Amazon Prime has always been a pretty incredible deal, and it just keeps getting better. As of today, Amazon is giving all subscribers unlimited photo storage at no extra cost with a new cloud-based backup service called Prime Photos.
Google’s been hard at work overhauling all of its apps for Android 5.0 Lollipop, and we’ve already seen the fruits of its labor inside the latest versions of Gmail, Google+, and Google Play. The next big update will be for the search giant’s Calendar app, and it will deliver a gorgeous new look and awesome new features.
Google’s co-founder Larry Page partook in a wide-ranging interview with the Financial Times, published Friday. Among other topics, he talks about Google’s oppository approach to business compared to Apple — epitomized by a story about Steve Jobs.
“He would always tell me, You’re doing too much stuff,” Page says. “I’d be like, You’re not doing enough stuff.”
BlackBerry is rolling out a number of new features for BBM that give you greater control over the content and messages you share with friends. In addition to Snapchat-inspired self-destructing messages, the release also brings the ability to retract messages you wish you hadn’t sent.
If dressing up as a ghost and going to a party doesn’t quite give you the fright you were hoping for on Halloween, how about staying in and scaring yourself silly with some of the most terrifying games you’ll ever play? We’ve picked out eight classic horrors that are guaranteed to give your the creeps, whether you’re playing on console, PC or smartphone.
So, turn off the lights, wrap yourself in your favorite blanky, and tell your neighbors to ignore your screams.
Andy Rubin, co-founder and former head of Android, has left Google to start up a hardware incubator dedicated to building robots.
Rubin helped establish Android as the world’s most widely-used mobile operating system after it was bought by Google in 2005, before switching to run Google’s robotics business last year.
Reports about a Microsoft wearable device have been circulating for a while, and now the good folks from Redmond, WA have finally made it official: a Microsoft fitness band is here, and it works on both Android and iOS.
Like the Apple Watch and Galaxy Gear, the appropriately-named Microsoft Band tracks steps and heart rate, as well as showing you phone notifications in the form of text, email, and Twitter alerts.
“It’s the most advanced band we’ve seen in terms of technology on the wrist,” Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President of Devices and Services told The Verge. “[I]t’s really designed to do two things: have people live healthier, and be more productive, by having a band that can serve on the opposite side of your watch, worn 24 hours a day, and get some of the most accurate data that you can possibly get.”
That’s not the end of Microsoft’s fitness-tracking ambitions, though.
The iPhone 6 is obliterating Samsung’s Note 4 in sales, and could even outsell it 10x according to a Korean analyst.
In a note to clients, Shinhan Investment’s Kim Young-chan wrote that the iPhone “will outsell the Galaxy Note 4 by tenfold, with 80 million units shipped worldwide in the October-December period.” Young-chan adds that, “Other market watchers also are expressing doubts about the performance of Korean tech giants.”
By far the biggest downside of the modern smartwatch is their lousy battery life. If you’re lucky, you’ll get around two days of use in between charges from an Android Wear device, but the vast majority require top-ups every night. There is one, however, that promises to last a week, thanks to its clever use of not one but two displays.
Android has yet again increased its lead in U.S. market share as its rivals give up precious points, according to the latest data from Kantar WorldPanel. Google’s popular platform now commands an impressive 61.8 percent share of the smartphone market, which is close to double the 32.6 percent now held by iOS.
WhatsApp, one of the most popular messaging services on mobile, has long had plans to step up its assault against the likes of Skype and Viber with a free voice calling feature that was initially promised for the second quarter of 2014. Now the company’s CEO has confirmed that the launch is planned for early 2015 instead.
Hugo Barra, the man who once ran Google’s Android division, seems to have more of an interest in the smartphones its rivals are making these days. Speaking at WSJD Live, Barra called Apple’s new iPhone 6 “the most beautiful smartphone ever built” — but he doesn’t think its design language is totally unique.
Samsung could be understood for questioning the brand loyalty of its South Korean fans: iPhone 6 and 6 Plus have reportedly racked up a massive 100,000 preorders since going on sale in the country Friday. That’s more than three times the number of South Korean preorders for Samsung’s Galaxy Note 4.
Just like one of The Avengers — where bickering superheroes team up to fight a far more oppressive evil — Apple and Android fans on reddit have united forces to boycott what they see as the unethical blocking of NFC payment systems by a number of different retailers, affecting users of both Apple Pay and Google Wallet.
The reason for this blocking of the NFC service is that the retailers in question — including Gap, Old Navy, 7-Eleven, Sears, Kmart and others — are part of an organization called Merchant Customer Exchange, which uses its own payment system called CurrentC.
Nest has acquired Revolv, the Colarado-based startup which allowed users to control their smart home devices from a single interface using their smartphone.
No price has yet been announced for the purchase, which follows Nest’s $555 million Dropcam purchase back in June, and Nest’s own acquisition by Google for a massive $3.2 billion earlier this year.
If you haven’t already picked up Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto series on Android and iOS, you’re missing out on some of the best console games ever brought to mobile. But now’s your chance to get them super cheap, which GTA 3, Vice City, and San Andreas all reduced to celebrate the latter’s 10th anniversary.
Unlike every other major smartphone company, Apple launches new flagship iPhones just once a year, meaning that whenever a customer buys a new iPhone around release time they can rest safe in the knowledge that their device is going to remain current for a whole twelve months.
Seeing the kind of success Apple has had with this model, Song Mobile has reportedly gone back to the Xerox machine drawing board, and decided to scrap their own twice-yearly policy of refreshing its flagship Xperia phone in favor an Apple-style annual overhaul.
During its earnings call yesterday Amazon gave some clues about just how spectacularly its Fire Phone business is tanking — making it seem one of the worst tech ideas since the RMS Titanic shipped without lifeboats.
How bad are we talking? At the end of its disappointing third-quarter the company still has a massive $83 million worth of unsold inventory sitting around.
It’s now taking a $170 million charge “primarily related to Fire phone inventory valuation and supplier commitment costs.”
Have you ever wished for an app that lets you know exactly who you’ll be sitting next to on a flight — right down to perusing your would-be neighbor’s Facebook profile to see what you have in common?
A new social check-in feature for airline app Quicket lets you choose a seat on an airplane, then immediately check who you’ll be paired with, complete with an optional link to their social media page.
Yes, it’s possibly the year’s creepiest app feature, and one that’s not even trying to hide its reason for existing. Check out this excerpt from its press release:
One of the easiest ways Google could compete with Apple Watch is to make its Android Wear devices compatible with iOS. Some say it’ll never happen, but according to Android Wear product manager Jeff Chang, support for other platforms is something the search giant is “very interested in.”
Pebble has finally begun teasing its next smartwatch ahead of an official unveiling next year, and according to Pebble evangelist Myriam Joire, it’s going to deliver “more everything.” It won’t only be prettier than its predecessors, but thinner, too — and it’ll offer a whole new level of customization.
Spotify is finally allowing music lovers to share their subscriptions with their family and friends with a new Spotify Family plan. Prices starts at just $14.99 a month for up to two, while the top tier $29.99 a month plan allows one subscription to be shared with up to five people.
Having previously taken a crack at the smartwatch market with its now-discontinued SPOT technology, Microsoft is looking to get back into the wearables space according to a report from Forbes, citing anonymous sources.
The watch will apparently be launched in the next few weeks and will work across a variety of platforms, which makes perfect sense since Windows Phone is a distant third compared to Android and iPhone handsets.
Its timing is an effort to capture the potentially-lucrative holiday market.
Apple’s latest iPhones have been shipping for a few weeks now, but many have been waiting for Google to show its hand before deciding what will be their new smartphone for the next two years. So how does the new Nexus 6 compare to the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, and more importantly, which is most worthy of your hard-earned cash?
Our in-depth comparison below will help you decide.
With Apple and Google announcing new tablets this week, shopping for a new slate just got a lot more interesting. But how do you choose between the Nexus 9 and Apple’s new iPads? They all have the latest and greatest software and specifications, but they’re vasty different in a few key areas.
Our in-depth comparison below will help you choose which device is right for you.
