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OPPO announces PM-3 Classic closed-back planar magnetic headphones

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Contrary to what some might know, Oppo doesn’t just make smartphones and in fact the company is known more for its AV products and has been in that business longer than it has been making smartphones.

The company has now announced a new pair of closed-back planar magnetic headphones, called the PM-3 Classic. At 10 oz (283.5g), the PM-3 Classic are the world’s lightest pair of closed-back planar magnetic headphones, which are usually known to be big and bit bulky. Read more »

Check out the new iPad ad

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Apple has released a new ad for the iPad called ‘Everything changes with iPad’.

The ad is typical Apple stuff and what we have come to expect from them. It goes through people doing various things on the iPad, such as learning, reading, shopping, photography, sightseeing, looking up recipes, taking notes, redecorating, and a lot more. It’s the standard product-first approach that Apple has had for a while now. Read more »

LG G Watch Urbane gets an iFixit teardown

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The folks at iFixit have managed to get their hands on the new LG G Watch Urbane, which means it’s time for yet another teardown. The G Watch Urbane is LG’s latest smartwatch running on Android Wear and also the most expensive one so far.

Even though on the outside the G Watch Urbane has a shiny gold or silver finish with new leather bands, on the inside it is still pretty much the G Watch R. iFixit found that the Urbane was quite easy to repair, with the only issue being most of the parts being glued together to save space and seal the watch from dust and water. The problem with glue is it makes it harder to put the device back together the way it was. Read more »

Apple releases design guidelines for third party watch bands

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One of the key features of the Apple Watch are the replaceable bands. Although all watches have bands that can be detached, Apple has made it super simple by just pressing a button and sliding it out.

Considering how simple the design is, there were always going to be third party bands for the Apple Watch, and many have already been released. But Apple has now released the official design guidelines if an accessory maker wants the official Made for Apple Watch certificate for their bands. Read more »

Play Store update brings new animations, popular opinions section

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Google is rolling out a new version of the Play Store, v5.5.8. There are two major changes here, one of which is new animations. If you have a Android 5.1 device, you’d have noticed there was a small animation when you clicked on any item, as it expanded in a circle at the top of the screen. Now that animation has been improved and you will see the circular thumbnail pop out and and expand above and then reverse when you go back.

The other change is the new popular opinions section. Now, Play Store can pull some quotes out of user reviews into small chat bubbles so that you get a general idea of what the people are saying about the selected content. Read more »

‘Broken Age’ Act 2 for iOS and Android game review

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We reviewed the first act of Broken Age back when it launched on iOS around this time last year. Initially a Kickstarter project by Tim Schafer, creator of Grim Fandango, the game received positive reception from critics and gamers for its first act.

The second act of the game has been in works for a while now and after a long wait it’s finally here. Unlike last time, the game is now also available on Android, and you can download both parts of the game together and those who bought the first part get the second one for free. With that out of the way, let’s get to the meat of the review. Read more »

Best Apps and Games of the Week

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These are the best apps and games that came out this week.

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Tesla Powerwall is a solar powered battery pack for your home

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Tesla has announced a new battery pack for homes called the Powerwall. The Powerwall is designed to utilize solar energy and then use that energy to power your home.

The Powerwall connects to your existing solar panels and charges off them. It can also charge off your existing electricity connection during night when the power rates are the lowest. The Powerwall has enough capacity to power an entire home and if you don’t want to run your house off it, it can also serve as a backup for when there is a power failure. Read more »

‘Monument Valley’ comes to Windows Phone

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Popular and award winning game Monument Valley is now finally available on Windows Phone. The Windows Phone release comes about a year after the original iOS and Android launch.

Monument Valley is a 3D puzzle game known for its beautifully designed levels. The game got praises from gamers and critics alike and went on to win many awards. Here at GSMArena, it was chosen as our Game of the Year for 2014. Read more »

Secret is shutting down

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Secret, the anonymous social network, that exploded into popularity shortly after it launched, is shutting down after a 16 months of existence. While the news has been rumored for a while now, the company CEO David Byttow confirmed it yesterday on his blog.

In case you haven’t heard of Secret, it was a social networking service that allowed users to post completely anonymously. You could only see posts from your friends and maybe their friends but you would never know for sure who was it was behind the posts. Read more »

Apple rejecting Apple Watch apps that just tell time

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One of the notable things about the Apple Watch is that it does not support third party watch faces. Although there’s a whole bunch of them that come pre-installed and you can customize them further, you can’t actually download more.

Although an SDK will be coming later this year, certain developers have been trying to find a loophole by creating apps that do nothing but show a custom watch face. Obviously, Apple is having none of that anarchy. Read more »

Apple Watch heart rate sensor fails on tattooed wrists

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If you have heavily tattooed wrists, you might want to reconsider getting the Apple Watch. As several people have reported, the heart rate sensor on the back of the watch has trouble doing its job if you have tattoos on your skin.

Apple’s heart rate monitor counts heart rate by pulsing green LEDs through the skin several hundred times per second. Any obstruction between the sensor and the skin can adversely affect the performance of the sensor. Read more »

Samsung announces Level On Wireless and Level Link Bluetooth headphones

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Samsung has launched two new products in its Level series of audio accessories. The first is the Level On Wireless, which is a wireless variant of the Level On headphones.

The Level On Wireless connects to your phone via Bluetooth and has a touchpad on the side to control playback of music, calls, and features like S Voice. It also has six built-in microphones that are used for the active noise cancellation feature. Unlike the Level Over headphones, the Level On have a supra-aural design, which means they sit on your ears instead of around them. Read more »

LG G Watch no longer on sale

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One of the first Android Wear devices (the other being the Samsung Gear Live) is no longer being sold. The device is no longer visible on the Play Store in any of the regions. Since Samsung already pulled the Gear Live from certain markets, they now have no Android Device category available on the Play Store.

The G Watch was the first and by far the simplest of all the Android Wear devices. It really was a matchbox shaped device with little to no design flair. It looked like it was designed in the lunch break. It was good enough if you absolutely wanted an Android Wear device and would be okay with the cheapest one available (which is why I have one as well) but it wasn’t something you’d buy because it looked cool. Read more »

Apple Watch display goes under the Consumer Reports scratch test

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We saw the Apple Watch failing quite miserably when it comes to hiding scratches on its shiny stainless steel body. However, the display is a different thing entirely. The Apple Watch comes with two types of display covers, one is the Ion-X on the Apple Watch Sport and the other is the sapphire crystal on the Apple Watch and Apple Watch Edition.

Consumer Reports, which is usually at the forefront of every Applegate issue. has run some scratch tests on both versions of the Apple Watch displays. Their findings weren’t all that surprising. Read more »