The iPhone is perhaps the most recognizable smartphone in the world, but it was a long journey to get where it is right now. Maybe you’ve been tracking Apple’s best-selling handset since it launched in early 2007 or maybe you haven’t – in either case, this infographic gives a nifty look at the iPhone’s history.

It all started with the iPhone later dubbed “iPhone 2G,” which can be a little confusing – 2G refers to the second generation wireless tech it used (GSM/GPRS/EDGE), not the second generation of iPhone. Read more »

HDDs are still kings when it comes to capacity (especially if you look at GB/$ ratio) and HGST, a Western Digital subsidiary, has been working hard to ensure that this remains the case. The company’s new helium-filled Ultrastar He6 HDDs have 6TB capacity, 50% more than the 4TB of current drives.

The helium-based design has other advantages too – the gas is significantly less dense than air, which results in less friction and lower operating temperature for the drive. Helium-filled HDDs spinning at 7,200RPM run 5 degrees cooler than conventional HDDs. Read more »

Sony does more than make Android devices, it’s a giant in the entertainment business too – games, films and music. The company is using this position to give some free goodies to owners of its Xperia flagship products – the Xperia Z1 phone, Xperia Z Ultra phablet and the Xperia Tablet Z slate.

Using the pre-installed Xperia Privilege app (also available for download at the Play Store), owners of these devices get access to 10 free games. Read more »

The new Apple iPad Air was going to cost $500, but Walmart decided to knock $20 off. Apple itself along with Best Buy will be price matching the offer so a 16GB iPad Air will cost $480 at launch (which is today).

9to5mac cautions that this deal (unlike Walmart’s) is valid only in stores – the online sites of Apple and Best Buy list the full $500 price. Read more »

The Nexus 5 is the first Nexus device with optical image stabilization. Officially it has a 1/3.2″ 8MP sensor and an f/2.4 aperture but the EXIF info on photos taken with the Nexus 5 report f/2.53.

That’s right, Nexus 5 photos are already on the web even if yours won’t ship for a week (it’s good to be a Googler). Read more »

The new Nexus 5 is official – finally! – and as part of the Devices section of the Play Store, Google has added some accessories on the virtual shelves. This includes bumper cases in several colors and a QuickCover, similar to those on LG phones.

The Nexus 5 comes in Black or White only, but you can spice it up a bit with a bumper. There are 4 color options at the moment – Bright Red, Bright Yellow, Gray and Black. Read more »

Nokia is doing some very interesting things for mobile photography and I don’t just mean the PureView hardware – software like the recent Refocus app creates impressive results. You know how you can zoom in and reframe photos on the Lumia 1020 after the fact? Nokia Refocus lets you do that with focus.

Nokia published the first samples from Refocus that you can play with in your browser. Read more »

Nokia undertook an extensive campaign to get Instagram on Windows Phone. The popular photo sharing social network has over 150 million users, so you can see why it’s a big deal to have a native app on your mainstay OS.

Now that Instagram is officially coming to WP8, Nokia takes some time to revel in its success and to thank all the people who used the #2InstaWithLove app to shower Instagram with hashtag-based desire. Read more »

Time for another eBay Nexus deal – this time for the Nexus 7 (2013). The 16GB model is currently selling for $200. This isn’t the first promotion of this type – there were at least two more, one in August and one in September.

Anyway, 1,650 have been sold in the last 24 hours and an unknown limited quantity is available. Read more »

At around 6:30pm a driver stopped at a truck stop in Gary, Indiana for a quick break and when he came back he found his truck missing. The cargo he was driving? 22,500 LG G2 phones headed to Sprint stores in Louisville, Kentucky.

Indiana and Illinois state police along with the FBI have launched an investigation. Read more »

So, iPhone touchscreens are fast in terms of responsiveness but are they accurate? They are not, says test automation firm OptoFidelity. Using a couple of home-brewed machines the company found that the new iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c are quick to react to user input but can’t track your finger as accurately as a 18 months-old Samsung Galaxy S III.

The test was performed by an accurate robotic finger that touched the screen at specific coordinates and compared it to what the phone reports as the touch coordinates. You can see one of their machines here. Read more »

Microsoft announced a record quarterly revenue for Q1 of its fiscal year and along with that the tech giant announced some good news about the Surface tablets – sales for the quarter have more than doubled. Granted, sales were less than spectacular to begin with but it’s great that things are picking up.

Microsoft as a whole announced $18.53 billion in revenue for the quarter that ended in September with operating income of $6.33 billion. This includes a $113 million deferral of revenue from Windows 8.1 pre-sales. Read more »

When the Apple iPad Air was being announced, Apple co-founder Steve “Woz” Wozniak was, well, in the air. When his plane landed he took a look at the two new phablets and didn’t like what he saw. “When I finally took a look at the devices, the iPads didn’t hit my needs,” said Wozniak, who emailed his wife “Nope, I don’t want one of those.”

The iPad Air (that’s the 9.7″ model for those who haven’t caught up with the new naming scheme) is thinner and lighter, but what Woz really wanted was more storage. Read more »

Remember the Hyetis Crossbow, the Swiss-made smartwatch with a 41MP camera, which was going to have ZEISS optics and optical zoom and more sensors than one of NASA’s space probes? An attorney from Carl Zeiss AG has contacted us saying that Zeiss has no connection with Hyetis whatsoever and the Crossbow definitely will not have ZEISS optics.

The watch smelled of pure, undiluted vaporware before, but things look even sketchier now. Read more »

We’ve seen a number of Android-based consoles crop up, but why buy a separate device when you already have a beefy chipset in your phone? Sony has added DUALSHOCK 3 support (that’s the PlaStation 3 controller) to several of its Xperia devices to enable a more console-like gaming experience.

Playing with the DUALSHOCK 3 controller frees up the screen of the device to just render the graphics of the game, which is great if you’re using the Xperia Tablet Z or you can use an Xperia phone hooked up to a TV. Read more »