OnePlus has a history of close engagement with fans for all sorts of feedback and guerrilla marketing tactics really seem to be working so far. The relatively small Chinese team has really managed to ramp up popularity and is now offering fans yet another interesting competition with a creative twist.

OnePlus is now starting what they call “possibly our coolest contest yet” and from the looks of it they are not over-exaggerating. The team has joined forces with the 3D-printing gurus at Ultimaker and YouMagine and is now challenging fans to unleash their creativity and design accessories for the OnePlus One. And when they say design they seriously mean it as in order for submissions to be taken under considerations they have to be made precisely using CAD software and ready for 3D printing. Read more »

Bang & Olufsen has announced a new portable Bluetooth speaker for use with smartphones, tablets, and laptops. The speaker has an interesting picnic basket-like design, with a handle to carry it around.

The Beolit 15 has an aluminum and plastic body, with a rubberized texture on top to keep your phone. The handle is made out of genuine full-grain leather and angled to avoid the speaker from wobbling while being carried around. Read more »

Samsung’s latest PR stunt / ad / promotional material for the Gear VR headset comes from Australia. Through a media agency over there, the Korean company set up a diving gear shop in the Australian outback, 1,200 km from the nearest ocean.

Naturally curious people enter and wonder where the water is. The key to everything is obviously the Gear VR, used in conjunction with the Galaxy Note 4 to give people in the middle of the desert the feeling that they’re in the ocean at that very moment, more than a thousand kilometers away, surrounded by sharks no less. Read more »

After several materials were tried out, vinyl proved to be the best stuff to use in records. Sony would have you believe that microSD cards can produce better sound if they are made from the right materials and tuned just right to minimize electric noise coming from the card while it’s working.

So, for the best sound on the go you need a 64GB microSD card with the “for Premium Sound” label. Read more »

Blackberry has filed a second lawsuit against Typo Products, the company backed by US TV and radio personality Ryan Seacrest, alleging that the latest version of their product, dubbed Typo2, also copies its design and patents.

“The Typo2 Keyboard still blatantly copies BlackBerry’s iconic keyboard trade dress designs that have been embodied in numerous BlackBerry smartphones from the 2007 BlackBerry 8800 to the current Q10 and Classic models,” the company said in its complaint. “The Typo2 Keyboard also infringes numerous BlackBerry utility patents related to BlackBerry’s proprietary keyboard design, backlighting and typing automation technologies.” Read more »

In a roundabout way Samsung has suggested that its upcoming flagship, the Galaxy S6, will support wireless charging. Actually, the company has been working on wireless charging since 2000, making things smaller and more efficient.

“With our upcoming Galaxy smartphones, users will be able to enter a new wireless world like never before,” says Samsung. Read more »

Sony has announced its new augmented reality glasses, called the SmartEyeglass Developer Edition SED-E1. The glasses pair with your Android smartphone and show information from the phone on the glasses, along with showing information relevant to your surroundings using augmented reality applications.

The SmartEyeglass uses holographic waveguide technology to create 3.0mm augmented reality lenses with a transparency rate of 85%. This means you don’t need a display in front of your glasses, like on Google Glass, and the lenses themselves act as a display. Read more »

The Braven 805 wireless Bluetooth speaker is a colorful new addition to the manufacturer’s Design Series. The newcomer made its debut last month during CES in Las Vegas as part of a serious product onslaught by the Utah-based manufacturer.

Founded in 2011, Braven became part of the mobile accessories giant Incipio in the summer of 2013. Joining the bigger company has treated Braven quite well. Its product range has expanded to cover everything from ultra-rugged speakers to luxury offerings in a variety of shapes and sizes. Read more »

The Karbon S case for iPhone 6 by Evutec is an ultra-thin snap-on offering, made for users who like to keep their device intact without adding bulk to it. With thickness of less than one millimeter, the cover barely affects the elegant waistline of Cupertino’s flagship smartphone.

Based in Walnut, California, Evutec designs and manufactures smartphone and tablet accessories by using advanced composite and recyclable materials. The latter include DuPont Kevlar and FSC certified, eco-friendly wood veneers. Read more »

One of the earliest virtual reality headsets – the View-Master – is getting a 21st century makeover. Mattel has partnered with Google to create the new View-Master, which is based on Google Cardboard and will offer a kid-friendly, immersive experiences.

The new product comes with a modernized version the fairly recognizable shape and has even kept reels. Read more »

Sony is apparently getting ready to launch a new SmartBand, to either complement or succeed the SWR10 in its lineup of wearable accessories. A Sony SmartBand with the model number SWR12 has recently passed through the FCC’s rigorous testing, which is how we know about it.

Compared to the original SWR10, the new SWR12 seems to add just one feature, though it may be a very important one. The new SmartBand will have a built-in heart rate sensor, it turns out. Read more »

According to a report in Korean media, Samsung Galaxy S6 accessories will feature authentication chips. The solution is said to be similar to the setup used by Samsung’s biggest rival, Apple.

The Korean giant will reportedly attempt to build a new ecosystem mobile accessories around Samsung Galaxy S6. Read more »

LG has teamed up with Google to offer future buyers of the G3 a free VR headset. This is based on Google’s Cardboard contraption unveiled last year at the search giant’s developer conference. However, LG has tweaked things a bit.

First off, this iteration seems to be made out of plastic, and not actual cardboard. Next up, it features cutouts for the G3′s rear-facing power and volume buttons, as well as its 1W speaker. Read more »

Asus has unveiled ZenPower 9600, a 9600mAh power bank capable of charging most smartphones 3-5 times. The device, which has a metal finish and squarish edges, contains three 3200mAh battery cells. This compares to Xiaomi’s 10,400 mAh power bank which contains four 2600mAH cells, making Asus’ offering lighter and more compact.

Compared to Xiaomi’s 9 layers of protection, Asus’ new portable battery charger comes with 11 layers of protection, and includes four LED indicators, full size USB outputs, and a micro USB input. Read more »

Sony’s lens style cameras (QX10 and QX100) seemed like oddball devices, but they are gaining popularity. The Olympus Air A01 takes a micro four thirds image sensor from the company’s OM-D and PEN cameras and puts it into a self-contained body that can be attached to and controlled by a smartphone.

The Air can use any lens from the M.Zuiko lineup to offer additional flexibility. Read more »