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Fitbit Surge users complain about skin irritation, company says “give your wrist a rest”

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Several users of the Fitbit Surge, which was announced back in October last year, have reported that the wearable health-tracking device is causing irritation, rashes, as well as broken skin on their wrists.

Aware of the issue, Fitbit has issued the following statement: “The reactions we are seeing with new products are not uncommon with jewelry or wearable devices that stay in contact with the skin for extended periods.” The company also said that the problems stem from wearing the band too tight; sweat, water, or soap being held against the skin under the device; or from pressure or friction against the skin, suggesting users to keep the device clean and dry, and give their wrist a rest. Read more »

Apple Watch will remind you to get up and take a walk every hour

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The Apple Watch, which is launching in April this year, will remind you to get out of your desk chair and and move around if you haven’t done so for too long, according to CEO Tim Cook.

Speaking at the Goldman Sachs technology conference yesterday, Cook said that the smartwatch will “tap” you on the wrist 10 minutes before each hour, prompting you to get up and take a walk. He also shared that because so many people at the Cupertino-based company are wearing the watch, it’s common to see a lot of people getting up at the same time during meetings. Read more »

New Microsoft sweepstakes lets you win a pair of Lumia 830 smartphones

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Microsoft is celebrating the Valentine’s month by running a new sweepstakes, dubbed 28 Days of #LumiaLove, that will see three lucky winners walk away with a pair of Lumia 830 smartphones each.

To participate, all you have to do is to head to the official Lumia US Facebook page, fill in your details, and tell the company why do you want to have a Lumia device (in case you don’t have one), or what you love the most about your device (in case you’re already a Lumia owner). Read more »

Tablets’ processing power to overtake consoles in four years, says EA CFO

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Given the rate at which mobile processing power is growing, handheld devices like tablets could soon overtake consoles to become an integral part of gaming, according to EA chief financial officer Blake Jorgensen.

Speaking at the 2015 Technology, Internet & Media Conference, Jorgensen said, “what that might mean is that a tablet, three or four years from now, has more power than what a typical console has. And that will open up a whole new set of people to console-style games that are much more immersive, much deeper, much more character-driven than simply a static mobile game that you might play for a small burst of time while you’re waiting for the bus.” Read more »

Skype for Android updated with support for offline photo sharing, picture-in-picture view

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Skype has updated its Android app to version 5.2, bringing some really useful features including offline photo sharing, support for picture-in-picture view, reduced chat loading times, and call quality improvements.

The updated app lets you send photos to your offline contacts, something which wasn’t previously possible. “When they are back on Skype, photos you shared show up beautifully inline in the chat history, whether or not you’re online – allowing you to easily carry on the conversation,” said Skype in a blog post. Read more »

The $24 per year Imgur Pro service is now available for free

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To mark its sixth birthday, the image hosting/sharing service Imgur has announced that it is making its Pro service free for all. Imgur Pro typically costs $3 per month or $24 per year (if you pay in advance).

The company has ditched its subscription-based model in favour of ad-supported business. Read more »

Motorola Moto E gets a price cut in India

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Motorola’s entry-level Android smartphone Moto E has received a price cut in India. Originally costing at INR 6,999 ($112), the entry-level Android device is now available at INR 5,999 ($96).

Motorola has launched many other offers too. For example, you can exchange your old phones (select models only) and get discounts of up to INR 4,000 ($64) and INR 6,000 ($96) on the purchase of the second generation Moto G and Moto X respectively.

Read more »

Google acquires photo/video backup and sharing service Odysee

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Google has acquired Odysee, a company offering an iOS and Android app that allows you to automatically backup photos and videos from your mobile devices to your personal computers, as well as lets you privately share them with others. The financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

“Odysee’s vision was to be the easiest way for everyone to capture unlimited memories and access them everywhere. We are very excited to join Google where we’ll continue to focus on building amazing products that people love,” the company said in an announcement post on its website. The company will now be a part of the Google+ team. Read more »

Cortana update brings a new Lifestyle interest with Fitness Tracker

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Just a couple of days after there were reports that Microsoft will soon integrate Cortana into its Office productivity suite the Redmond-based company has updated its digital assistant with a new interest category.

Dubbed Lifestyle, the category contains a Fitness Tracker that claims it will “keep up with your workouts.” The update seems to be rolling out slowly, as not everyone has received it yet. Read more »

Samsung gets GALAXY S6 and S6 edge names trademarked in South Korea

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While we’ve had an endless marathon of reports surrounding Samsung’s upcoming flagship, the Galaxy S6, as well as its all but confirmed curved variant, the Galaxy S Edge, detailing information such as specs, features, price, as well as the colour options. We even had one for the name courtesy of Vodafone, but now we learn it might not have been entirely accurate.

The South Korean company has got the names ‘GALAXY S6′ and ‘S6 edge’ trademarked in South Korea (see image above) a few days ago, something which was first noticed by our friends at GalaxyClub. Read more »

Twitter lost 4 million users in Q4, blames iOS 8

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While reporting its Q4 earnings, Twitter revealed that it added 4 million new monthly active users (MAUs) in the quarter, bringing the total number to 288 million, which was clearly short of the 292 million figure expected by analysts. But Twitter is not to blame for that, or so say its executives, who are claiming that the company lost 4 million users due to Apple’s roll-out of iOS 8.

The company says that it lost 3 million of those users after Apple rolled out iOS8, effectively changing the way the Shared Links feature in the Safari web browser works. Read more »

Using the Galaxy A5 and A3, Samsung breaks Guinness World Record for most selfies taken in a day

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Samsung has set a new world record for the highest number of selfies taken in 24 hours. Following the launch of it’s Galaxy A5 and Galaxy A3 handsets in the South African cities of Johannesburg and Cape Town, the South Korean company invited people to use the two devices and take selfies.

A total of 12,803 selfies were taken with the company’s Galaxy A series devices, which was 3,000 more than the previous record. Read more »

Asus enters the mobile accessory market with ZenPower 9600 power bank

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Asus has unveiled ZenPower 9600, a 9600mAh power bank capable of charging most smartphones 3-5 times. The device, which has a metal finish and squarish edges, contains three 3200mAh battery cells. This compares to Xiaomi’s 10,400 mAh power bank which contains four 2600mAH cells, making Asus’ offering lighter and more compact.

Compared to Xiaomi’s 9 layers of protection, Asus’ new portable battery charger comes with 11 layers of protection, and includes four LED indicators, full size USB outputs, and a micro USB input. Read more »

Samsung’s SUHD TVs launching in South Korea this month, pricing starts at $5,000

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Nearly a month after unveiling it at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Samsung has announced that it will be launching its SUHD TV series in South Korea this month. The premium range of Tizen-powered TVs will be available in four sizes – 55-inches, 65-inches, 78-inches, and 88-inches – with prices ranging from $5,000 to $7,250.

The curved TVs support 4K UHD resolution, and feature quantum-dot technology for improved color, as well as improved picture quality, something which Samsung claims it has achieved with an “intelligent re-mastering picture engine”. Read more »

VLC for Android splits into two, now available in both stable and beta form

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Nearly three years after VideoLAN launched a beta version of the famous VLC media player for Android, the app is now available as a stable version in the Play Store.

What’s worth noting is that the beta version of the app is also available in Google Play as a separate listing, suggesting that any new features or improvements will be pushed out to the app first before being pulled over to the stable version. Read more »