The rift with Oculus Rift revealed - why Facebook needs a reality check

 


The "good" and "evil" sides of the tech world clashed this week, with the clean-shaven, youthful and extremely popular makers of the Oculus Rift VR headset agreeing to be purchased by the evil, goatee-bearded, dark forces of the hated Facebook mega-empire.
Many toys were thrown out of prams and as we see every week, there's always one joke everyone furiously types out and thinks they're the first with.

The future of facial recognition: big brother or our new best friend?

 

For better or worse facial recognition has become the technological elephant in the room. It's there, but nobody really likes to think about or talk about too much.
Despite the continued advancements of software and algorithms that would elicit gasps of awe in some of the other tech sectors, the ever-improving ability for machines to put a name to human faces is considered, in most cases, unwelcome.

HTC One (M8): all you need to know

 


  The dust from the announcement of the new HTC One is yet to settle, but even though there's still much more left to be said about HTC's new flagship, we're ready to offer you a curated set of must-read content. If you have even the slightest interest in this new beast of a smartphone, then you should definitely take a look at the articles listed below.

THE ESSENTIALS

HTC’s new flagship smartphone features a number of hardware and software improvements. For example, there's the much-talked-about “Duo” camera (it sports two cameras on its back). It also comes with a 5" display, ann upgraded processor and a more intense metal finish.

BlackBerry "Ontario" handset spotted on benchmark site, quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor in tow

A handset codenamed the BlackBerry "Ontario" was discovered at the Geekbench benchmark site. This could be the high-end device that CEO John Chen said that BlackBerry itself was developing for the U.S. market. The unannounced model is powered by a quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor running at 2.15GHz. No released BlackBerry handset is powered by a quad-core CPU. The device also has 2GB of RAM and has BlackBerry 10.3.0.92 installed.

The beleaguered Canadian handset manufacturer has inked a deal with contract manufacturer Foxconn. The latter will design, manufacture, and warehouse low-end BlackBerry models over a period of five years. BlackBerry will provide the software for the new phones.

Early last month, Chen said that most of BlackBerry's new models would come with a physical QWERTY, something that has been linked to BlackBerry going back to its early days. The new high-end model is expected to feature a physical QWERTY, which should make most BlackBerry faithful happy. We could see this model appear in the second half of the year.

Firmware update for Nokia Lumia 1520 exterminates the bugs

The Nokia Lumia 1520 phablet is currently the highest spec'd phone in the Windows Phone universe. But that doesn't mean that issues can't pop up. Nokia is pushing out a firmware update for the device. The new version for the U.S. is 1028.3534.1347.2001. In Europe, the new version is 1028.3562.1402.00xx. The only item under the changelist is "General fixes and improvements (General performance and usability improvements)".

There are some with the device who believe that the Nokia Lumia 1520 is lacking in the video capture department. Perhaps this update will take care of any problems in that area which might be affecting the way videos are recorded on the handset.

32GB Asus VivoTab Note 8 priced at $329 from the online Microsoft Store

 

 

The Asus VivoTab Note 8 was introduced back at CES. The Wacom digitizer stylus makes this a great device for students and businessmen. That thought is confirmed by the inclusion of Microsoft Office Home and Student edition with the tablet.

The 8 inch screen on the Asus VivoTab Note 8 has a resolution of 1280 x 800, which works out to a rather low 189ppi pixel density. The Asus slate can scream that it has Intel inside. This is in the form of the Atom Z3740 processor. 2GB of RAM is on board, and there is 32GB of native storage available. A microSD slot can also be used to expand storage and the camera on back of the slate is 5MP. Windows 8.1 is pre-installed out of the box.

While in Vegas, Asus announced that the 32GB model would be priced at $299. At the Microsoft Store, the slab is being priced at $329, and there is no word about the 64GB variant. Shipping is free.

Two purported Galaxy S5 models appear on AnTuTu, with radically different specs

The SM-G900R4 US Cellular version of the Galaxy S5 has purportedly made an appearance in the AnTuTu benchmark database in a more or less retail version, seeing that a 1440x2560 pixels display is reported, alongside a 16 MP rear camera.

The processor, however, is the fastest 2.5 GHz Snapdragon 800, not the newest 805, which will be available to enter commercial devices in May or June of this year at the earliest, it seems. The rest of the specs include 3 GB of RAM, 32 GB of internal memory, 2 MP front camera, and Android 4.4.2 on board.

Another version - SM-G900H - appeared in the benchmark database as well, but this one is quite different, carrying a 1080x1920 pixels screen, and a 1.5 GHz octa-core Exynos 5422 processor plus Mali-T628 GPU. This model is rumored to be aimed at the European market predominantly. Besides the different processor and screen resolution, it also carries 2 GB of RAM, instead of 3 GB, and 16 GB of internal memory, instead of 32 GB, like the Quad HD S5. It still sports a 16 MP rear camera, 2 MP frontal, and Android 4.4.2 KitKat.

The upcoming Sony D6503 "Sirius" is more or less clear in terms of the specs upgrade it will receive in comparison to the Z1 - we are eventually getting a larger, 5.2″ display with thankfully an IPS panel, 3 GB of RAM instead of 2 GB  in the Z1, and the latest Android 4.4.2 KitKat with a new Xperia Timescape interface, as well as a larger battery.

We also saw that the 20 MP camera will be capable of 4K video recording, in line with Sony's recent trend to do everything centered around the next video resolution craze. Now more screenshots have appeared from an engineering unit of the device, and they show some new camera modes are in place, too.

Double the battery life of your Xperia Z1 with the new Mugen Power case

Battery cases usually take a while to appear after a phone's introduction, and Mugen Power's new 3000 mAh wrapper for the Sony Xperia Z1 is no exception. The flagship was announced way back in September, but we will be getting Mugen's battery case on February 22nd, though you can place a preorder right now, for the healthy price of $89.50.

The phone's own battery has the same 3000 mAh capacity, so you can effectively double the arguably ho-hum endurance of your Z1, plus Mugen's product will serve as a protective case for it, so you shoot two birds with one pricey stone. 

LG G Pro 2 rumor round-up: here's what we know so far

About a year ago, LG presented its Optimus G Pro to the world – a phablet that found its way to a million pockets not long after its release. It was, without a doubt, a very capable smartphone built for those who didn't find a 5-inch screen large enough for their needs. Now, 12 months later, we're about to meet it's successor – the LG G Pro 2, which is going to be larger, faster, and better in so many ways. How do we know? Well, although the LG G Pro 2 has not been announced officially yet, plenty of rumors have already surfaced on the web, giving us a clearer picture as to what we should be expecting. 

How to put on a screen protector without applying bubbles or dust

Applying a screen protector to your phone or tablet correctly is not for the faint of heart, as the procedure seems to require more patience and steady hands than your average Japanese calligrapher or rice writer. The end result is also often unwieldy, with tilted corners, and bubbles, dust or debris trapped underneath your shiny new screen protector.

To ease the procedure's pains somewhat, alternative methods for putting on your protector exist, that simply involve some masking tape, and a lot less patience than usual, while the end result is much more bubble- and dust-free.

Granted, not everyone cares about screen protection in the days of Gorilla Glass 3, Asahi Dragontrail, or sapphire coatings, but even those are inevitably going to develop scratches - from the miniature to the more significant - which would diminish the resale value of a tablet or a phone. These devices are basically all-screen nowadays, and that's where you look at most of the time spent interacting with your mobile gear, so taking a bit of time to protect your expensive toy's display is utterly warranted. 

Fry's has the Moto G on Verizon prepaid for $89

American electronics retailer Fry's has a nice little deal on the Moto G. Until February 13 (Thursday), the Moto X's mini-me is up for sale at $89 on a Verizon prepaid contract. The offer, however, is limited to one phone per household.

On a regular sale, one will have to pay $10 more for the same offering. While you won't make a saving to truly boast with, that's ten bucks more at your disposal.

With this offer now available, Microsoft's $99 Lumia 520/521 deal from last week finds a compelling match from the Android competition. While the Lumia 520 is a superb budget phone, coupled with a generous one year of Xbox Live Music, the Moto G is, arguably, the more capable device of the two. It features a Snapdragon 400 quad-core CPU, 1GB RAM, 4.5-inch 720p display, and a 5MP rear camera. This is all one needs to get the most of Google Play's vast catalog, bar the latest and most demanding games.