HTC has decided to go ahead and make a limited edition Hello Kitty model of the Butterfly S (because why not?). The phone will be available in Taiwan starting next week.

The Hello Kitty Butterfly S is similar in terms of hardware to the standard Butterfly S but on the back you have an engraving of a 3D Hello Kitty logo, complete with the customary bow and all. On the software side there are probably some Hello Kitty wallpapers to go with the theme but it doesn’t seem there is much else apart from that. Read more »

You may remember the HTC Mini accessory that was announced along with the HTC Butterfly. It was a tiny Bluetooth device that could be used as phone once paired with your main smartphone. It would let you make and receive calls and remotely control certain features of your HTC smartphone, such as the camera and the multimedia playback.

HTC has now quietly announced the successor to that accessory, called the HTC Mini+. The Mini+ looks pretty much identical to the Mini and the functionality is more or less the same. The Mini+, along with being able to receive calls and messages, also has a built-in laser pointer and a slideshow button. You can also use the built-in IR blaster to control your television. Read more »

Sony has announced two new mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras, one each in their NEX and Alpha series of cameras. The NEX-5T is the successor to the NEX-5R launched last year. It’s mostly similar but adds some new features such as NFC.

As you can imagine, the NFC allows you to instantly pair the camera with your Android smartphone and transfer images over Wi-Fi using Sony’s PlayMemories Camera app, which is also available on iOS. Other than that the NEX-5T has a 16.1 megapixel APS HD CMOS sensor with 99-point Fast Hybrid auto focus system that combines phase detection and contrast detection autofocus methods for quick and reliable focussing. Read more »

Nothing ever escapes the custom designed opening picks at iFixit and the new Moto X is no exception. The newly released smartphone from Motorola spent some quality time at iFixit, exposing its insides for all to see.

According to iFixit, the Moto X isn’t particularly difficult to take apart, once you get past the tenacious back cover that uses a copious amount of glue to stick to the phone. The cover itself, however, is made from a nice woven fabric material that is actually see through if you look carefully. Read more »

Google’s Chromecast is a nifty little device if you want to watch your YouTube, Netflix or Google Play videos on your TV but Google left out the ability to stream local data the way Apple allows on the Apple TV.

To fix this situation, developers have been making apps that let you send local media files over Wi-Fi from your Android device to your Chromecast. It seems, though, that Google isn’t quite fond of this and has been actively blocking apps that allow this functionality. Read more »

Asphalt 8: Airborne is the latest in the long running series of mobile racing games from Gameloft. The previous game in the series — Asphalt 7: Heat — was a phenomenal game and one of the best racing games available on mobile today.

Airborne lets you take to the air, jumping off ramps and performing stunts mid-air with your car. Add to that a new range of cars and tracks, improved graphics and some new gameplay modes and you have all the ingredients for a great sequel. But does all that necessarily make it a great game? Let’s find out. Read more »

We reviewed Contra: Evolution when it was released on iOS back in May. Now, developers Punchbox Studios have also released an Android version of the game on the Play Store for $0.99.

Contra: Evolution, as you can imagine, is an evolved version of the 1987 cult classic. The gameplay and even the general level design is nearly identical but the game has been given a solid shot in the arm with significantly updated visuals that are completely redrawn and not just running at a higher resolution like most ports. Read more »

Google has started rolling out an update for Nexus devices running Android 4.3. The update is available for the Nexus 4, Galaxy Nexus, Nexus 7 2013 and 2012 and the Nexus 10.

The update is minor and will upgrade your build number from JWR66V to JWR66Y. The 2MB update doesn’t really add any new features but is more of a security update. Read more »

Gameloft’s next big release in the Asphalt series of racing games – Asphalt 8: Airborne – has finally been released on the App Store. The Android version of the game should be arriving shortly and even a Windows Phone 8 version is on the cards.

Update: Asphalt 8: Airborne is now available on Android devices too. You can find the links to download the popular racing game below. Read more »

In a short period of time our phones went from having Retina displays to HD displays and now Full HD displays. You might think that we don’t need any more pixels on our mobile screens but the pixel density race is far from over.

LG has just showcased a new 5.5-inch display for smartphones that has a resolution of 2,560 x 1,440, with a pixel density of 538 PPI and 430 nits of brightness. LG is calling it a ‘Quad HD’ display because it has four times the resolution of a typical 720p HD display. Read more »

EA’s Origin store has forever been living in the shadow of the much more popular and beloved Steam. But now it finally has something that Steam does not, and that is a refund system.

Now, when you purchase a game, you have 24 hours to return it if you don’t like it. Read more »

Sony has launched the 12GB model of the PlayStation 3 in the US and Canada. The model has been available internationally for some time now but is only being introduced in North America now.

The 12GB model is priced at $199.99 and is available through Best Buy. Unlike the more capacious models, the 12GB model uses flash drive, although you can still install a hard drive to expand the storage. Read more »

The original Plants vs. Zombies was an enormous success. Initially released on Windows and Mac back in 2009, the game was later ported to iOS next year and several other platforms over the years, including the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo DS, Android, Windows Phone and even BlackBerry 10. It is one of the most popular tower defense games and also one of the most popular mobile games of all time.

The sequel to this smash hit comes four years after the original. However, the late release is not the only thing the ‘It’s about time’ tagline is referring to. The game travels through various time periods and lets you play in different locations. The new game also features some brand new plants, zombies, gameplay mechanics and game modes. So what are we waiting for? Let’s take a closer look at it. Read more »

A Nokia Windows RT tablet has been spotted in the wild. The device has the familiar Verizon and 4G LTE logos on the back and the red color to go with the branding. The tablet will also be available on AT&T at launch.

In terms of specifications, the Nokia tablet is said to have a 10.1-inch display, quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor and obvious LTE support. Read more »

It was just a couple of days ago that we reported that the YouTube client for Windows Phone 8 developed by Microsoft was back on the Windows Phone Store. Unfortunately, that app is no longer usable because Google has remotely blocked access through it.

This has resulted in Microsoft releasing a long blog post detailing why the app was removed and how, in their words, the reasons were “manufactured” so that the Windows Phone version could not offer the same experience as the Android or iPhone app. Read more »