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Chrome for Android update brings fullscreen mode on tablets, translator

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Google has updated the Android version of the Chrome browser with some useful new features. Chrome now has a fullscreen mode on tablets, which means the toolbar on top hides when you scroll down, a feature that was present on smartphones before and is now on tablets as well.

Another useful addition is the translate feature that was present on the desktop version of Chrome. Now if you open a page that is in a different language from your system language, the browser will offer to translate it for you. Read more »

Google Maps 7.0 for Android starts rolling out

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Google has started rolling out an update to the Maps application on Android, which brings it to version 7.0.0. The biggest change in this update is a refreshed UI, which was first displayed back at the Google I/O 2013 event.

The updated UI brings the Android version of the app in line with the iOS version, along with the new beta of the web version. There is a new, always visible floating search bar on top, which isn’t really any quicker to use but has slightly more functionality built-in, namely the ability to quickly set a navigation route and look up contact details. Read more »

Twitter updates apps to add DM sync, improved search

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Anyone who uses Twitter regularly knows how annoying it is to receive a direct message (or DM, as they are commonly known) on one of your Twitter apps and read it, only to find it still being marked as unread on all the other apps. Thankfully, the latest update fixes this issue, at least on the official first party Twitter apps.

In a co-ordinated update to its iPhone, iPad, Android, OS X apps, as well as TweetDeck, Twitter Web and Twitter Mobile, Twitter now syncs your read DMs, which means reading them on one device automatically marks them as read on other official apps. Read more »

Download these great games and apps for free on occasion of App Store’s fifth anniversary

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It’s not everyday that the world’s most popular application store turns five years old so it’s natural that some celebrations are in order. Although it hasn’t quite reached that milestone just yet, some of the developers have decided to go ahead and start the festivities anyway.

Starting today and for a limited time, these apps and games are free on the App Store. For now, the list includes titles like Infinity Blade II, Badland, Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP, Tiny Wings, Traktor DJ, Barefoot World Atlas, etc. Read more »

‘Where’s My Mickey?’ for iOS, Android and Windows Phone 8 game review

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Disney’s original Where’s My Water? game has been pretty successful. Combining simple mechanics with thoughtful puzzles, it was a great way to quickly pass time. It’s sequel, Where’s My Perry? introduced a new character and story along with some new gameplay elements.

Having said that, Where’s My Perry? did feel like more of the same, so you’d think Disney would stop at that. But they haven’t and so now we have Where’s My Mickey?. Once again, we get more of the same sand swiping action and directing of fluids around the screen but with a different character, one we are all too familiar with. But will that be enough for you to consider spending your dollar (or two) on the game or should you give this one a pass? Let’s find out. Read more »

‘Limbo’ for iOS game review

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For seasoned gamers, especially those who regularly haunt the dark gray alleys of Steam, Limbo isn’t anything new. Released back in 2010, the game was incredibly well received by everyone and has won several awards ever since.

For someone who spends considerable amount of time playing both PC/console as well as mobile games, Limbo was one of those games that I was really hoping would make it to the mobile platform. And then the developers decided to grant my wish. Available only on iOS for now, Limbo is finally out on the mobile and so we decided to see how well it has translated over to the smaller screen. Read more »

MEGA launches an app for Android

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Kim Dotcom’s file hosting service MEGA now has an official app for Android called, well, MEGA. The app isn’t new per se – MEGA just acquired one of the top third party apps, which is a wise move instead of developing your own app.

The MEGA app should be familiar to those who have used apps for other file hosting services before. You can manage your account, create folders, upload and download files, move, rename or delete them, search for them or even share them. There is also a camera sync feature that automatically uploads your camera images to your MEGA account. Read more »

Latest Vine update for iOS brings new camera tools, channels and revining

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Vine has updated the iOS version of its app with several new features. First of all, there are some new camera tools such as grid mode, focus and ghost. Focus allows you to tap on the screen to focus at a particular point (usually tapping on the screen starts the recording). Ghost places a translucent overlay of your last shot on the viewfinder to make composition easier.

The other new feature is channels. There are now 15 channels that you can upload your videos to, such as comedy, music, art, cats, dogs, etc. and you can also choose to view Vines from a particular channel. Read more »

These high resolution renderings give an idea of what the low-cost iPhone would look like

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We have seen some leaked panels of what is allegedly the low-cost version of the iPhone that Apple is expected to announce later this year, along with the successor to the iPhone 5. The panels give a fair idea of what the device might look like but leave you wanting for a better look.

Mac Rumors probably felt the same way so they decided to go ahead and get high resolution renderings made from the images that have been leaked so far. What you see above is not real but if the leaks were authentic, this is pretty much what you can expect to see from Apple later this year. Read more »

Microsoft to launch 256GB Surface Pro in the US for $1,199

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If you have been craving for a higher capacity version of the Microsoft Surface tablet, especially considering the way the OS tends to eat up memory on the device, leaving significantly less than what is advertised by the company, then you might be interested in this.

According to one of Microsoft’s authorized vendors, the company is all set to launch a 256GB variant of the Surface Pro tablet in North America. It is said that this variant will be priced at $1,199.99. Read more »

Google Reader finally shuts down

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We knew this day was coming. Google had informed us back in March that come July, the popular RSS service Google Reader would be shutting down for good. And that day has now arrived.

Starting today, the Google Reader service will no longer be available. If you have any data that you may want to recover, such as list of sites you subscribed to, starred items, notes, etc., then you can download a copy from Google before July 15, 2013. Read more »

Latest Google Glass update adds web browser, handsfree functionality

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Ever since the Google Glass shipped to developers, Google has been steadily improving it with new updates released every month. In the latest update, Google has introduced several new features which makes the device a lot more usable.

The biggest addition in this update is the presence of a full web browser. Now you can do web search and also open the links in the built-in web browser. To scroll through page, just swipe your finger on the side. You can zoom into the page by sliding using two fingers and if you want to pan around, just hold down using two fingers and turn your head around and the focus would move accordingly on the page. Read more »

Canon launches EOS 70D

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Canon has launched a new mid-range DSLR called the EOS 70D. The highlight feature of this new camera is the 20.2 megapixel, APS-C CMOS sensor with dual-pixel CMOS AF technology, which is the first of its kind.

Unlike traditional cameras, the sensor on the 70D has not one but two photodiodes per pixel and uses the additional diode to perform on-chip phase detection auto-focus. This, along with the 14-bit DIGIC 5+ processor and 19-point all cross-type AF System, helps in improving the auto-focus speed during still image capture and provides smoother and more reliable auto-focusing while recording videos. Read more »

Second gen Nexus 7 specs seemingly leaked by ASUS support rep, arriving by the end of July

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In a strange turn of events, it seems an ASUS support representative revealed the specifications for the next generation Nexus 7 tablet. And all it took was asking nicely.

Someone contacted ASUS live chat support and enquired about the next generation Nexus 7 tablet and the support rep was more than willing to divulge the information. First of all, he said that the tablet is expected to release before the ending of Q2, which he says should be at the end of July (never mind that Q2 actually ends in June). Read more »

Vine app now available on Kindle Fire

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After releasing on the Google Play Store recently, the Vine app is now available on Kindle Fire. The app requires Android 4.0 and above, so can work on every version of the Kindle Fire, except for the very first model.

For those who are not aware, Vine is a new social networking service for sharing short, six second videos. It used to be known as the Instagram of videos, until recently when Instagram itself added support for videos. The Vine app for Kindle Fire is the first tablet version of the app, as it is only available on smartphones on iOS and Android. Having said that, the UI is similar to the Play Store version of the app and not really optimized for the big screen as such. Read more »