Microsoft has announced that the encrypted search feature in Bing, which was rolled out last year and is currently optional, will be available by default in the coming months.

The Redmond, Washington-based company said that while it will continue to send a referrer string (letting marketers and webmasters identify traffic as coming from Bing), the actual query terms will not be passed along. However, some limited query term data will be made available through its various webmaster and advertiser tools, the company noted. Read more »

Apple announced the iOS 9 and OS X El Capitan at the WWDC two weeks ago. Among the announced features, the iTunes makeover was surprisingly missed. Yet, the Apple Developer site carries the images of OS X El Capitan interface on MacBook with new iTunes app icon.

Not only that, even the iOS 9 developer pages has the placeholder image bearing revised Music app icon. Both iTunes app icon and the Music app icon get a colourful treatment, moving away from the single color app icon background used so far. Read more »

Pushbullet introduced a new Portal app that allows transferring files from a computer to the target Android device directly over Wi-Fi. So if you have some large files on your PC or Mac, you can use Portal app to transfer them to the Android phone or tablet without having to connect it physically with the computer.

Portal app from Pushbullet functions very similarly to popular AirDroid, which offers more features than simple files transfer. To get started, you have to use the Portal app to scan the QR code at the Portal web page as it appears on a PC or Mac. Read more »

We already covered most of the major company launches at E3 2015 this year in separate posts before. You can read our posts about Microsoft, Sony, and Square Enix.

Now here’s a recap of some of the best stuff that was announced this year, along with stuff that we may have missed. Read more »

In an effort to contain shipping costs, Amazon is considering paying ordinary people to deliver its packages, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

Internally dubbed On My Way, the service would see the company enlisting physical retailers in urban areas to store the packages. As per the report, the idea is in a very nascent stage, as critical aspects like how deliverers would be paid and who would be responsible if packages are damaged or go missing aren’t yet clear. Read more »

BitTorrent has released a new app that the company claims allows you to share files directly between mobile devices without going through the cloud. Dubbed Shoot, the app is based on BitTorrent Sync technology, and is compatible with Android, iOS, as well as Windows Phone devices.

“If you’ve ever experienced a situation where you’re on iOS and a friend next to you has an Android phone, sending something like a big batch of photos or a long video is a challenge,” the filesharing company said in a blog post. “The Shoot app was developed to make this easy.” Read more »

Over a month after both its Android as well as Windows Phone versions were taken down, the HTC Sense TV app is back on the Windows Phone Store.

If you aren’t already aware, the app allows owners of the HTC One (M8) to use their smartphone as a remote control for their TV. At the time the Sense TV app was discontinued, the company said that users will be prompted to download the Peel app, on which the former is based. However, that never happened. Read more »

Yesterday, Microsoft and Sony dazzled the gamers with new announcements at the ongoing E3 2015 gaming convention. Today, one of the gaming powerhouse Square Enix shared details about upcoming titles, as well as new games during its press conference.

First up is the stealth-based assassin series game Hitman. After the formal announcement during Sony’s E3 conference, new gameplay footage was revealed, while the game is expected to release on December 8 for PC (via Steam), Xbox One and PS4 platforms. Read more »

Back in May a leaked report claimed HTC was gearing up to introduce ads to its BlinkFeed app, and today the Taiwanese company itself has confirmed this. Furthermore, the promotional content will start showing up in BlinkFeed today, at least for users in certain regions.

So if you have an HTC device with BlinkFeed on it and are currently in the US, UK, Germany, Taiwan, or China, expect to start seeing ads such as the one in the screenshot above very soon, if you haven’t already. Read more »

Last month AT&T finally started pushing out the Lollipop update for its version of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S 10.5, and today it’s time for that device’s smaller sibling to receive the tasty treat too. We’re talking about this carrier’s iteration of the Galaxy Tab S 8.4, of course.

In its unlocked form, the tablet started getting the update in early May in certain markets. If you bought yours from AT&T, though, only now can you truly celebrate. Read more »

Following the lead of Facebook, its perpetual competitor in the social network space, Twitter has today announced it’s enabling autoplay for videos. This goes live today on iOS and the web, and it will come to Android soon through an update for Twitter’s app for Google’s platform.

This means exactly what you think it means. From now on, while scrolling through your timeline, videos will automatically start playing. This works with native videos, Vines, and animated GIFs. Read more »

Motorola is planning a summer sale for the UK, which will take place from tomorrow, June 17, and until June 30. The two devices involved are basically the company’s flagships at the moment – the Moto X (2nd Gen) and the Nexus 6. The former being the one for people who like ‘normal’ sized phones, while the latter should fit fans of the phablet genre perfectly.

So, starting tomorrow, you’ll be able to save a whopping £166 on the second generation Moto X. The 16GB model will be offered for just £229, compared to £395 right now. If you want more storage, the 32GB version will go for £269. Read more »

We’ve known that Microsoft is working on bringing Cortana to iOS and Android since last month, but today we’ve received an actual release time frame from the software giant. At least for the Android version, that is.

According to Microsoft itself, we should expect to see a beta version of Cortana for Android hit the streets in July. No information has been shared about the iOS release at this time. Read more »

Collecting phones is a thing you do out of passion. And as passions go, I've rarely seen someone as enthusiastic about old mobile phones as Momchil Nechev - Maxx, who quite happily agreed to bring most of his personal collection of phones to our office.

Going through his stuff, I felt as excited as a boy going through his Christmas presents, only these were not presents I was handed but boxes full of memories. Those boxes held Momchil's memories, but mine as well. It's fascinating how you can share so much with someone you barely know.

Our get-together was a fun experience, and we did a lot of shooting and a lot of talking. You already got a glimpse of what came out of the shooting, and today I have here the result that came out of the talking.

Momchil is a genuinely nice guy and he had a lot to share about what it's like to collect mobile phones. I hope you will enjoy his insight as much as we did. Read more »

Microsoft has taken steps to tremendously extend its online market reach in India. The US tech giant just launched a store on India’s Snapdeal, containing its full range of products. The partnership could potentially be huge for Microsoft, as, it extends the company’s online reach in the vast new market to as many as 5000 cities.

This was perhaps an ideal course of action, as Microsoft can now capitalize on the existing popularity of Snapdeal in India, not to mention the functioning supply chain. Sharlin Thayil, group OEM director at Microsoft India, commented on the expansion: Read more »