, while the traditional 'swap' services can continue to be handled by a technical courier. Between these two skill sets is where he sees the battle – the middle ground.
The middle ground's effect on service
So what is shaping this battle and what are the components that have put this service provision into a state of flux?Dodd explains, "The first major component of the battle lies in the price structure of hardware maintenance support. We've seen hardware technology commoditise, which has changed the perceived value of product hardware and the way that it is serviced. This has increased the price pressure within the middle ground.
"The second component (and possibly a result of the price pressure) is the accelerated silos of multiple suppliers throughout the supply chain, increasing the number of ivory towers and the chasms that exist between them. The number of suppliers and subcontractors involved in a single IT hardware support has culminated in fragmented, confused and complex supply chains.
"The third and probably one of the most key constituents of the middle ground is the price of engineers, as service suppliers can no longer afford skilled field service engineers to respond to low level incidents.
"As the nature of field service is changing, it's rendering the current field service model outdated and expensive. Using technical couriers is the favoured method of replacement rather than a traditional engineer; however, using the full potential of field service engineers within the emerging middle ground activity is now becoming a waste of skilled resources and fails to offer true value to the customer."
As highlighted, end-user pricing associated with field services is decreasing, but price-pressure in the legacy model, including the deployment of engineers isn't. The average engineer's salary is currently reaching £34,000, substantially higher than the emerging middle ground technician who earns £20/25,000.
The industry simply can't afford to support field service engineers working at this level, despite their vast expertise. As price-pressure rates continue to fall, this issue is only going to get worse.
Reskilling engineers is vital
With technical couriers and middle ground technicians dealing with the majority of incidents, the role of field service engineers has to change in line with the service supply chain.The skilled engineers remain vital; focused at the top of the skill pyramid, providing services within the data centre and other complex technology areas such as multi-functional devices and networks.
However, they will need to be deployed in a different way to provide the most cost-effective model possible and employed in far less quantities than they are today.
Dodd says, "The level of expertise skilled engineers have should never be overlooked. When technology stops working, businesses stop working and it is often this vital part of the service which enables companies to get back up and running again, within the service level agreement. We simply need to readdress the economics of demand, aligning skill to activity to service revenue model.
"If we don't change the approach, the battlefield will intensify, providers will lose money and customers will lose faith in the service. This would be disastrous. The industry and the associated channel will continue to be viewed as non-strategic, causing confusion between customers, those in the field and the so called specialists providing the service."
Modernising technical support
As well as rejuvenating the service, remodelling the cost and ensuring the workforce is effectively deployed, the service supply chain must be connected in an intelligent way - centralised around astute contact centre services. Each process can be challenged and streamlined, culminating in a chain that is valuable, capable, available, adequate and flexible.Dodd believes modernisation is vital to the future stability of after sales support. "It's clear that the current technology support model is not fit for purpose and is actively harming the industry. We all talk and think about putting the customer first, but taking a holistic view of this industry, it seems no one is designing these services with customer satisfaction in mind.
"The delivery infrastructure needs a complete overhaul, moving away from the fragmented supply chain currently plaguing technology support towards a more streamlined, connected approach. Redesigning the interaction between each element of the supply chain, from control centre to repair, will breed high-quality service."
"We must redesign the battlefield as by changing the thinking, creating greater intelligence and deploying with full traceability, the middle ground break-fix will cease to be the daily battle-zone. Instead, technology support will profit from a lean, customer first service supply chain, once again adding true value for the customer."
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Best of TechRadar Pro: from Surface Pro 3 to Watch Dogs, GPU power and hybrid storage
Microsoft Surface Pro 3 review
Knock it for the Windows 8 launch. Lay into it for how it debuted the Xbox One. But, when it comes to its latest product, the Surface Pro 3, don't pull out the torches and pitchforks just yet – Microsoft is onto something here.
Over the past few years, the Redmond, Wash. Windows maker has proved to be one of the bolder technology companies, for better or worse. Microsoft clearly isn't afraid to fall on its face in the hope of landing on what in the world tech users want next in this turbulent market, and the Surface Pro 3 is – well, it just might be an exception. Continue reading...
Why wallets waned: a Q&A with John Haro, CTO of Vibes
Remember when the mobile wallet industry was supposed to take the tech world by storm? Back in 2011, Google Wallet, Square Wallet, and PayPal Wallet all launched, essentially copycatting Amazon's mobile version of Payments, which debuted in 2009. Apple followed suit in 2012 by launching Passbook.
With so many major players invested in mobile wallets, we were supposed to be on the cusp of life-changing technology that would signal the end of credit card plastic. Some projections estimated the mobile wallet industry would topple $5 trillion by 2020.Continue reading...
10 CRM systems small businesses should know
Customer relationship management isn't something that only large enterprises can afford to do. No matter how many workers you employ, leveraging data to ensure your customers are happy - and that your workers are productive – is essential. We've put together a list of CRM systems for small and mid-size businesses in order to help you be more informed during the implementation process. Continue reading...
Watching the Watch Dogs: the ethical hackers protecting our smart cities
Until Ubisoft's Watch Dogs came along, we hadn't been this excited about a game involving hacking since Deus Ex had us honing our security terminal-cracking skills back in 2000.
Playing as protagonist Aiden Pearce, your main weapon is a smartphone that can be used to hack into (and control) surveillance cameras, traffic lights and other electronic devices connected to Chicago's central network in a bid to thwart enemies and evade the police. Continue reading...
How to enhance the power of the GPU
Graphics processing units (GPU) have traditionally been used to draw pixels on screens. But recently, the GPU has been found to be ideal for computing intensive tasks such as CAD, CAM, 3D modelling, image manipulation, matrix manipulation, Furrier transform and Monte Carlo simulations.
GPU accelerators are an easy way to harness the considerable floating point performance present in modern GPUs. These accelerators connect to the system via the PCI-Express bus, allowing users to run multiple accelerators within a single system. Continue Reading...
Medion Erazer X7611 review
From smartphones to tablets and ultrabooks, ultra mobility is all the rage. But sometimes, there's still no substitute for simple screen size. That's especially true for gaming. Enter the Medion Erazer X7611 laptop. It's a full-on desktop replacement gaming portable with a monumental 17.3-inch, full 1080p display. It packs a full-on Intel quad-core processor and Nvidia graphics with 2GB of video memory. Continue reading...
What does the future hold for NoSQL?
We recently spoke to Matt Asay, VP of business strategy at MongoDB, to discuss the disruptive nature of NoSQL solutions, the advantages of an open-source approach, and what MongoDB's plans for the future are.
MongoDB is a NoSQL database with a focus on agility and scalability, helping organisations including The National Archives, The Guardian and Telefonica by providing a non-relational, open-source solution that allows for the management of data produced by modern applications. Continue reading...
What do smartphones and hybrid storage have in common?
Mobile telephones have been an invaluable tool for some time and when personal digital assistants (PDAs) started to appear on the market, they drove a whole new level of productivity.
However, when vendors such as Nokia and Apple started to provide convergence, something new appeared – the ubiquitous arrival of the smartphone. Both technologies worked fine alone. But by combining two seemingly separate entities, a new tool that simply solved a number of challenges emerged. Surprisingly, the same theory can be applied to data storage. ...Continue reading
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Acer just debuted five new phones and a tablet
Acer had a lot to get off its chest before the weekend, announcing five new smartphones, a new tablet and offering details on its new wearable smartband, for a total of seven new devices launching in 2014.
Most interesting are the Liquid Leap smartband and its paired smartphone, the curved Liquid Jade. The two will be bundled together "in selected markets," Acer said in a press release.
We originally saw the Liquid Leap in April, but Acer played coy about its release then.
The Liquid Leap is a 1-inch touch screen housed in a rubber wristband with fitness and sleep tracking, phone notifications and music controls. Its battery life is tagged at seven days and it comes in white, black, blue, pink and orange.
The Liquid Jade, meanwhile, is a curved 5-inch HD smartphone with Android 4.4 KitKat and a 13MP camera. Both smartphone and wearable launch in the third quarter of 2014, Acer said.
That's not all
But the Leap-Jade combo is only a small part of Acer's announcements. The Taiwanese company has also debuted four other smartphones.
The impressive Liquid X1 sports a 1.7 GHz octa-core processor, a 13MP camera, a 5.7-inch display, 2GB of memory and microSD expansion.
Where the X1 is professional- and business-focused, the budget-priced Acer Liquid Z200 smartphone is focused on "color" and "fun." It comes in five colors, has a 4-inch display and Android KitKat.
Next up are the Liquid E700 and Liquid E600, two similar devices with varying specs. The travel-ready E700 has an impressive 3,500mAh battery, triple SIM capability, a 5-inch screen, 4GB of storage with microSD room, Android KitKat and a quad-core processor.
The E600 has similar specs, including a 5-inch display and quad-core processor, but lacks the triple SIM capability of the E700.
Don't forget the tablet
Finally Acer announced the Iconia Tab 8, a Wi-Fi-only tablet with an 8-inch 1920 x 1200 anti-fingerprint display, Intel Atom quad-core chip, Android KitKat and microSD expansion.
All of these devices have various "intuitive and convenient" control and interface features, like the X1's AcerRAPID rear button, as well as its Acer Zoom Fit and AcerFLOAT UI tweaks. The former limits the display's active area when you're using it with one hand, while the latter is a multi-tasking tool.
In addition they'll all launch in Q3 this year, so watch out for more info as summer gets on.
- The Samsung Galaxy S5 is still going strong
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The white iPhone 6 appears, raises questions in its wake
Apple might be throwing yet another wrench into the iPhone 6's final design.
New images of a stark white iPhone 6 have popped up on Korean news site named Joseilbo. Not only do the images possibly show the next iteration of the iPhone in white for the first time, it also reveals Apple's next handset might have a smoother back than originally thought.
Unlike iPhone 6 dummies we've seen previously, this iPhone 6 sports a completely smooth back with an almost plastic sheen. The new handset also doesn't seem to have any clearly segmented breaks at the top and bottom for the antennas as the dummy model did.
Additionally, the flash is shaped as a vertical bar, similar to the dual True-Tone LED found on the iPhone 5S, rather than the circle we've seen on previous leaks.
It's possible this supposed iPhone 6 might just be wearing a case, and of course who really knows if the image is the real deal at all. Still, it's an interesting wrinkle in the iPhone 6's ever-growing rumor wheel.
Will the real iPhone 6 please stand up?
In another possible leak, the Australian MacFixIt blog posted images of what it claims is the back panel of the upcoming iPhone covered in a green protective plastic casing.
Sporting a much closer design to the dummies - down to the round flash and two distinct antenna breaks - this back plate may be part of the final production model of Apple's next handset.
We can see a new cut-out for the Apple logo, which has since been missing on any leaked devices. Meanwhile, around the camera and flash area, we can see a bit of the back panel's underlying silver tint.
Although everything lines up with the suspected design of the iPhone 6, it's hard to tell if the frame will fit the phone's all-but-confirmed 4.7-inch screen. These renderings could have easily been shopped together from iPhone Touch parts, so we're going hold off on calling it the real McCoy until we see it for ourselves.
Which do you think is the real iPhone 6? Fight it out our comments below.
- The Samsung Galaxy S5 is another phone that comes in white too
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Updated: iOS 8 banners deck the halls of WWDC 2014
"Houston, iOS 8 has (almost) landed."
With WWDC kicking off Monday, the signs - literally - are there that we're in for the new version of iOS' reveal.
Peer into San Francisco's Moscone West today and a banner emblazoned with "8" will wink back at you. Just as "7" graced the Moscone's halls before WWDC 2013's iOS 7 reveal, Apple seems to be not so subtly hinting at what we're in for come next week.
The wave background is also reminiscent of banners that teased iOS 6 and OS X 10.9 in years past.
Update: Oh, don't mind the above. It's just a photo of what appears to the El Capitan rock face in Yosemite National Park with an "X" gashed across it also going up at Moscone. "Yosemite" has been rumored as a name for the next version of the Mac OS X, OS X 10.10, and Apple has reportedly trademarked "El Cap."
Join us Monday at 10 a.m. PT/6 p.m. GMT/1 a.m. Tuesday AEST for WWDC 2014's opening keynote where we expect a formal introduction to iOS 8 and a number of other announcements. We'll be liveblogging the whole thing, so grab a coffee/beer and partake in the fun!
- Your move, Google IO
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Samsung's virtual reality headset might be a Galaxy Oculus Rift
It's been just over a week since the initial rumor that Samsung is working on a virtual reality headset appeared, and now a new report says at least one of our assumptions was wrong.
That is, Samsung is not looking to compete with Oculus VR and Facebook, but is actually working with them.
Engadget, which also reported the original story, has now shared a flood of new details about what could ultimately be a Galaxy Oculus Rift - or at least something like that.
The Samsung VR headset will reportedly use your phone's actual screen instead of including one of its own, but the headset will also include sensors like accelerometers and other hardware essentials.
Virtual insanity
So what does Samsung need from Oculus? Software, according to this report; Samsung is allegedly getting early access to Oculus's mobile software development kit.In return, Oculus gets to use the next generation of Samsung's OLED displays in its next Oculus Rift headset. These screens are reportedly higher-def than 1080p.
The Samsung VR headset will supposedly be able to play both games and media and use a paired game controller and/or motion and voice controls.
The phone's rear camera could be used for video pass-through to check your surroundings in between frags, and there might even be buttons on the headset itself, including Android's standard recent apps, home and back buttons.
Currently both Samsung's hardware and Oculus' software are both said to be so early that it's impossible to build full games, but devs have reportedly tried out a musical application set on a beach and a skydiving demo.
Between Oculus Rift, Sony's Project Morpheus headset, and now Samsung's supposed Galaxy VR project, the virtual reality space is starting to really heat up. Wonder what we'll see at E3 2014?
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The Moto X will no longer be made in the USA
The Moto X is one of the more unique smartphones on the because folks could customize it and it is one of the few constructed in the United States. Soon, however, Motorola won't be assembling devices in the US of A anymore.
The Wall Street Journal reported Motorola plans to shutdown its Mobility Factory in Fort Worth, Texas by the end of 2014. A Motorola spokesperson confirmed the news with TechRadar.
Currently the factory employs over 700 Americans to produce the Moto X and operate an essential part of the Moto Maker assembly process.
However, Motorola says the closure won't affect the availability of the device or its smartphone customization program. After the factory closure, Moto X production will be moved to China and Brazil, as well as other undisclosed locations.
Moto-ivational
The plant closing comes just four months after Google sold Motorola to Lenovo. Despite the coincidence, a Motorola spokesperson noted the decision to close the plant came independently of the planned sale.Instead it seems the Fort Worth plant will shutter due to poor sales of the Moto X coupled with the high labor costs in America. Motorola President Rick Osterloh explained to the Journal that the Moto X sales were "exceptionally tough" in North America.
The Moto X was an over-priced device given its hardware specs and being marketed as a middle-tier device. Since then, Motorola moved away from higher-end devices to pursue value-oriented customers with the Moto G and Moto E.
Now that Lenovo is steering the ship, Motorola could go into a whole new direction with its future wearable, the Moto 360, and the rumored Moto X+1.
- Check out the latest Android handset to hit, the LG G3
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iOS 8 split screen is apparently coming, but not in time for WWDC
The rumoured split screen multi-tasking mode for iPad will not be featured during Apple's expected iOS 8 reveal at WWDC, according to a New York Times reporter.
Respected tech journalist Brian X. Chen claims Apple is indeed working on the heavily-requested, Microsoft Surface-aping feature, but it's not quite ready for the bright lights of the annual developers conference.
Chen tweeted: "I've been told that the split-screen feature for iOS 8 isn't ready yet and won't be shown at WWDC. Still a work in progress."
The lack of a side-by-side multi-tasking feature, as populised by Microsoft's Windows 8 'Snap' feature, has been identified by some as a weakness, preventing the iPad becoming a true 'post-PC' device.
Microsoft, certainly, has mocked Apple mercilessly in its advertising materials for failing to offer such a feature.
Rectify
Apple is apparently planning to rectify that with iOS 8 by allowing users to operate two apps at the same time, while the iPad is in landscape mode.It is thought the feature may make it easier for users to share links and content between two apps, rather than the current awkwardness of having to completely exit one app before entering the other.
Reports have speculated the feature may only be available to iPad Air users at launch, a device which has both the power and screen resolution necessary to handle the task.
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HTC One Wear tipped as smartwatch rival to Moto 360
Wearables are all the rage with consumer electronics companies these days, and HTC isn't about to sit on the sidelines and watch (pun intended) the likes of Motorola or Samsung bask in all the glory.
TK Tech News had filed a report from Taiwan, with sources there revealing the extent of HTC's ambitions to jump squarely into the smartwatch market with a device tentatively known as One Wear.
Expected to launch in late August or early September of this year, the gadget was apparently demonstrated to the lucky folks at TK, who described it as featuring a round design similar to Motorola Mobility's upcoming Moto 360.
Furthermore, HTC appears to be planning to release both "polycarbonate and metal flavors" of the One Wear, an approach that seems to be working out well for the Taiwanese manufacturer with its HTC One (M8) smartphone line.
What to Wear?
Although the initial report stopped short of revealing what HTC's smartwatch might actually look like, SlashGear did some additional digging and turned up the image you see below.
One appears to show part of a metallic wristband presumably attached to the One Wear, while the other shows a trio of icons for notebook, music and camera apps, although they curiously seem to be formatted for a square display.
It remains to be seen if HTC incorporates an actual camera lens into the One Wear as Samsung did with the Galaxy Gear, but the report suggests the icon could indicate some kind of "remote shutter button" presumably capable of controlling the camera of a connected HTC smartphone.
Last but not least, the follow-up report claims HTC One Wear will be powered by Google's fledgling Android Wear software platform - not a big surprise, given everyone but Samsung appears to be jumping on that bandwagon.
- There's never a bad time to reflect upon our Samsung Galaxy S5 review!
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Updated: E3 2014: what to expect from gaming's biggest show
E3 2014: Sony, Microsft and Ubisoft
Update: We've added a few more game rumors to the second page and some more info on Valve. As always, keep checking back for more news.E3 2013 was the most competitive and downright crazy shows we've been to in the recent history of gaming. The Xbox One went head-to-head with the PS4 and began a new generation of console gaming.
But that doesn't mean it was all great. After all, it's been a whole year and there still aren't a lot of games on the roster. That's why we figure at this year's June 10-12 Los Angeles event, big games are coming out to play.
Though that's not all we're expecting to see - virtual reality was the star of GDC 2014 and there likely will be a ton more information from Sony, Oculus and other companies - if they're smart and get in on the growing VR revolution.
We're also hoping to see more of the Valve Steam Machines in action and perhaps hear an announcement from Nintendo to see just what the heck the über private company's been up to.
The official E3 2014 floor plans have been released and it looks like Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo are lumped together in the West Hall with the other big names like Ubisoft and EA in South Hall.
Check out a more detailed list of what we want to see at E3 2014 below, and as we continue to update the page for more information leading up to our coverage of the show floor.
Sony sets sights on VR
OK so it looks like Sony has something big planned for its PlayStation conference - what else could explain why its live-streaming the event to 40 movie theaters in the US?Could it be the new info on Project Beast that's popped up? Or maybe Uncharted 4? But are these titles popcorn-worthy? After Beast leaked, it's been noted that the game is first in a series of brand new announcements so there could be something even bigger in the works. Only a few more weeks until the Expo to find out.
Other than that, Sony seems to be on a roll lately. With the success of the PlayStation 4 and the announcement of its virtual reality endeavors, Project Morpheus , all we need is a big game for the company to be unstoppable.
Speaking of Morpheus, we're expecting to hear more about the headset during Sony's June 9 Press Conference. We were lucky enough to test out the gear ourselves, not once but twice and were duly impressed both times.
Along the way, we found out that Sony's headset will probably change quite a bit before it becomes available to buy. Plus that light bar isn't just to be a flashy feature - Project Morpheus was one of the main reasons it was put on there.
This headset looks so promising, we might even see an announcement for a Morpheus-specific game at E3.
We'll also probably hear more about PlayStation Now, Sony's Netflix-esque gaming service. With the PS Now beta out since the beginning of the year for the PS3 and the PS4 beta just announced, and a release expected for mid-2014, it seems like it'll fall perfectly in line with June's Expo.
News of a PS4 Slim being announced at E3 has recently circulated, but probably isn't going to happen. If anything, there'll just be hardware updates coming soon.
Microsoft says 'Game on'
It's been a more tumultuous year for Microsoft and the Xbox One (see: the PS4's 7 million units sold to the Xbox One's 5 million shipped) but it's not like the console or company are losing fans anytime soon. A freshly revealed Kinect-less Xbox is being released on June 9 for £350 ($399), which matches the PS4's own camera-less price point - may just ramp up sales.But so far, it's mostly thanks to the Xbox One-friendly Titanfall that the next-gen console has remained in the ring. Ryse: Son of Rome also proved popular at a time when the PS4 didn't have any big titles. Rumor has it that we'll be seeing a sequel announced during the June 9 Microsoft conference. But the biggest announcement that has come from the Redmond-based publisher is surely Halo 5: Guardians - which, we're bound to learn even more about when Microsoft hits the stage Monday morning.
Major Nelson has noted on his blog that the conference will be called Xbox: Game On, so it's safe to say there will be at least one or two (hopefully more) titles announced.
But games aside (don't worry, it's a brief aside) we'll probably learn more about Microsoft's new entertainment model. Specifically, with the consoles turning into a one-box type of entertainment machine with music and TV, we may get previews of Xbox's new, original shows including the Steven Spielberg-produced Halo show.
Year of Ubisoft?
French multi-national video game developer and publisher Ubisoft seems ready to show off more next-gen titles during E3.Currently, the company has been quite busy with hit after hit thanks to Assassin's Creed and likely, the upcoming Watch Dogs game (despite some Watch Dogs controversy stirred in). You also can't deny that Tom Clancy's The Division looks pretty dang cool ever since it was announced at last year's E3. Though it's been recently delayed until 2015, we're still going to see snippets of the game.
In fact, Ubisoft noted in a blog just what it plans on touting during the show. Along with Watch Dogs and The Division, we'll see French Revolution-set Assassin's Creed Unity, Far Cry 4 in the Himalayas and a few more games.
What Ubi isn't bringing to the table are games available on the Nintendo platform. According to Slashgear, the company will not feature any Wii U or 3DS titles during the show.
Whatchu got, EA?
Battlefield rumors begone! A teaser video for Battlefield Hardline (yes, it's official now) has leaked and shown off the a different kind of war, the "war on crime."
Battlefield 5 just got another whole heaping pile of rumors thrown out on the interwebs. It's been known that the next iteration will depart from its usual militaristic setting for one where you play as the police. Meaning the name Slashgear has thrown out, "Battlefield S.W.A.T.," seems to make sense. And just like that, there are now even fresher rumor-y bits about the next BF5 game. VG247 reported that Battlefield Hardline may be the title. A recent Battlelog seemingly also provided various info on the possible playable classes (Enforcer, Mechanic, Operator, and Professional), game modes and more.
Mass Effect 4 has also been heavily teased by BioWare for awhile now and it seems about right to show us something at E3 - perhaps during EA's press conference? Speaking of BioWare, it's highly probable Dragon Age: Inquisition will be touted.
We'd like to see some Star Wars Battlefront and maybe (just maybe) Battlefield 5 thrown in as well. The Sims 4, which is coming out soon, is most definitely on the roster as well. At least one or even two of these games will see the light of the E3 stage - Geoff Keighley of Spike TV tweeted that six games will be revealed during the EA World Premiere conference.
E3 2014: Nintendo, Valve, and more games
Nintendo needs something. Anything.
Nintendo is being, well, Nintendo again. The Japanese company is repeating the same affair of avoiding the E3 pomp and circumstance by holding a bunch of smaller events and hosting a "Nintendo Digital Event."Hopefully whatever Nintendo has planned will put it on the map again. Perhaps a few game announcements are in the works? Like, say, a Legend of Zelda for the Wii U? Or even some new hardware?
It's actually already been confirmed by Nintendo that we actually won't see hardware, but knowing the company's insane privacy measures, we can still cross our fingers and wish. There's also two new Pokémon games hitting Nintendo's handhelds and, if our predictions are correct, a possible price drop in the Wii U's future.
Valve probably taking a breather
Make that a long breather. Turns out Valve is pushing back the release date of those Steam Machines to 2015, noting a vague "release window" is to be expected in order to keep improving the Steam Controllers. On the bright side (maybe?), it's a little unclear whether the delay affects only Steam Machines being made by Valve or those being sold by the 14 partner companies as well.Recent news also suggests the Valve team has been quietly working on Half-Life 3. Yes. You read that correctly. Rumors of HL3 have been around for ages but maybe (probably not) something will come out during E3? If not, we're hoping to see more on Left 4 Dead 3 at least.
There was plenty shared on the hardware front during CES, Steam's Dev Days and GDC but aside from getting our paws on both iterations of the Steam Controllers, we still have yet to play around with a Steam Machine.
So far we've gone hands on with the Alienware Steam Machine, and though it's a slick device, we're hoping to really see it in action during the Expo.
With the Machines unleashing from the various third-party vendors "later this year" and a likely fall release for the redesigned Steam Controller, we're hoping to hear more about the new features - like Steam Music.
More games, NOW
A few titles have already been mentioned but let's get right down to what we want to see happen at E3 this year.GTA V for the PC is due pretty soon here and it won't be a surprise if Rockstar decides to finally out it at the show.
Uncharted 4 (or whatever it's called) has to show up with more footage during Sony's conference - at least that's the rumor flying around right now. Let's just cross our fingers that the Naughty Dog exodus really won't affect the game development.
The Order 1886 was teased during the last Expo and then throughout the year as a potential blockbuster game. Despite delaying its Christmas 2014 launch to early 2015, we're still expecting the PS4 conference to show us even more of the game in June to keep us content.
- We'll also definitely see Batman: Arkham Knight on the floor too.
Well it looks like Fallout 4 is out of the picture. Bethesda and BattleCry Studios announced a collaboration that spawned the upcoming free-to-play game BattleCry. However, it will be a PC exclusive and doesn't seem to match up with the following previously reported rumor below ...
Bethesda has fervently stated that there will be no announcement for a new title, but siteVideogamer took a screenshot of an Amazon UK placer page which suggests Bethesda might just unveil something after all. Whatever the Skyrim publisher has in mind, it seems it will be out on the PS3, PS4, PC, Wii, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita.
Microsoft's Project Spark has seemingly failed to capture the attention of gamers since its announcement at last year's E3, but the beta sounds like its been successful so far. We expect to see and hear more about the company's answer to a Little Big Planet-esque game. Activision's latest Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare should also give the Xbox One more oomph
Regardless of what gets announced, we just really want more games. There's nothing wrong with wanting more games, right? In the meantime, keep up with us as we countdown the days to the Expo and fill up the page with even more news and bits of rumors to keep your gaming appetites satiated.
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It's goodbye to Android as Samsung Galaxy Gear Tizen update arrives
Samsung has followed through on its pledge to rid the original Galaxy Gear smartwatch of the Android operating system by updating the device with the home cooked Tizen software.
The update, which as already started to roll out, will bring those early swartwatch adopters up to speed with the current crop of Gear 2, Gear 2 Neo and Gear Fit devices, which arrived on Tizen out of the box.
This will mean original Galaxy Gear owners (it's not so Galaxy-ish now, of couse), will have access to many of the features present on the second-generation models.
That means it'll earns a sleep mode, which measures your sleeping patterns and an exercise mode which'll track your movement thanks to the pedometer (no heartrate tracker though).
Back up first
Tizen 2.2.0 also brings a stand music app, a privacy lock, new font sizes and styles, new clock-faces and wallpapers and easier access to key settings.SamMobile, which got an early preview of the update has warned that installing Tizen will wipe all data from the wearable and will prevent some of the third party apps from working.
Users will have the opportunity to back up before installing the update via Samsung's Kies platform.
The Galaxy Gear was somewhat of a commercial and critical failure, but for the limited number of people who jumped on board with the wearables era early, at least your smartwatch gets a new lease of life with this update.
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Intel set to take on automotive market with new products
Intel has announced plans to invade the automotive market with the help of a new range of products, part of its in-vehicle solutions platform.
The plan, Intel said, was to accelerate innovation towards a future of autonomous vehicles through a standardized platform approach that worked well in computing.
It seeks to shorten the time it takes to develop IVI (In-Vehicle Infotainment) systems by one year while halving associated costs of development.
In parallel, Intel unveiled a project aimed at gathering data about how drivers interact with their cars and immediate environment (including other drivers and pedestrians).
The company's corporate vice president for the Internet-of-things group, Doug Davis, added "Our goal is to fuel the evolution from convenience features available in the car today to enhanced safety features of tomorrow and eventually self-driving capabilities."
The news coincided with Google's launch of a range of self-driving, quasi-sentient cars that could revolutionise transport.
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Brother refreshes business colour laser printer range
Brother has unveiled a new range of business colour laser printers that target small and medium companies printing up to 5000 pages a month (around half a ream per day).
The company says it would seek to extend its dominance of the mono laser market to the more competitive colour one.
The L8000 series has six models, all of them with high yield (up to 4000 pages) or super high yield (up to 6000 pages) cartridges while the higher-ranging L9000 is only available with super high yield cartridges.
They all offer automatic duplex by default, 128MB of RAM plus features aimed at companies embracing BYOD (bring your own device) schemes like Airprint, Google Cloud Print and Brother's own iPrint&Scan.
The flagship model also adds print speeds of up to 30ppm plus 802.11n, Wi-Fi Direct, wired LAN, NFC and a page cost of only 6.5p per A4 page.
The printers will be available be available from next month, either as standalone or as part of Brother's managed printing services scheme.
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Industry voice: How video conferencing in the cloud can transform business collaboration
As confidence to deliver services and applications in the cloud gathers pace, video conferencing as a service (VCaaS) is starting to evolve.
According to a recent study from Wainhouse Research, the number of solutions available in this space is growing drastically, with many based on technology platforms that were not available until 2013.
With the benefits of video conferencing clear to businesses – including a reduction in travel time, improved workforce productivity, better global links and accessibility – the infrastructure cost and maintenance aspect is still a sticking point for many, making it an unviable option.
But with the rise of VCaaS and video delivered via the cloud, companies can now take better advantage of video to transform their business without the high price tag.
The need for face-to-face contact
Despite living in a technology driven society, the business value of traditional face-to-face communication cannot be underestimated and with more and more of us working on the move and across different time zones and geographies, this can be harder to achieve.However, with studies demonstrating a rise in response rates, sales and customer loyalty when people can have a visual conversation, and how remote workers feel more connected and productive, finding ways to keep people connected in this way has never been more crucial for business success.
New research reveals that three quarters of organisations want to address this by introducing a mobile video-conferencing solution, and 61 per cent want to integrate video-conferencing with a unified communication platform (that also includes things such as social media, instant messaging, email and other tools) - taking advantage of the way millennial employees want to communicate and collaborate.
Yet for many, the price and complexity of the solutions on offer is a big hurdle, with six in ten struggling to reap the benefits as they simply can't get to grips with the sheer number of options available, according to the global study by Wainhouse Research.
Converting to the cloud
With the demand there but the budgets often harder to come by, this is where cloud and VCaaS options can add real benefit.By going down this route, businesses have a viable option to take the plunge and add business quality video into their organisation without the infrastructure upheaval, maintenance worries and cost outlay.
However, with many perceptions of video in the cloud often tarnished by free online video calls which were never meant for business grade conversations, organisations need to ensure they are getting the right solution for their business and if it seems too good to be true, then it probably is.
Cloud video conferencing in practice
For global architecture practice Foster + Partners, cloud video conferencing has enabled it to facilitate the widespread usage of business quality video without the high costs associated with traditional infrastructure investment.As one of the most innovative architecture and integrated design practices in the world, senior audio visual analyst, Renna McDonagh has transformed the use of video conferencing within the organisation and encouraged new ways of working with video technology to enhance productivity.
Utilising video conferencing from the cloud has helped Foster + Partners to achieve a number of key business goals including: to maximise the use of existing video conference technology without additional capital expenditure; provide real value to its project teams and clients; ensure all persons can connect and collaborate regardless of device or location and simplify the way they use technology.
- Wayne Mason is event director of the Business Breakthrough Event and head of group products and marketing at video communications specialists, Imago Group.
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UK universities come together to work on laser storage technology
A new Center for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Photonic Integration for Advanced Data Storage has been set up with a total of £8.1 million funding to carry out research in the field of photonics.
Two universities, University of Glasgow in Scotland and Queen's University of Belfast (QUB) in Northern Ireland, will collaborate with a number of companies including storage behemoth Seagate.
The initial aim of the center will be to train 50 PhD students to work on how to bring photonics to the wider industry with a clear focus on storage demand which is forecasted to rise exponentially thanks to big data.
Of particular interest will be applications that can boost the capacity of HDD. Recent technologies like shingles or Helium have allowed hard drives to reach up to 6TB (or 1TB per 3.5-inch platter).
The real breakthrough could come thanks to HAMR (heat-assisted magnetic recording) which uses light to raise the temperature of a tiny area of the platter and requires photonics components to be integrated.
Photonics is also a massive area of investment in computing in general, from displays, interconnectors, processors and even data transfer.
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The Phone Show: Is the LG G3 a worthy addition to 2014's superstar Android lineup?
We have yet another brand new handset to get excited over in this week's Phone Show: the recently announced LG G3.
LG's QHD-packing answer to the Galaxy S5, Xperia Z2 and One (M8) adds to an already solid lineup of Android smartphones released in 2014, and after last year's brilliant (but criminally overlooked) LG G2, we couldn't be more excited to get our hands on its predecessor.
But has our excitement been well placed? In this week's show, we put the LG G3 under the scrupulous eye of our mobile gurus Gareth Beavis and John McCann, to find out whether this kid on the block has the grunt to face down its rivals.
Click play below, and join us for an in-depth look at the LG G3.
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OnePlus One bats the Galaxy S5 away to become third best phone in the world
OnePlus One now equals 3 - 3rd best phone in the world today, that is.
Just weeks ago no one had heard of OnePlus or its flagship handset, the OnePlus One. It's come from nowhere to scoop an insane 4.5 star score in the official, in-depth, definitive TechRadar review.
And now it's nabbed third place in our official 10 Best Phones In The World Today ranking, batting the Samsung Galaxy S5 aside like it ain't no thing.
This upset also means that the OnePlus One is also ahead of the LG G2, Google Nexus 5, Sony Xperia Z1 Compact and Apple's big bad iPhone 5S.
In fact, only the Xperia Z2 and HTC One M8 beat the OnePlus One to the top two spots.
"The OnePlus One has got one of the fastest processors in the business backed by a hugely generous allotment of RAM, which means that it's a seriously impressive performer," writes our reviewer, agog.
Holy crow
"The OnePlus One's performance-to-price ratio is one of the most impressive we've ever seen in a smartphone, offering Samsung Galaxy S5 performance for less than half the price."If you're after a truly top end phone that can be customised to the Nth degree, and you don't mind accepting a few rough patches as part of the package, we can't see a better - or cheaper - alternative."
Is there no downside? Well, it could use a microSD slot and the call quality is not great - but if you want a Galaxy S5 standard smartphone for feature phone prices, you can't do much better.
- Read our full OnePlus One review now
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