Dell XPS Duo 12: Is it an Ultrabook or a tablet?

Is it an Ultrabook? Is it a tablet? To answer the question, this is no supercomputer, but rather, the Dell XPS Duo 12 is said to be both, depending on the situation and context that you are in. Sporting a novel and elegant flip hinge touchscreen display which was specially designed to take advantage of the Windows 8 operating system that has touch interaction on the menu, there is also a keyboard to make it jive with the notebook/Ultrabook crowd who want to get some serious work done while they are on the move.

Thanks to the innovative flip hinge design, one is able to make the transition from laptop to tablet to laptop in a jiffy, while the Full HD display is able to deliver up to 97% more pixels compared to your regular HD display. Using machined aluminum and carbon fiber as the main materials of choice for its chassis, it is well complemented by Corning Gorilla Glass for that added touch durability without weighing it down. As with theDell XPS 10, the Dell XPS Duo 12 will also be available to the masses when Windows 8 arrives on the market at the end of October. No pricing details have been announced yet, but I wonder just how tough the hinge can last over the years. Image courtesy of CNET. [Press Release]

Toshiba LX835 All-In-One (AIO) desktop PC

We have seen some All-In-One (AIO) machines this week at IFA 2012, and the buck is not going to stop anytime soon, with the Toshiba LX835 All-In-One (AI) desktop PC being the latest candidate to line up under this particular category. Of course, the Toshiba LX835 occupies a more lofty “premium” category, sporting a capacitive multi touch screen with an Intel Core processor running proceedings from within, ably aided by NVIDIA discrete graphics. Targeting folks who require large-screen computing sessions, the Toshiba LX835 will ship with Windows 8 pre-installed right out of the box in order to maximize the potential of its multi touch screen.

It will also feature components that have been built into the screen to further simplifying its design. At the side, you will find updated USB 3.0 ports to keep up with the times, while the back has HDMI-in and USB 2.0 ports. To further reduce the amount of clutter around your home, the Toshiba LX835 will be equipped with a wireless keyboard and mouse, now how about that? You can take a look at the photo gallery of the Toshiba LX835 after the jump.

Your ears will be pleased to hear that Onkyo-branded speakers with SRS Premium Sound 3D are thrown into the mix. Other hardware specifications include a range of third-generation Intel Core processors to choose from, the ability to cram in up to 8GB of storage space, and a 1TB hard drive. No idea on pricing, but it should be released sometime along the lines of Windows 8′s roll out date.

Game, Set and Match vs. Bugs

What would summer be without bugs? More enjoyable, that is for sure. Grilling out in the summer is a must. There you are, entertaining friends, juicy steaks hot off the grill, serving up side dishes and suddenly, bam! Every bug in the neighborhood somehow gets an invitation to the party. Or how about airing out the house and realizing that you have a bug slumber party going on. Spiders in the corners, moths on the lights. You’d think they are moving in for good!


Stay armed and ready for the pesky creatures with the Zap Racket™! It provides the satisfaction of eliminating pests and you don’t need to swing like Roger Federer! Get the little critters close enough to be interested and ZAP. Zap Racket contains an electric layer sandwiched between two protective, non-electric layers. So you won’t zap your finger inadvertently. It operates on a rechargeable battery, with removable cord, so you are always ready to zap. 500 amps provides more than enough power to handle mosquitoes, flies, bees, wasps, house centipedes, termites, spiders, fruit flies, gnats, roaches, and more! It is even available in 3 colors – Red Hornet, Emerald Fly and Orange Ladybug – to suit your fancy. Zap Racket is ready and waiting on Amazon for $20. A no brainer in the war on bugs. And you can even add a light on to help attract the buggers at night.

Let Zap Racket help you enjoy a bug free summer whether indoors or outdoors and eliminate the need for poisonous pesticides, unsightly traditional zappers and bug cleanup.

ECOXGEAR pedal powered headlight and smartphone charger for bicycles

So you are one of those who prefer to get around town using a mix of public transport as well as your set of two wheels – non oil guzzling ones, that is, in the form of a bicycle. Well, well, what are you to do then in order to maximize your “green” and eco-friendly lifestyle while you are on the move? This is where the ECOXGEAR pedal powered headlight and smartphone charger comes in handy, where it will come equipped with a universal mount so that it can be attached to most standard and oversized hubs. Not only that, there is also a handlebar mounted, water-resistant and touch-screen compatible smart phone/GPS case which is pretty much self-explanatory, so I don’t see the need for me to go there. The ECOXPOWER can be yours for $99.99 a pop if you are interested, but let us take a closer look at what it offers in the extended post.


For starters, the ECOXPOWER will come with an ultra-bright LED front headlight and red rear tail light that are capable of being mounted to your bike’s front wheel hub. The included USB adapter cable will run up the front fork and into the handlebar mounted, water-resistant smart phone case. Each time your bicycle’s front wheel turns, the ECOXPOWER’s clutch engages between the tire’s spokes, kickstarting a generator which will power the lighting system, the integrated lithium ion rechargeable battery and the power jack for you smartphone. Talk about efficiency, yo!

As for the smartphone case, it is touch-screen friendly and accommodates all major GPS devices and smartphone models, especially those from the iOS and Android camps. Not only that, the ECOXPOWER will also come equipped with an on/off remote switch which can be mounted to the handlebars, delivering full control over the headlight and taillight while on a ride.

CEO of ECOXGEAR, Greg Fadul, said, “Typical bike lights have a short life expectancy, most of which are only 10-15 hours or even as low as five if on high brightness. Bicyclist either have to routinely buy batteries, remove the light for recharging, or replace their lights completely. ECOXPOWER is self-powered and with the built-in rechargeable battery, extra costs and inconveniences are non-existent. And if you’re using your smart phone for GPS or music on a long ride, you never have to worry about running out of juice.”

Samsung Series 5 and Series 7 all-in-one Windows 8 PCs, hands-on

We got your hands on the new all-in-one (AIO) PCs that Samsung has just announced today. To keep their naming consistent, Samsung has named them Series 5 and Series 7 like they do for their laptop – the names logically describe the product level in the line-up. The Series 7 comes in two sizes: 27″ ($1699) and 23.6″ (1099), while the series 5 only has a 21.5″ version ($749).

Beyond the sizes, all three computers are different in more than one way. The more obvious one is the design. The 27″ Series 2 comes with a great design that reminds of Samsung’s LED TV, which Samsung’s IT division got inspired from. that’s a great idea given that those designs are rather successful on the market. On that note, the display quality was rather high.

Both Series 7 computers have a 10-point touch display (1080p), 1TB of storage and run on Windows 8. The 27″ version is beefier with a Core i7 and  8GB of RAM out of the box. The 23.6″ one gets a Core i5 and 6GB of RAM (8GB Max). If you plan on playing games, the 27″ version has a discrete AMD 7850M graphics processor (GPU), while the other ones have an integrated Intel HD4000 GPU.

The Series 5 is built to reach a lower price of $749, so the design is a bit thicker and on the inside, it comes with a Core i3, 4GB of RAM (8GB max) and the integrated Intel GPU. It still has a 1080p touch display, so all the multimedia functions should be taken care of. Gaming will be limited to casual games, and I suspect that even Flash games like CastleVille could be challenging.

Overall, we found the line of all-in one to be very nice. The high-end Series 7 is obviously the one that folks would “want”, although affordability may be an issue, but those touch screens are expensive. The Series 7 does not have a “big base” that contains all the internal components, so its likes are rather straight and clean. The front looks great and from a distance, it just looks like a small TV.

The Series 5 has a different stand design to conserve space on a table. The idea is that if used as a kitchen PC or in a student/teenager room, the possibility to put stuff underneath the computer may be handy.

Firefox 15 released

Have you lost count on the version number of Firefox? Assuming you answered in the affirmative, here is a little reminder – Firefox 15 has just been released today, bringing along with it its fair share of features. For instance, background updates enables Firefox to download the update in the background itself, where you can follow up by applying it alongside the current installation, letting you maintain the updated version so that you can switch to it the next time that the browser is fired into action. The whole logic behind this is to do away with the update progress dialog which pops up whenever you kick start Firefox after it has downloaded an update.

For those of you who have already installed Firefox 15 on your respective machines, just how do you find the latest version of this popular web browser? Will it strengthen your loyalty to the Firefox brand, or has it made you look elsewhere for a potential new match up? Feel free to share your experience with Firefox 15 in the comments.

Hisense Pulse with Google TV out this November for $99

Have a Benjamin to spare? Then when November rolls around shortly, you might want to consider an early Christmas present for yourself with the Hisense Pulse with Google TV. This purchase intends to deliver apps, web, search and live TV to your doorstep in a flexible package, allowing consumers to perform an upgrade to any TV in order to enjoy a broad range of rich content. Basically, the Hisense Pulse with Google TV will hook up to any TV over an HDMI input, which translates to true blue plug-and-play versatility.

Based on the Android platform, Google TV will offer TV-optimized versions of your favorite Google services such as Chrome, Google Play, Search, TV & Movies and YouTube. It will look up web content in a similar way as to how Google Search finds web content. Not only that, it will support a myriad of screen resolutions that range from 480i up to 1080p, in addition to H.264, MPEG-4 and AVC formats. Read what JoAnne Foist, Director of Marketing at Hisense USA, has to say about Hisense Pulse with Google TV after the jump.

“This box effectively bridges the gap to the latest in home entertainment, without the need for expensive hardware upgrades. Most people have at least one HDTV in their home and with the addition of a Hisense Pulse with Google TV, we offer the liberty of accessing not just TV, but a host of streaming content, web surfing and TV apps (such as Pandora Radio, CNNMoney, Motor Trend, and Thuuz) that are available in Google Play. Compared to other streaming devices, the Hisense Pulse with Google TV allows consumers to experience a new level of smart content discovery and viewing recommendations. Hisense delivers a low cost device that provides the outstanding performance and quality for which our brand is known.”

Other hardware specifications of the Hisense Pulse with Google TV include HDMI input and output, USB, Ethernet and built-in Wi-Fi. Each purchase will also be accompanied by a double sided remote control that boasts of a built-in touchpad and dedicated Netflix button on one side and a QWERTY keyboard on the other side.

Samsung teases upcoming Windows 8 tablet on its Facebook page

A couple of days ago we reported that Samsung had released a video on its website that teased us by saying, “Something Smart Is Coming”. Based on the video, it seemed pretty obvious that Samsung was set to unveil their Windows 8 device, although a snippet in the video suggested that it could be a laptop/ultrabook running on Windows 8. However it was only recently that Samsung teased us further with an additional image posted onto its Facebook page where it showed us what appears to be a hybrid sort of device. As you can see in the image above, it seems that we can expect some sort of Windows 8 tablet with an accompanying keyboard dock. Based on that image alone, it seems that we could be looking at the Samsung Series 5 transforming Windows 8 tablet which was revealed at Computex a few months back, but until Samsung officially reveals it, we can’t be too sure. However with IFA taking place later this week, we guess we won’t have long to wait to get all the official details, so stay tuned!

The OwnFone looks like it might be great for your kids

While it might not be common a few years back, the sight of seeing kids walking around with tablets and phones of their own is certainly becoming quite normal. However if you’re a parent who is worried that your child might rack up quite a bill with their own phone, or if you want to be able to control who they are able to call, then perhaps the OwnFone is a gadget you might want to check out. Designed for use in the UK only, the OwnFone can hardly be called a smartphone, and to be honest even feature phones have more features than it, although its novel design was what caught our attention in the first place.

As you can see in the photo above, the OwnFone is a very simplistic phone and allows customers to customize how many numbers are allowed to be dialed on it. Customers can choose from 2, 4, 8 or 12 contacts which will be preprogrammed on the device before being shipped out to customers. Instead of sporting phone numbers, each phone number will be instead be represented by a label, such as “Mom”, “Dad”, “Police”, “Grandma” and etc. It’s available for £55 and if you’ve got kids that you’ve got to keep in contact with, or perhaps an elderly parent who might not be familiar with their way around a regular mobile phone, let alone a smart one, then perhaps the OwnFone might be worth checking out.

Samsung LED square display announced

IFA 2012 in Berlin, Germany is definitely the place to be if you happen to be in Europe and have a love for all things new in the world of consumer electronics. Case in point, the LED squre display from Samsung which is said to deliver an innovative 1:1 ratio LED square display, going by the model number UD22B. Obviously, this LED square display is meant for commercial application, where it will be available sometime before the year is over.

With a square display, it delivers an alternative to traditional rectangular displays, where its 1:1 screen ratio is touted to deliver unlimited configurations while opening up an entirely new potential to deliver immersive visual experiences. Sporting a mere 5.5 mm bezel-to-bezel measurement, your eyes will be treated to a seamless installation alongside a digital loop out which can produce a single image across up to 100 displays. I am quite sure that we will be in for a treat in the future with Samsung’s 21.6” square display, and am looking forward to the kinds of artistic video walls that are concocted. You can hook up multiple displays easily to create creative mosaics as well as cubic or other three-dimensional shaped displays without having the limitations of space or shape for a more interactive point-of-sale and advertising displays from businesses in order to engage the consumer with a short attention span. [Press Release]

Samsung sends memo to employees, to continue fighting Apple

I am quite sure that the Samsung camp is still reeling from the recent verdict in the patent case where Samsung was judged to have infringed upon Apple’s patents, while Apple got away scot free – literally, with none of Samsung’s charges sticking. Teflon-smooth Apple will also be $1 billion richer as well, which should be more than enough money to pay off Apple’s legal team with a handsome amount left over. An internal memo which was sent out to Samsung’s employees today stated that they were “disappointed” with the guilty verdict, but will continue to appeal against Apple by doing its “utmost”. I personally find this sense of protectionism rather distasteful, but I guess to each his or her own. Go on and read all about the memo in the extended post.

We initially proposed to negotiate with Apple instead of going to court, as they had been one of our most important customers. However, Apple pressed on with a lawsuit, and we have had little choice but to counter-sue, so that we can protect our company.

Certainly, we are very disappointed by the verdict at the US District Court for the Northern District of California (NDCA), and it is regrettable that the verdict has caused concern amongst our employees, as well as our loyal customers.

However, the judge’s final ruling remains, along with a number of other procedures. We will continue to do our utmost until our arguments have been accepted.

The NDCA verdict starkly contrasts decisions made by courts in a number of other countries, such as the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, and Korea, which have previously ruled that we did not copy Apple’s designs. These courts also recognized our arguments concerning our standards patents.

History has shown there has yet to be a company that has won the hearts and minds of consumers and achieved continuous growth, when its primary means to competition has been the outright abuse of patent law, not the pursuit of innovation.

We trust that the consumers and the market will side with those who prioritize innovation over litigation, and we will prove this beyond doubt.

Apple executive reportedly denies that the “iTV” will be launching in the near future

There have been plenty of Apple’s HDTV rumors floating about these days, with some suggesting that we will only see a release next year, while some optimistically believe it could be released sometime towards the end of 2012. In any case according to reports, Apple’s Vice President for internet services and software, Eddy Cue, had reportedly told an analyst that such a device from Apple is unlikely in the near future, with the main reason being that such a TV set would have to meet all of Apple’s standards regarding user experience and performance first.

It’s interesting to note that such a device was not denied, and the use of the term “near future” also carries the implication that not only such a device exists, it’s just that we won’t be seeing it anytime soon. Rumors of Apple’s HDTV started when Walter Isaacson released his biography on Apple’s late co-founder, Steve Jobs, where he quoted Jobs as reportedly saying that he had cracked the TV market. So far there have only been rumors of possible production and release dates, although no photos or components belonging to the alleged device has been seen.

If Google cannot protect Android device Makers, maybe Microsoft can

A Silicon Valley jury has just proved that user interface elements, including some that can appear “basic”, like and have been proven to be invented before the iPhone, could possibly no longer be used in a commercial product without risking the (legal) wrath of Apple along with substantial financial damages. As you may know,Samsung has been slapped with a $1B damage decision in the Apple vs. Samsung case. This case may reverberate into the whole Android hardware eco-system.

Of course, there is going to be a Samsung appeal, and the final fine may fall down substantially. However, in a space where margins can be slim, the risk of legal claims hurting the bottom-line may prove to be too big of a burden for Android handset makers. While Samsung is strong enough to bear this type of shock, both from a financial point of view and from an intellectual property point of view (50% of the iPhone 4S’ components are from Samsung), most Android hardware makers may not be able to.

Also, the mere perspective of being punished -or banned- from the largest market in the world (the U.S) can put a cold damp on those who are counting on the Android operating system.

There are ample operating system (OS) choices out there, most of them are Linux-based (Meego…). Unfortunately, most have also proven that they were no longer sustainable in the current technological (or commercial) context. In this new world, Windows Phone 8 may offer a heaven to handset makers who just don’t want to “risk it all” with Android.

To date, Android handset makers are already paying Microsoft royalties for using Android (shocker, right?). In fact, Microsoft may even make more money from Android royalties than they do from Windows Phone 7 licenses.

If Android is no longer a secure environment to do business in, then why not use Windows Phone? After all, no-one in the smartphone has won a patent litigation against Microsoft. Additionally, the Windows Phone Metro interface is genuinely different from anything Apple has. There is simply no question about that.

With Windows Phone 8, handset makers can write their own hardware drivers, which means that a Samsung Galaxy S3 could run on Windows Phone 8. Of course, OEMs typically love Android because they can customize and differentiate. However, if there is a risk of getting in legal trouble – maybe differentiation isn’t worth the trouble. After all, laptop makers do fairly well with a monolithic operating system.

Do you think that Windows Phone and Microsoft could emerge as being a heaven for smart phone makers? Was Nokia right all along? Surely, the Samsung appeal and the final conclusion of the Apple/Samsung lawsuit may determine the future of Android and Microsoft’s mobile push – no pressure.

ITC rules that Apple did not violate Motorola’s patent, remands case back to judge

About a week ago we reported that some of Apple’s products, namely the iPhone, iPad and Macs could bebanned on the 24^th of August as part of an ongoing legal dispute between Apple and Motorola. As it turns out, luck really seems to be on Apple’s side as not only did the jury rule in Apple’s favor in the Apple vs Samsung lawsuit, but it seems that a Commission review of the ITC case between Apple and Motorola has determined that the Cupertino company did not violate the patent in question and basically exonerated Apple.

While Apple fans and customers might breathe a sigh of relief, it seems that this is not over yet as the ITC has handed the case back to the judge who gave the initial ruling where he will be reviewing his initial stance on the matter. Basically what this means is that while Apple might have escaped the ban on the 24^th of August, there is still a chance that they might have their products banned in the future, although with the judge having to revisit the case, the clock has been reset and another ruling would probably take place in 2013. In any case we’ll be keeping our eyes peeled, so check back with us in the future for more updates.

Nokia Phi Windows Phone 8 specs “confirmed” by Eldar Murtazin

A week ago we reported that alleged photos of Nokia’s upcoming Windows Phone 8 handset, Phi, were leaked. While it remains to be seen as to whether those photos are indeed legitimate, famed Russian blogger Eldar Murtazin who seems to have the privilege of getting his hands on Nokia devices before anyone else, has spoken with Russian website Obozrevatel and basically “confirmed” the Nokia Phi’s specs. We say “confirm” because even though Murtazin has a reputation for getting it right, there’s always the off-chance that Nokia could surprise us.

In any case for those curious, the Nokia Phi is expected to sport a massive 4.7” display, a microSD card slot and is reportedly thinner than both the Lumia 800 and Lumia 900. He also stated that despite the battery of the Phi being larger than the Lumia 800 and 900, oddly enough it did not last as long. There is a good chance that might have something to do with software as we’re sure Nokia and Microsoft are currently tweaking Windows Phone 8 as best as they can before its release. Murtazin also expects the Phi to be priced in Russia for $935 and that we will see it officially announced on the 5^th of September.

Researchers launch year long trial program of smart cars that have the ability to “talk” to each other

Cars that drive themselves aren’t new, and with our phones getting smarter, we don’t see why our cars can’t get smarter either. Researchers at the University of Michigan have announced that they will be launching a year-long test program of what they are referring to as smart car technology. Basically the goal of this technology is to help reduce the number of accidents on the road involving unimpaired drivers by up to 80%! That’s certainly a lofty goal and we hope that they are able to achieve it.

Basically what these researchers did was they installed wireless communication devices in about 3,000 vehicles. These vehicles include passenger cars, trucks and buses, and the installed devices will allow these vehicles to talk to each other. The information conveyed will contain data on location, direction, speed along with information on traffic lights and road signs. The testing area will be limited to roads and highway sites in northeast Ann Arbor. By talking to each other, cars will be able to alert drivers both visually and audibly when a nearby car brakes suddenly, or switches lane without warning.

It certainly sounds like it has the potential to reduce accidents, although we’re not sure when this technology will be commercialized and installed in vehicles in the future, but we’ll be keeping our fingers crossed!

Canon PowerShot SX500 IS announced

We read about how Canon arrived at the 80 million EF lenses being produced to date earlier this morning, so here we are with a simple entry level shooter that beginners might want to consider – the Canon PowerShot SX500 IS. The PowerShot SX500 IS will come with a 24mm wide angle lens alongside an incredible 30x optical zoom (up to 720mm) which has been crammed into a compact design, allowing you to literally “pull” subjects in close and capture stunning, high-quality images, all thanks to a 16-megapixel sensor and powerful DIGIC 4 image processor.

This zoom capability is definitely one that stands head and shoulders above the rest for a camera in its class, and to help you capture better shots without having to know the nitty gritty of photography, there is Canon’s Intelligent IS system that delivers rock-steady images and HD video recordings even at full-telephoto zoom. A 3″ LCD display makes it easier and intuitive to select your options while previewing images on the go, and there is the Zoom Framing Assist feature that lets you zoom in and frame subjects quickly and effortlessly.

Expect the new Canon PowerShot SX500 IS to arrive in September for $329.99 a pop.

Nokia phone flies over 100 meters, sets new world record in mobile phone throwing contest

A teenager from Finland has set a new world record in a mobile phone throwing contest a couple of days ago, when he took his old school Nokia handset and sent it flying through the air, cutting the atmosphere and landing exactly 101.46 meters from the spot where it was “launched”. This is an annual contest that is equally quirky as other events such as wife-carrying which was held during the summer. The normally reserved Finns have this quirky tendency to celebrate the warmer weather and rising temperatures with an equal amount of silliness and outdoor activity.

The Finnish teen, Ere Karjalainen, edged out approximately 50 other contestants, with some of them having made the trek all the way from from England and India. The thing is, Ere achieved this new world record by practicing only once, and the only major preparations made were mainly “by drinking”. Take into account the javelin throw that won the gold medal at the recently concluded Olympics in London by nearly 17 meters, and you’ve got quite an interesting story to talk about. Granted, the amount of skill for both events are totally different, but it is just for comparison’s sake.

By the way, I am quite sure that the Nokia handset, if it was working before the throw, would fire up and away in no time after hitting the ground – especially if it is the classic Nokia 3310.

Samsung and Apple both destroyed evidence, Judge said

While we wait for the outcome of today’s purported talk between Apple CEO Tim Cook and Samsung’s Kwon Oh Hyun, we are also hearing an update that could increase the South Korean behemoth’s chances of getting a verdict that it can live with. According to FOSS Patents, presiding Judge Lucy Koh has just overruled Magistrate Judge Paul Grewal’s previous ruling that Samsung be given an adverse inference jury instruction for deleting emails as vital evidence to the case. Judge Koh has reportedly applied the adverse inference instruction to both dueling parties. In layman’s terms, this would mean that the court will be telling the jury the same thing about both companies and that the jury will not consider Samsung less trustworthy than Apple.

Here’s what the court intends to say about Samsung:

Samsung Electronics Company has failed to preserve evidence for Apple’s use in this litigation after Samsung Electronics Company’s duty to preserve arose. Whether this fact is important to you in reaching a verdict in this case is for you to decide.

And the same thing about Apple:

Apple has failed to preserve evidence for Samsung’s use in this litigation after Apple’s duty to preserve arose. Whether this fact is important to you in reaching a verdict in this case is for you to decide.

Google Voice Search updated with support for 13 new languages

Android users, if English is not your first language or if you have an accent that Google Voice Search does not seem to be able to grasp, you might be interested to learn that Google has officially updated their Voice Search feature on Android devices, adding an additional 13 languages to the mix which also brings the total amount of languages supported to 42! These 13 new languages include Basque, Bulgarian, Catalan, European Portuguese, Finnish, Galician, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Romanian, Serbian, Slovak and Swedish. According to the official Android blog, the update has begun to roll out and you should be notified over the course of the next week. However if you’d rather not wait, you can head on over to the Google Play store to update or install the app manually.

eBay to ban the sales of “advice, spells, curses, hexing, etc.” starting from September

Given that you can auction off just about anything on eBay, there have been some rather odd postings in the past. However it looks like eBay will soon be clamping down on them and beginning in September, the online auction website will be banning “advice, spells, curses, hexing, conjuring, magic, prayers, blessing services, magic potions, [and] healing sessions,” as part of its updated policy. They will also be removing category listings for psychic readings and tarot card sessions.

While we’re not sure how many people actually surf on over to eBay to search for magic spells and whatnot, we guess that given that these practices do occur in real life and there are shops dedicated to the occult, it was only natural that it would eventually make its way onto eBay as well. In any case this move by eBay is part of their “multi-year effort…to build trust in the marketplace and support sellers,” at least according to theirblog. So if you were planning on getting your spells, potions and magical goodies via eBay, you might have to start looking for a new source!

Black Samsung Galaxy S3 to launch in October with 64GB memory

Word on the street has it that the black colored version of the Samsung Galaxy S3 is headed for the US market this coming October, and even better news is the amount of storage space that comes with this ebony colored model – we are talking about a whopping 64GB of storage space, now how about that? This bit of information came about from UK phone retailer Clove, who claims to have additional details concerning yet another hardware revision. In fact, the good people at Phandroid did check out a landing page that Clove specially created just for the spanking new black Galaxy S3.

Well, good things always come to those who wait, and Samsung Galaxy S3 fans do remember that they did hear about a 64GB model of the Galaxy S3 at the London launch event that happened earlier this year, but since then, everything has pretty much remained on the quiet front, leading some to believe that it might not materialize anyways. I guess that is an unnecessary worry after all.

Mosquito Buster app

“There’s an app for that,” or so the mantra goes in the Apple ecosystem, but what about those of us rocking to the Android platform from Google? Well, check out this particular app known as the Mosquito Buster, where it claims to repel mosquitoes from being around you through the simple act of emitting a high-frequency sound wave that mosquitoes dislike. I am not quite sure just how effective this particular app will be, but the folks over atTABROID were the ones who brought our attention to this particular app, and they tested it during the late afternoon by setting off into rice paddy fields then, looking for the ideal spot where there are plenty of these natural blood suckers around.

The staff at TABROID who spent their afternoon in a mosquito infested paddy field claimed not to have gotten bitten – not even once, thanks to the app running on their smartphone. Apart from that, this app will come with a “kid busting mode” and a “mouse/rat busting mode” that touts to emit sounds which can be heard only by younger people and rats. Is there any need for insect repellents during your camping trips in the future? Yes sir, as you need no batteries to slather a generous dose of insect repellent all over your body.

Google adds Smart App Updates to the Play Store

Google has been doing a lot of maintenance to its Play App Store recently. Just this morning, we found out that Google is in the process of adding gift card and wish list support to the Android Play App Store. Today, Google has enabled Smart App updates, which was initially revealed back at Google I/O.

Usually, when one wants to update an application on their Android smartphone, the whole application is downloaded by the Google Play Store, which can take quite a while with the larger apps and if you have a slow connection. Now, Smart Apps only downloads the difference between the two apps allowing both the Google Play Store and the user large amounts of data previously wasted.

For example, the new Instagram app only required me to download 3MB of the 13MB of the actual app. Very useful if you want to download an app update but don’t have access to Wi-Fi where you currently are and don’t want to use up a lot of your data plan. Let us know if you have received the Smart Apps Update feature in the Google Play store yet and what you think of it in the comments section below.

Facebook deletes your deleted photos at last

Facebook, the world’s most popular social network, has finally resolved a long standing issue which enabled photos from users to be stashed away on their servers – sometimes residing there for months on end even after they were deleted from one’s user profile already, with some citing that years would be involved in this case. This has been the case for a fair number of years, where despite the fact that the deleted photos could not be viewed on your profile, it would still be accessible through direct URLs to the image. Nice to know that this particular snafu has finally been resolved.

Facebook did mention to Ars Technica that their most recent photo-storage systems were already in place, enabling such images to no longer take residence in the online realm. To put it in a nutshell, all deleted images from your Facebook account will not be left on the servers for more than 30 days. Facebook spokesperson Frederic Wolens said, “As a result of work on our policies and infrastructure, we have instituted a ‘max-age’ of 30 days for our CDN links. However, in some cases the content will expire on the CDN much more quickly, based on a number of factors.”

Jolla concept device whets your appetite

There is one thing about conceptual devices and ideas that capture your attention – not only are they absolutely fantastic in terms of hardware specifications, bordering on the impossible sometimes, but it does not seem too far fetched, either. The thing is, most of the time, conceptual ideas of hardware tend to go beyond current constraints in the world of physics, but you could say in one sense of the word that our world was built on fantasy, right? After all, who would have thought that men would be able to fly in the sky one day, without using wings made out of wax to boot. What you see above is a conceptual handset from a fan, where it is dubbed the Jolla concept.

The display definitely looks tacked on, while the front facing camera that seems to overlap the top speaker looks out of place. The icons do not line up in a straight line horizontally, but slant upwards in a slight slope. At the bottom left hand corner on the front segment lies a big round button which I believe is the Home button. Do you think that the physical Home button should be made defunct in the future? I would not waste time looking out for this to hit the market though, but it is nice to have wishful thinking once in a while.

The Mobi Lens is a clip-on lens for the iPhone

If you love taking photographs with your iPhone, then accessories like the Olloclip are probably familiar to you. For those who aren’t sure, the Olloclip is basically a lens that iPhone users can attach to their iPhone’s camera to enhance the camera’s abilities. However if you’re looking for a more simple solution that lets you attach a lens without any hassle, then this Kickstarter project dubbed Mobi-Lens might be worth taking a look at. As pictured above, this accessory for the iPhone looks like a clip and that’s basically what it is. It features a lens on each side, one fisheye and the other a macro/wide-angle lens depending on which way you screw it on.

Given it’s clip-on nature, we wouldn’t be surprised if it could work with other devices apart from the iPhone, such as Android phones and tablets although some repositioning might be needed. It’s certainly not the most pretty of designs but it should get the job done. If you’d like to learn more, see some sample photos or pledge a donation, you can head on over to its Kickstarter page for the details!

Tata Motors successfully tests two cars with AirPod technology

With sustainability and clean energy being the buzzwords these days, we guess we aren’t surprised to see that more motor vehicle manufacturers are starting to turn towards alternative forms of energy to power their vehicles. We’ve seen hybrids which uses a combination of electric and fuel motors, electric vehicles which run on electricity alone, and even solar-powered vehicles that use the energy harnessed from the sun to power themselves. Now it seems that Indian auto company Tata Motors has revealed their attempts at a clean energy vehicle by utilizing MDI’s AirPod technology.

This technology was worked on by MDI back in 2007, although its technology was then licensed to Tata and it was only recently that the engine was successfully tested on two Tata cars. For those wondering what the AirPod is, it’s basically a prototype car that utilizes compressed air to power itself. It has the capability of driving at speeds between 45-70kmph. The air used to power the engine can either be pumped in via a charging station, or taken in while driving with the help of an electric motor. It sounds like a good idea but don’t expect to see it on the roads anytime soon as development is expected to be made “over the coming years”. 

Nokia X2 stops bullet, saves a life in Syria

There are plenty of memes going around that feature the classic Nokia 3310 feature phone, where it proved to be one tough cookie. Well, are all Nokias built tough? That remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure – earlier this morning, someone on Facebook reported about an incident that happened in war torn Syria, a country that is going through the bitter struggles of a civil war. It seems that an owner of the Nokia X2 was filming the action that is happening between the rebels and military, where bombs and bullets were let off with wanton abandon.

This did not fail to deter the Nokia X2′s owner who moved closer to the action, and when he was still shooting a video halfway with the Nokia X2 remaining nearly in front of his mouth as his right hand held it, the incident happened. A bullet struck the Nokia X2, but remained stuck in the handset, meaning it stopped the bullet altogether, sacrificing its digital life for its human owner. The image above does seem to indicate otherwise, however. No idea on just how true this is, but it is a heart warming incident to read about where technology saves another life yet again, an old one at that.

Intel rumored to bring wireless charging to their smartphones in 2013

If you like the idea of wireless charging, you might be interested to learn that according to a report from Digitimes, it seems that Intel is interested in bringing the wireless charging feature to their smartphones in 2013. This standard of wireless charging has reportedly been approved by the Wireless Power Consortium as the Qi standard and is expected to draw its source of power from Intel-powered ultrabooks. This coupled with the required software and transmitter is said to be able to charge phones from a distance without having to be placed in a specific position and is also said to consume low power.

As a quick recap, Intel recently released Intel-based smartphones this year. Granted they are a bit late to the Android game what with Qualcomm, NVIDIA and Texas Instruments having already released Android devices, so it will be interesting to see if this wireless charging feature using ultrabooks will be one of the ways for Intel to gain an upperhand. However it should be noted that Digitimes has a hit and miss record when it comes to these rumors, so perhaps taking them with a grain of salt for now might be a good idea.

Medea L.E.D Vodka remains sober in sharing a message through the night

It goes without saying that the more you drink, chances are the poison of your choice will leave you inebriated sooner or later, where your speech starts to slur, you make unintelligible sense of your words, while ensuring that you return home single and available yet again. Well, there is nothing quite like receiving some outside help in the form of the £59.99 Medea L.E.D Vodka that not only holds your favorite brew inside, it will also help display a pre-programmed message that you had set before you went out binge drinking with the rest of your mates, making you look cool even when your mental faculties are all out of whack.

Sporting award-winning distilled Vodka in the bottle, each message is capable of holding up to 255 characters – take that, Twitter! The Medea L.E.D Vodka is capable of storing and displaying half a dozen messages, where each message will be able to run for up to 30 minutes before it is turned off automatically. The built-in battery will offer around 40 hours of continuous battery life, so will the battery run out first – or will you finish drinking all the vodka instead?

Minecraft passes 7 million sales mark on PC

Minecraft is certainly one interesting game that has garnered its fair share of fans over the years across multiple platforms, and the latest bit of positive news which we have heard about Minecraft? It has just passed the 7 million sales mark on the PC, with word from Mojang themselves that the Pocket Edition, too, will be on the receiving end of new features, now how about that? Basically, the gist of this story would be the original PC version of Minecraft having moved more than 7 million copies worldwide, according to Mojang’s Daniel Kaplan over everyone’s favorite micro blogging vehicle, Twitter.

This bit of good news will continue from where we left off last week, touting that the Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition actually sold approximately 17,000 copies each day. In addition, Mojang also detailed Minecraft Pocket Edition 0.3.3, which is now available on the App Store and Google Play where new features will include added skeletons and spiders, the inclusion of the bow and arrow, an introduction to bone meal and flint, with the ability for mobs to drop items, while torches can now be placed on fences.

iPhone 5 battery leaked?

We all know by now that the world is soon going to plunge itself into the iPhone 5 mania – or perhaps if Apple were to follow the new iPad’s naming convention, the next generation iPhone could very well be called the “new iPhone” for all we know. Still, there has been plenty of rumors surrounding the upcoming iPhone recently, ranging from the different number of pins in its connector to the display size that is more or less going to be larger – not to mention carry a higher resolution count. Well, today we have a new battery shot which was allegedly leaked out for the iPhone 5, where the grain of salt that you swallow with this bit of news might also result in a higher capacity battery for the new iPhone. It goes without saying though, should the alleged iPhone 5 battery run at 1440mAh, which is higher compared to its predecessor, the iPhone 4S, there is nothing much to shout for joy for considering the larger display size on the new iPhone, in addition to potential battery-draining 4G LTE capabilities.

Perhaps the new iOS 6 will also help the new iPhone (or iPhone 5, whatever rocks your boat) be able to run longer and more efficiently on a 1440mAh battery. There is also the possibility of Apple toying around with their dual-core SoC design for the iPhone 5, which might see the integration of fewer battery-draining components such as Qualcomm’s Gobi chipset.

Demonoid domains up for sale

There was quite a bit of news bytes floating around recently concerning popular BitTorrent site Demonoid which was recently shut down, as the authorities cited that to be a gift to the US. Well, it seems that more developments have happened since then, where a trio of Demonoid domains have gone up for sale, just a couple of weeks after it was taken down in a coordinated, concerted effort. The site is based in Ukraine, and a trio of its domains – demonoid.me, demonoid.com, and demonoid.ph, can now be purchased on domain marketplace Sedo.

According to Jeremy Banks, director of anti-piracy for the IFPI, “Demonoid was a leading global player in digital music piracy which acted as unfair competition to the more than 500 licensed digital music services that offer great value music to consumers while respecting the rights of artists, songwriters and record companies. The operation to close Demonoid was a great example of international cooperation to tackle a service that was facilitating the illegal distribution of music on a vast scale.”

It remains to be seen whether international hacking group Anonymous will make good on their promise to rain down a torrent of pain on the Ukrainian government for being part of Demonoid’s closure, while touting that they will use “any means necessary” to restore Demonoid.

Nokia poll shows QWERTY smartphones are popular outside the US

Nokia Conversations, the official blog of Nokia, recently ran a poll asking Nokia fans around the world about their favorite input method on a mobile phone. The survey included four options – number keypad, QWERTY keyboard, touchscreen, and voice commands. Interestingly, the results revealed that a huge 48.64 percent still prefer the old QWERTY keyboard. Those who opted for touchscreens followed in with 34.69 percent, and a small number of users who preferred number keypads and voice commands as their favorite input method came in last with 8.91 percent and 7.75 percent respectively.

Nokia also broke down the results of the survey country by country and it showed that European countries such as the U.K., Germany, Sweden, and Finland mostly voted for QWERTY keyboard and that the majority of the users in the U.S. have opted for the touchscreen. The results of the poll in the U.S. are as follow – 47.22 percent touchscreen, 33.33 percent QWERTY, 12.5 percent voice command, and 6.94 percent number keypad. It’s important to note that the survey was conducted by Nokia. Had it been that Samsung and Apple conducted the same poll, the results will most probably be entirely different.

Silent Falcon solar-powered UAV gets launched

Silent Falcon UAS Technologies officially announced the Silent Falcon solar electric unmanned aerial system (UAS) at the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) conference in Las Vegas early this week. Silent Falcon is the result of the company’s collaboration with Bye Aerospace to build a small tactical UAS that’s portable for long-range intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions. The Silent Falcon uses thin film photo voltaic (TFPV) solar energy collection and lithium polymer batteries for energy storage, providing long-range flight endurance of up to 14 hours.

During night time, however, the solar-powered UAV can only fly up to six hours running on battery power. The Silent Falcon has a top speed of 112 km/h with an operational flying altitude from 100 feet. Other notable features include an electro-optical, infrared and laser pointer sensor, a silent and highly efficient propulsion system, a lightweight carbon fiber composite structure, and three interchangeable wing sizes to easily adapt to mission endurance requirements. The Silent Falcon is still in its preproduction phase, but the company says that it will be entering production sometime next year.

“After over two years of development, we are excited to bring this extraordinary sUAS to market. We believe we have introduced truly disruptive technological innovation to the sUAS market, and are proud to introduce Silent Falcon, the UAS that embodies the latest aerospace, electronic and sensor technologies to enable it to fly silent, fly longer and see more,” said John Brown, CEO of Silent Falcon UAS Technologies.

Will Microsoft’s Surface tablet live up to the hype?

It’s not everyday that you see a positive headline about Microsoft from the tech industry. But when Microsoft revealed its long rumored about tablet, the Surface, tech analysts and industry reporters were quick to praise it as device worthy of the software giant. That’s good news for consumers, because there could certainly stand to be a little variety in the tablet market beyond the iPad and the Android offerings.

There are a lot of unknowns concerning the Surface. There’s no set release date yet and Microsoft is mum on some of the Surface’s specs, and it’s not entirely clear how much the tablet will cost. But there is plenty to learn about the Surface right now, so let’s take a closer look at this new tablet.

The specs (so far)

Microsoft will release two versions of its tablet, the Surface and the Surface Pro. We don’t know everything about the difference between the two Surface models thus far, but it appears that the Surface Pro model will act more as an ultrabook while the Surface looks like a standard tablet. From what I can tell, it seems like the Surface Pro will be marketed towards businesspeople while the Surface will be meant for college students and tech savvy consumers.

For the specs inside the tablet, this is what we know. The Surface will come with 32GB minimum of storage capacity with the potential to scale up to 64GB. The Surface Pro will also start at 32GB of storage, but can go up to 128GB. As far as processing power goes, we know that the Surface Pro will pack a Intel Core i5 processor (think Ultrabook) while the Surface boasts a new NVidia Tegra 3 processor. Surface will come equipped with Windows 8 RT operating system, while Surface Pro will come with Windows 8 Pro. Again, keep in mind that the Pro model will be more like a mini laptop than a tablet, hence the amped specs.

Both the Surface and the Surface Pro will have a 10.6 inch display size, bigger than both the iPad and any Android tablet out today. That impressive screen
size will come at a cost in weight: the Surface will weigh 1.49 pounds, while the Surface Pro clocks in at a whopping 1.99 pounds. The Surface will be just about as thick as the iPad at 0.36inches while the Surface Pro will be much beefier at 0.53inches, making it one of the thickest tablet on the market.

The perks

There’s a lot to like about the Surface tablet. The Surface model will run Windows RT, the new Windows 8 operating system designed specially for
tablets. Windows RT will feature the Metro interface, allowing users to control apps, tools, and various functions through the management of easy to understand graphic tiles. Users will be able to download apps and services through Metro in an experience unlike on any other tablet (at least, according to Microsoft). For example, you’ll be able to run two apps side by side on a Surface tablet.

The Surface Pro, on the other hand, will run the actual Windows 8 operating system, not the RT tablet version. That means that using a Surface Pro should be equivalent to running a state of the art PC powered with Windows 8.

One of my favorite perks about the Surface tablet so far is the dustcover that comes with it. Unlike the cover for other tablets, the Suface’s cover doubles as an extremely thin rubber keyboard that attaches to the tablet via a magnetic edge. This simple but genius design from Microsoft comes as a big surprise to tech analysts. The keyboard cover completes the Surface package, making it seem like a cross between a tablet and a laptop, ideal for either situation depending on your need.

The next big thing in tablets?

To be sure, we don’t know nearly enough about the Surface to predict its impact on the tablet market. While the Surface Pro model looks like it will cost as much as a laptop with its impressive specs, I think it’s a safe to assume that the standard Surface was built to compete with the iPad and Android tablets. The question remains whether or not college students, business people, or even the average consumer will show interest in them. We’ll just have to wait for the release.