Google has updated its Google Earth apps for Android and iOS. The new 7.1.1 version brings a few major improvements including Street View.

The rest of the improvements in the new Google Earth include a new left hand panel for easier browsing and switching between layers. There is also updated directions and search results. Read more »

The newly announced Samsung Galaxy S4 LTE-A packs a fast Snapdragon 800 chipset (early benchmarks look great) and an LTE-Advanced modem, allowing downloads of up to 150Mbps. That’s faster than the regular S4, but by how much? Samsung posted a video putting the two head to head to demonstrate the difference.

The tests were run in different locations and times of day. The two smartphones had to download different files – install an app from the Play Store or download a large video file. Read more »

Along with its launch on the Google Play store, the kernel source code for the HTC One “Google Edition” has been released on HTCDev.

Also revealed is that the device won’t be receiving its Android updates directly from Google, since it is not technically a Nexus device. Read more »

A few days ago, NVIDIA announced that their Android-based portable gaming console – the NVIDIA Shield – will start shipping today, on June 27, along with a price drop from $349 to $299. Unfortunately for NVIDIA and those who were waiting to get their hands on the Shield, it seems it will take a bit longer to actually start shipping.

Citing a mechanical issue that turned up during quality-assurance testing, NVIDIA has decided to push back the launch date of the Shield. NVIDIA isn’t giving any specific dates this time, saying only “next month” as the approximate launch date for the Shield. Read more »

Last week Sony released the 4.45 software update for the PlayStation 3 console, which, instead of fixing things made them worse, with many users complaining about their systems locking up after installing the update. The update was pulled back shortly afterwards but the damage had already been done to several consoles.

Sony later promised and has now delivered an update for the problem in the form of the new 4.46 update, which is now available for download on the console and on their website. Read more »

Last year Sony launched the RX1 and the RX100 cameras, which went on to become some of the best compact cameras money could buy. Now, less than a year from their launch, Sony has announced updated versions of both cameras: the special edition RX1R and the RX100 II.

The RX1R gets a minor improvement over the RX1. The new model gets rid of the optical low-pass filter (OLPF) found on the RX1R whose purpose is to suppress moiré and color artifacts. The removal of the filter helps the camera achieve even greater resolution through the same sensor with sharper images. Read more »

While hard at work at the upcoming Moto X, Motorola Mobility introduced a brand new logo. The new branding includes the company’s name, executed in thinner font, with all-low typeface.

The iconic “M” has remained unchanged. It is however, surrounded by a colorful circle. Read more »

Today at its Build developer conference, Microsoft released the preview of the Windows 8.1 update and it is now available for users to download and try out.

The update brings a lot of changes to Windows 8 in an effort to improve the experience and fix the stuff that people have been complaining about. The major one of them is the removal of the Start button in Windows 8. Happily, it’s back in Windows 8.1 Read more »

It’s been a busy month and it’s not over yet – Microsoft is kicking off its BUILD conference to talk about the future of Windows, Windows Server, Windows Azure, Visual Studio, and more. It should come as no surprise that Windows 8.1 will be a hot topic at the conference but there will be some Windows Phone talk too (about app development, not new features and certainly no GDR3 update).

The Day 1 keynote is minutes away from starting and you can watch it after the break. Read more »

To capitalize on its global rollout on June 24, Nokia has launched a new TV ad for its latest featurephone, the Nokia Asha 501.

Perhaps the most eye-catching aspect of the Asha 501 is its numerous garish color schemes, which Nokia shows off in their latest ad. We can’t help but get reminded of those old iPod commercials – except in color. Read more »

The Xperia Z Ultra was announced yesterday and we were quick on our feet on giving you an extensive hands-on of Sony’s phablet. However, we simply didn’t have the time to film the smartphone on camera as extensively as we’d liked. Luckily, Lutz Herkner of Mobilewatch managed to get a prototype of the device and give it a thorough hands-on treatment.

Covering all the basics, Herkner goes through all the major features and gives valuable insight on each of them. There’s even a detailed screen comparison between the Xperia Z Ultra’s 6.4″ 1080p TFT Triluminos display and Xperia Z’s 5″ 1080p TFT display. Read more »

We already saw a few promo videos for Sony’s new Xperia Z Ultra and SmartWatch 2, but the Sony Developer World also released videos. They are aimed at devs, which is good since they focus more on describing the features than on getting you to buy one.

The videos don’t really give out new information, but offer a good summary of the specs and clarify some things that weren’t 100% clear yesterday. Read more »

Dropbox has launched a minor update for its iOS app, bringing it to version 2.3. While not really substantial, the update brings some improvements as well as bug squashing for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

You can now share entire folders right from the application, as well as share single or multiple files at once, which is convenient. Read more »

Mount Everest, the world’s highest mountain, gets great reception. No really, it saw its first 3G video call in 2010, the first tweet in 2011 and now the first Skype video call in 2013. The feat was achieved by brit Daniel Hughes who is raising £1 million for the Comic Relief anti-poverty charity.

He wanted one million people to donate a single pound and decided to climb Everest to promote this charity. Read more »

Nokia has just launched one of its biggest updates to the HERE Maps app ever with the addition of indoor mapping for 49,000 buildings in 45 countries.

Among the major additions are shopping malls in London as well as major shops and New York at the Times Square and 5^th avenue. Read more »