One of the many services that Samsung created a few years back is WatchON. It allows you to watch TV shows and movies, like so many other similar offerings out there. Apparently Samsung has finally realized how redundant WatchON is, and hence decided to shut it down, effective on December 31.

This will happen worldwide, except for two countries: the USA and South Korea. Over there WatchON will continue to exist even after this year ends. Read more »

There’s a new Android app in town from Google itself, and this one helps you understand what isn’t working right in your mobile device – be it a phone or a tablet. Device Assist provides tips and “proactive troubleshooting” when it auto-detects possible issues.

The downside here is that Device Assist is only offered for the Nexus line, Android One smartphones, and Google Play Edition devices – and only on Android 5.0 Lollipop. Read more »

The initial batches of Nexus 9 tablets manufactured by HTC apparently suffer from having hardware power and volume buttons which are hard to press, and have almost no travel. Additionally, the tablet’s screen has been found to suffer from pretty extensive light bleed.

It looks like HTC was made aware of these issues, and has already fixed them in the newest batches of Nexus 9s being sent to buyers. Read more »

The G Watch is LG’s first attempt at an Android Wear-running smartwatch, and it was actually one of the first devices to use this platform. It doesn’t have a round screen like the Korean company’s other wearable, but it’s now received a hefty price cut.

You can buy an LG G Watch for just $99.99, at Verizon of all places. This is a whopping 57% off the watch’s normal price of $229.99. Read more »

Today Jolla has announced three “stretch goals” for its already highly successful tablet project. If reached, these funding goals will allow the company to bake in some additional features for the tablet.

The Jolla Tablet, you may remember, is financed through crowdfunding. It’s been a great campaign so far, with the company initially asking for $380,000 and receiving pledges of more than $1 million in just two days. Read more »

Samsung has let the markets know that it wants to buy back $2 billion worth of its own shares. Specifically, the electronics giant will nab 1.65 million common shares and 250,000 preferred shares. The move represents its first share buyback since 2007, and the second biggest one ever.

The point of the buyback is reportedly for Samsung to stabilise its share price and boost value for its shareholders, who have been none too happy with the Korean company’s latest results, especially its falling profits. Read more »

The full-frame mirrorless Sony A7 II was made official last week, and now the Japanese company has shared its release details for the US.

The A7 II will become available on December 9, and it will be priced at $1,699 in body-only form. Sony will also offer a $1,999 kit that will contain a 28-70 f3.5-5.6 OSS zoom lens too. Read more »

A couple of days ago a report surfaced in South Korean media claiming that Samsung was getting ready to shut down its ChatOn messaging service, which has failed to challenge WhatsApp, Viber, and Facebook Messenger in terms of user base.

Now though, the Korean company has officially stated that the aforementioned information is false, and that ChatOn will live on. Read more »

Moving steadily on with its newfound commerce focus, Twitter has today announced a new service called Twitter Offers. This basically means businesses can embed discount coupons into tweets, but redeeming them is easier than if you were to use actual coupons.

Twitter Offers comes after the Twitter Buy button started appearing for certain users, letting them buy stuff directly from tweets. Read more »

Today Verizon has announced the LG GizmoPal, a specialized wearable band for children. If it looks familiar, that’s because it’s basically nothing but a rebranded LG KizOn – which was made official in South Korea in July.

Verizon will start selling the GizmoPal online tomorrow, in blue and pink, and it can be yours for $79.99. In stores, it will first be available in select locations in the Midwest, followed by a proper nationwide launch on December 11. Read more »

Earlier this month, Dropbox and Microsoft announced a broad partnership that would see the two companies’ mobile apps working together – allowing you to edit Office files from the Dropbox app and access your Dropbox from Office. This integration is now live.

The latest version of the Dropbox app for iOS and Android lets you open any Office document, spreadsheet, or presentation. And the new Edit icon (seen in the image above) lets you start editing stuff in the latest Office apps. Read more »

Like the new Nexus 9 tablet before it, the Motorola Nexus 6 has now gone through the teardown process. This has revealed its maker’s preference for using screws to hold together its internals, as opposed to adhesive or plastic clips.

The only glue in there is holding the back cover in place, and thankfully this is a relatively mild adhesive. You won’t be able to pry open the back with just your fingernail, though. Read more »

The Alcatel OneTouch Flash smartphone was officially announced in Thailand back in September, and now it’s made its way to India as well. In fact, the handset is already up for pre-order at Flipkart, the subcontinent’s biggest online retailer.

The OneTouch Flash is being offered in both grey and white, the pricing being the same in both cases – INR 9,999 (that means approximately $161 or €130 at the current exchange rates). Read more »

The SwiftKey third-party keyboard for Android has received a pretty hefty update today. The new version should already be available in the Google Play Store.

Its main claim to fame is the all-round improved performance. The time it takes for the keyboard to appear has been reduced, and the same can be said for the keyboard quit time too. Switching between fields is faster, and typing is said to be more responsive now as well. Read more »

The carrier nicknamed Big Red has added two LG tablets to its roster today. They are the G Pad 7.0 and G Pad 10.1, both LTE-enabled as you’d expect. And they’re both already available to purchase from Verizon.

The tablets are offered with some limited time pricing if you agree to sign a new two-year contract with the carrier. Read more »