BARCELONA, MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS – It’s not all suits, bad coffee breath and identikit Android handsets at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Oh no. The world’s biggest mobile device conference also packs in plenty of cultural insensitivity, corporate dorkspeak, and this writer joining a Japanese pop group. Take a look at our wonderful gallery of today, in pictures.

Didn’t get that remote-controlled helicopter on your wish list this past holiday season? Well, this Cult of Mac Deals offer has got you covered. The Sub-Zero Chopper is the adult version of remote control fun and from Extreme Fliers – the leading brand of remote-controlled toys – you really can’t go wrong.

For only $29 (that doesn’t include cost of shipping) you can let that inner-child live on forever. Simply put, if you’re looking to add a fun little gadget to your life, the Sub-Zero Helicopter is it.

You can get so accustomed to swiping to unlock your iPhone and iPad, that by comparison, clicking to awaken your dozing MacBook seems so… unceremonious. Now SquidMelon brings password-protected “Swipe to Unlock” to the Mac with a new app, Lock Screen Plus.

Over the last few years, we’ve seen a ton of really stupid and really expensive iPhone cases. The worst part about the expensive ones is that they’re not that great at protecting your iPhone, and this latest case for the 1% is no different.

Meet the Haven case by Brikk. It’s not even a case really. It’s more like the bumpers Apple made for the iPhone 4. Except the Haven is made out of solid gold or platinum and will only cost you $11,610 for the cheapest model.

It’s not every day that a Mac accessory comes along and promises to give you superpowers, but that’s just what Thalmic Labs is promising with their innovative new armband today. Called the MYO, it’s a Bluetooth-enabled device that allows you to control your Mac, just by flexing your muscles.

BARCELONA, MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS – Would you believe me if I told you I’m writing this post from underwater? No? Well, you win, you clever thing you, because I’m totally not. Instead, I’m perched on an ass-numbing stool in the Mobile World Congress press lounge.

But my iPad mini could totally be underwater right now, and it wouldn’t even know. Why? Because it’s sealed inside a watertight gadget bag from LokSak.

Apple and Samsung have been exchanging blows with each other in the Australian courtroom for the past two years. Neither side has emerged as a clear favorite to win, but the case is already breaking records.

Because of the enormity of the case, Australia’s Federal Court has appointed two judges to hear the case together. It’s the first time Australia’s Federal Court has ever needed to have two judges hear a case together.

BARCELONA, MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS – Unless you love the cramped, sweaty quarters of a netbook keyboard, I’d advise you to stay away from the Logitech Ultra Thin keyboard case for the iPad mini. It looks great, and as a keyboard, it makes and excellent case.

But as soon as you try to type on it you’ll wish you’d saved your $100.

If you’ve ever heard a snatch of a song in a bar and found yourself tormented for not knowing who it was by, you should probably know about Shazam, an awesome iOS app that analyzes music around you and tells you who the heck it’s by and how to buy it.

Are you one of the 300 million users who already knows about Shazam? Great! Shazam’s just announced some mean new updates to its iPad app, including much faster tagging with automatic resubmissions, better sharing features and Shazam Friends interactions, a revamped home screen, and more.

For his girlfriend’s birthday, Alex and some of her friends all chipped in to get her a new MacBook Pro with Retina Display.

The finishing touch, though? The piece de resistance, as it were? A brilliant custom birthday card that apes the style of an official Apple product announcement.

That’s a hell of a gift, with a hell of a personal touch. Alex’s girlfriend better marry that guy.

Via: Reddit

Jake Marsh is the designer of the stunning, minimalist iOS weather app, Conditions, which costs just $0.99 on the App Store. But because some people are so lame that they would rather go through the trouble of pirating a good app that they like than give the developer a buck for it, Jake decided to program a special ‘Pirate Mode’ into Conditions, in which users who pirate the app always get a weather report of 666 degrees in which fire and brimstone literally hails down upon them.

The prevailing conditions? “ARRRmageddon.” Absolute genius.

Via: Twitter

If you were expecting Samsung to unveil the Galaxy S4 at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week, prepare to be disappointed: Samsung has instead sent out invitations to a press event in New York on March 14, where they will debut their much-anticipated (and iPhone 5 challenging) new smartphone.

As email continues to be fairly ubiquitous, especially in business settings, there’s a ton of information floating around in your Mail app that may or may not be useful to you to save and archive. Mail hides a lot of the complexity of email, and as such, it can be less than intuitive to grab all the info you might need from a given email, like headers, message text, the subject, sender, and recipients’ information, and so on.

If you want to save the info from your emails, Mail Clips just might be the answer for you, especially if you use Apple’s built-in Mail app in OS X, as it integrates right there.

In an attempt to go head-to-head with the likes of iMessage and BBM in emerging markets, social network Facebook has just announced that it will be allowing users of its Messenger app to send messages at free or heavily discounted data rates.

BARCELONA, MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS – The iPad mini weighs just 308 grams. The NEC Medias Tab weighs even less: 249 grams (forgive me for not converting to ounces, but this is 2013).

And yet despite this relatively big difference, the Tab doesn’t really feel much lighter.

BARCELONA, MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS – Good news for iPod touch-owning photography fans. Well, apart from the great camera Apple finally put in your 5G device. Now you can also get in on the add-on lens action iPhoneographers have been enjoying for so long. Behold: the Olloclip for the iPod Touch.

BARCELONA, MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS -Mobile World Congress 2013 is now underway here in Barcelona, and there’s one device we couldn’t wait to get our hands on: the Galaxy Note 8.0 — Samsung’s answer to the iPad mini. In addition to its 8-inch display, the device boasts a 1.6GHz quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, and of course, the Note’s trademark S Pen.

But can it give the iPad mini a run for its money?

As the company is known to do during high profile TV events, Apple aired a new ad during tonight’s Academy Awards. The ad was appropriately themed for filmmakers. Various iPad apps were shown off with the taglines “lights,” “camera,” and “action.”

This ad is very similar to the two iPad TV spots Apple aired last week, “Alive” and “Together.”

Source: YouTube

BARCELONA, MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS – Pssst… don’t tell anyone, but I just saw Mophie’s new Juicepack Air for the iPhone 5. After months of abusive complaints in forum and comment threads the world over, the Air is now finally… almost… available for the slim new iPhone.

BARCELONA, MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS – Zagg, who you surely know better for its excellent iPad keyboards, also makes a speaker. Or two speakers, to be precise. This is the Zagg Origin, and it consists of a pocket-sized Bluetooth speaker which docks into a desktop mothership.

One of the biggest challenges with new businesses is acquiring customers. It can be a nightmare when it comes to getting that first customer to buy something on your site or walk in your doors. But thanks to this offer from Cult of Mac Deals, you won’t need to worry about that anymore.

This interactive, step-by-step guide isn’t simplistic courseware or general sales tips, but a comprehensive, real-world process for implementing a successful customer acquisition strategy. You can apply the key tasks unveiled in this guide to your business strategy and start honing your customer base as early as today. – and you can get what you need to do it for only $18!

BARCELONA, MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS – There mightn’t be anything more telling of the iPhone’s world takeover than this shot of the new Aving mobile video setup.

Anyone who has visited any tech trade-show will have seen the Korean guys in Aving vests hefting huge, shoulder-mounted video rigs and shooting anything and everything (this year at CES Aving put out 1,000 videos).

Now, those rigs have been replaced by the iPhone setup you see above.

While home automation enthusiasts have been enjoying home automation for years, the vast majority of people don’t have it because it has always been far too expensive and complicated.

But, as we know, Moore’s Law cures all. Suddenly, it’s clear that major Silicon Valley companies are now interested in getting into the home automation space.

It’s all the more interesting because this home automation will be developed as part of the so-called “living room” experience, where every home will have a server that controls not only the all-important DVR recording of Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, but also controls the automated sprinkler system, the heating and cooling systems, the home security system and all the lights.

Although there are literally dozens of specialist companies most of us haven’t heard of doing home automation, it’s more likely that the big companies we’re all familiar with will battle for the future of home computing: Microsoft, Apple and Google are the leading contenders.

The Apple iWatch and Google Glass are both coming soon, apparently.

We don’t have all the details on either product. And we can’t even be 100% sure that the Apple wristwatch is going to happen at all. But most knowledgeable tech fans are expecting both and looking forward to seeing, buying and using them.

Excitement is warranted. No, I mean serious, pure geek joy is definitely called for. But not because of the iWatch and Google Glass products themselves.

There’s a much, MUCH bigger reason to be excited. 

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