A Samsung data center caught fire today, shutting down Samsung.com.
That wasn’t the only tech casualty from the fire, however, as various Samsung products, including Smartphones and TVs, were adversely affected.
The second-generation LG G family of smartphones is now complete with the launch of the G2 mini. The phone keeps the familiar design characteristics of the G2, which includes the rear-mounted controls as well as extra thin bezels.
The LG G2 mini packs a 4.7″ IPS LCD display, which LG claims takes 71% of the phone’s surface. Unfortunately, it’s only qHD resolution, which results in a pixel density of 234 ppi leaving it behind its 720p rivals.
Hitman GO is a brand new game for the iOS platform that shares almost nothing with the other Hitman games. Whereas the Hitman games have traditionally been third person action games with a focus on stealth but with this latest mobile release, developer Square Enix has decided to go with a whole new style of gameplay with turn based puzzles in a scale-model style visuals.
Let’s see what that is like.
Announced last month, the Oppo Find 7a is the lesser spec’d brother of the Find 7. The two models are identical, but for the screen, which only has 1080p resolution on the Find7a as opposed to QuadHD.
We are happy to have the Find 7a here in our office and before we set off writing the proper review, we’d like to give you a quick glimpse of the device.
Oppo’s Color OS is based on Android 4.3 Jelly Bean but comes with lots of custom features. The top-of-the-line Snapdragon 801 chipset takes care of running everything smoothly.
Do you want a wearable with a bigger screen that is capable of more than just basic fitness tracking?
Well the Rufus Cuff Monster is the wearable for you. It’s aptly named too, with its 3”. Hit the jump to check out its extensive list of features.
Google’s travel app, TripIt, has gotten a major design overhaul.
Google has given the app a “card view” along with some other updates.
In the days between the official announcement and the market release of one of their smartphones, each manufacturer is trying to build up hype about it and promo videos are a commonly used tool for that. In the case of the Lumia 630, Nokia has hired Finnish goalkeeper and trick shot master Lassi Hurskainen to produce what is certainly one of the coolest promo clips we’ve seen in a while.
Using the help of an assistant, Hurskainen makes some pretty sweet shots to knock several people’s handsets out of their hands. It’s unclear if the phones take any damage, but everyone involved gets a free Lumia 630 and they all seem pretty happy about it.
Beats Music has released an update to its iPhone app that brings with it a very important feature: in-app subscription. Previously, the service required you to subscribe elsewhere before you could use the app but now you can sign up for it from within the app itself.
The reason some people choose to get their payments done externally is because Apple takes 30% cut of all in-app purchases. Unfortunately, that is not the best way to do things and people often don’t end up subscribing to the service if they are asked to leave the app and subscribe from somewhere else.
Some gloomy news coming out of Nike today as reportedly the company has laid off its hardware division, responsible for wearable devices such as the FuelBand. For those not aware, the FuelBand was a popular fitness device worn around your wrist that tracked your daily activities with Nike’s mobile and desktop software.
According to CNET who broke the news, about 55 of the 70 people hardware team were laid off. Along with the FuelBand, the hardware division was also responsible for products such as the Nike+ SportWatch.
Another member of the Nokia X family decided to pay our office a visit. The Nokia XL is the largest Android-powered member of the recently announced X-family of phones. Think of it as a grown-up Nokia X, as it packs a 5″ IPS LCD display of the same WVGA resolution as its smaller brother.
The Nokia XL features the same build materials and design as its smaller brother, but it’s notably heavier as you could expect. It weighs the rather hard to bare 190 grams and gives an almost tank-like impression. It really takes away portability points, though.
Here’s something you may not have known: 10 hidden features that weren’t really advertised in Samsung’s promotion of the Galaxy S5 have been released today.
All of the key selling points: its camera, dust and water resistance, and built-in heart rate monitor have been rightfully pimped in advertisements, but here’s a list of a few things you may not have known the Galaxy S5 was capable of.
The President of Nigeria had his daughter’s wedding a few days ago and each guest received a customized gold iPhone. Those were specially designed by Malivelihood, who specialized in gold-plating all things tech.
The back of the phone is enhanced by precious stones and gold inserts. The names of the groom and bride are also engraved in addition to the date of the wedding.
In case you find that faux leather look on the back of the Samsung Galaxy S5 a tad too cheap, don’t despair, By Atelier has you covered! The young French Luxury brand released a limited edition of Samsung’s latest smartphone and the Gear Fit in orange alligator leather.
The far from subtle looking combination of the Samsung Galaxy S5 and the Gear Fit you see above is priced at €1,800.
The latest microSD card slot to come out of Toshiba is the fastest in the world. The 32GB version of the Toshiba UHS-II microSD card boasts speeds of up to 260MB/s read and 240MB/s write.
There’s also a 64GB version available, but it’s not as fast with a maximum of 145MB/s read and 130MB/s write speeds.
Facebook has announced a new feature for users of their mobile apps. Called Nearby Friends, the feature is designed to let you catch up with your friends on Facebook if they are close to your location.
Nearby Friends obviously requires you to share your location with your friends for it to work but you can choose whom to share it with. Your friends also need to enable sharing with you for you to see them. Once enabled, you will get notifications when your friends are nearby. You can also share a precise location so that people can see where exactly you are on a map.
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