News written by Andre Yoskowitz (August, 2014)

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has sued digital gaming giant Valve for "breach of the Australian Consumer Law for businesses," over Steam's "no-refund" policy.

In the suit, the ACCC alleges that Valve made false representations to consumers, including:

"Consumers were not entitled to a refund for any games sold by Valve via Steam in any circumstances;
Valve had excluded, restricted or modified statutory guarantees and/or warranties that goods would be of acceptable quality;
Valve was not under any obligation to repair, replace or provide a refund for a game where the consumer had not contacted and attempted to resolve the problem with the computer game developer; and the statutory consumer guarantees did not apply to games sold by Valve."

The regulatory watchdog claims that since Valve does business to Australian consumers (without a physical presence of any kind), the company must still abide by the country's refund practices. Adds the ACCC, "Under Australian Consumer Law, everybody who buys a product or a service has a right to a refund if the product doesn't work. They have a right to a refund, or a repair. Those rights are enshrined in Australian Law, and our allegation is that Valve sought to remove those consumer rights which is a breach of Australian Consumer Law. The fact that they [Valve] are an offshore company doesn't affect the rights for consumers."

Sprint parent SoftBank has announced that the carrier will offer a Sony smartphone for the first time, giving the Japanese giant a nice entry to the U.S. market it has had a hard time making any headway in.

Both companies are struggling, especially Sony which recently announced it would no longer be profitable for the fiscal year. Sprint has been losing subscribers at a rapid rate, and SoftBank has been announcing new partnerships and increased features to boost sales.

Sony Mobile has 2.1 percent global market share for smartphones, and currently only has its smartphones available through T-Mobile US in the U.S., the fourth-largest carrier in the nation.

Moving forward, Sprint will offer the latest Xperia flagship, the Xperia Z3, set for launch in the Winter.

Internally, Apple executives had discussed selling the new iTime smartwatch for $399, a price that would be significantly higher than existing watches.

The watch is expected to be launched at Apple's new product event on September 9th, but will not ship until early next year.

If accurate, the report says pricing has not been finalized and may not be in time for the new product launch on the 9th. Additionally, there are expected to be different models, including some that are priced lower but likely have smaller screens or no built-in 3G.

Apple is looking to redefine the fitness wearable genre that is currently dominated by Fitbit and Jawbone, and the fledgling smartwatch industry.

IDC expects the wearable computing market to triple this year, to 19 million units in 2014. An Apple entry would almost certainly increase those figures moving forward.

After being shutdown in the U.S. (and pretty much everywhere) back in February 2013, Microsoft left its iconic MSN Messenger instant messaging service available in mainland China.

Now after 15 years, Microsoft will truly ending the service, announcing closure in China, as well.

In China, local partner TOM ran the messaging service, not Microsoft, but they have decided to shut it down, effective October 31st.

As they were in the U.S., users of the service in China are being migrated to Skype, and Microsoft is offering free calling credit. It is unclear how many were still using the instant messaging service, but the numbers paled in comparison to others like WeChat, which has over 450 million monthly active users.

Samsung has announced that its new Gear S smartwatch will come with Nike+ pre-installed, marking the first time a third-party watch has come with the running and fitness app.

The Gear S features a 2-inch curved screen with 360x480 resolution and a built-in 3G modem, allowing you to make phone calls without a synced device.

On the software side, the Tizen OS comes with a few goodies. Real-time map navigation is provided by Nokia (HERE) and the awesome Spritz speed reading software is built-in as well. Powered by a dual-core 1GHz processor and 512MB RAM, Samsung says the 300mAh battery should give you two days of usage per charge. Just like the newly announced G Watch R, the Gear S has a compass, accelermometer, gyroscope, barometer and heart rate monitor. It is also IP67 dust and water resistant.

The Nike+ app will give you feedback while running or display your NikeFuel stats.

The team behind Popcorn Time has revealed that the app is headed to iOS this weekend.

The "Netflix of Piracy" is already available for Windows, Mac and Android and is popular across the board.

iOS owners will be able to use the app to stream pirated films in up to 1080p via Apple AirPlay or the Google Chromecast.

It will be interesting to see how Popcorn Time becomes available for iOS, given that Apple will absolutely not allow the app into the App Store. There is a theory that the team can use Enterprise certificates, used normally for proprietary in-house iOS apps. This has allowed other questionable apps, like GBA4iOS in, but you have to trick iOS by turning the date and time back on your device to install it.

Source:
iPhoned

Thanks to the most recent monthly data from ad network AdDuplex, we have a better look at fragmentation within the Windows Phone ecosystem, and how quickly Windows Phone 8.1 is taking over.

The ad network takes data from nearly 4500 apps, and can give stats on usage break downs.

Windows Phone 8 remains in the lead at 56.5 percent share, followed by Windows Phone 8.1 at 24.4 percent and somehow, Window Phone 7.x at 19.2 percent, despite being discontinued a long time ago.

Unsurprisingly, Nokia is the entire Windows Phone market, with 95 percent share. HTC is the only other company that even truly registers, at 3.3 percent. Huawei clocked in at 0.7 percent but that number will disappear now that the company has decided to stop developing phones for the OS.

According to a new report, custom Android ROM maker CyanogenMod could be getting some notable attention from some of the bigger names in the industry.

Among the names supposedly interested in partnering with CyanogenMod in the future are Samsung, Amazon, Yahoo and Microsoft.

CyanogenMod, which is not a household name, builds custom ROMs for stock Android that include extra power user features and fast speeds. Last year, the company went from a group of developers to a real company, taking in a $30 million investment from venture capital firms. The company will reportedly raise more via a "Series C" funding round, and many of the aforementioned names could be interested in investing, as well.

The operating system maker is said to have over 10 million active installs on tablets and smartphones.

While Microsoft will likely not want to partner for hardware, perhaps it wants to get Bing on the operating system.

2K Games' popular FPS BioShock is now available for iOS, over seven years after launching for PC and console and critical acclaim.

The game is now in full touchscreen (with worse graphics than its older brother), or you can pair a Bluetooth controller if you prefer.

2K says the game is only compatible with newer iOS devices, namely the iPad Air, iPad Mini with Retina, iPad 4, iPhone 5S, iPhone 5C, and iPhone 5.

The game is available now for $14.99 and already has a perfect rating from many rabid fans.

Try it here.

Earlier this week, Apple sent out invites for their biggest event in years, in which the company will unveil the iPhone 6.

More importantly, many reliable sources say Apple will also reveal their long-awaited wearable device (likely the iTime watch), at the same event.

Despite unveiling it soon, Re/code claims it won't ship until early next year, as Apple works on mass production delays and final software and hardware tweaks.

Regardless, Apple is expected to have their most robust pipeline in years, including two iPhone 6, a watch, iOS 8, HealthKit and a larger iPad.

As is standard, Nintendo has refreshed its handheld line, introducing two new updates to their 3DS console.

The 'new' 3DS and 'new' 3DS LL are slightly larger than their predecessors, and also lighter. Nintendo has also added a new "C-Stick" above the ABXY button that is a small nub of an analog stick and should prove handy for games that allow you to work the camera.

In addition, Nintendo has added new ZR/ZL buttons on top, and the 3DS even has colorful ABXY buttons, a throwback to the old SNES/N64 controllers.

Finally, the company improved the processor to allow for more efficient eShop browsing and downloading, added NFC for figurine integration, and better 3D functionality. Battery life is also improved (albeit slightly).

Available only in Japan, the "new" 3DS will sell for 16,000 yen ($154) and the "new" LL will sell for 18,800 yen ($181) starting on October 11th.

Samsung has continued their official trend of making anything and seeing if someone will buy it, launching the Gear S smartwatch based on their own modified Tizen operating system.

The Gear S features a 2-inch curved screen (see the photo) with 360x480 resolution and a built-in 3G modem, allowing you to make phone calls without a synced device.

On the software side, the Tizen OS comes with a few goodies. Real-time map navigation is provided by Nokia (HERE) and the awesome Spritz speed reading software is built-in as well, although I cannot imagine you would ever need to speed read on a two-inch display on your wrist.

Powered by a dual-core 1GHz processor and 512MB RAM, Samsung says the 300mAh battery should give you two days of usage per charge. Just like the newly announced G Watch R, the Gear S has a compass, accelermometer, gyroscope, barometer and heart rate monitor. It is also IP67 dust and water resistant.

Pricing has not been announced, but the watch will launch in October.

LG's new Android Wear-powered smartwatch is here, the G Watch R.

The company teased the device last week, and quickly launched it today, featuring a round face and a number of new features to separate it from the pack. The launch comes just ahead of Motorola's Moto 360, which is the first smartwatch to have a round display. Motorola is expected to make their watch official on September 4th.

Besides the retro look and round face, the G Watch R will also be water and dust resistant, include a gyroscope and accelerometer for motion, a barometer for temperature, and a heart rate monitor. LG is also including a few fitness related apps in addition to Google's own.

Sadly, there was no word on the specs or pricing, but LG says it will available in the Q4.

There is a new king of the comic book world, with a mint condition 1938 Action Comics No. 1 (Superman's debut) selling for $3.207 million on eBay.

The former champ was also an Action Comics No. 1, which sold for $2.16 million in 2011. The seller, Pristine Comics owner Darren Adams, put the comic up for sale with a minimum bid of $1 million, and any bidder required a pre-qualification.

"It's a historic moment that not only speaks to the greatness of Adams' Action Comics No. 1, but also the overall health of the comic book market," noted Harshen Patel, director of operations for the Certified Guaranty Company. CGC rated the comic 9.0 out of 10, the highest ever for a non-restored copy, due to its white pages and bright colors. "You see it with collectors enjoying record sales, with the performance of Guardians of the Galaxy at the box office, and with the attendance at Wizard World Chicago Comic Con this past week. It's a dynamic time for the comic book industry and its future is very bright."

The book is said to look and feel as if it had just came off the newsstand in 1938, a very impressive feat.

Adams discusses how the comic stayed so perfect, and how he came to own it, here:

Microsoft has slashed the price of its Windows RT-based Surface 2 tablet by $100, dropping it to $349 for the base model.

The year-old tablet is the last device to run Windows RT, and this price cut makes it clear that the company is looking to phase out the unpopular operating system.

Microsoft had put most of their marketing muscle behind the Surface Pro 3, which runs a full Windows 8.1 and includes a stylus and other notable features, leaving its older models to fend for themselves.

At $349, however, the Surface 2 can be a bargain despite its junky OS. The tablet has a 10.6-inch 1080p touchscreen, 2GB RAM, 32GB internal storage, a quad-core Tegra 4 processor, dual cameras, a microSD slot and a full USB 3.0 port.

Flappy Bird developer Dong Nguyen has already updated his sequel game, Swing Copters, to make it a little less hard and "distracting."

The game, which was released a week ago, was maddeningly tough, even more so than Flappy Bird by some accounts, and Nguyen has already pushed an updated for the mobile game that should help gamers out.

With the update, the game will still be tough, but getting a score of just 2 (yes, 2) won't be as impossible as before. The character's movements have been made more subtle, so earlier rounds will be easier.

"Most of people don't find the game entertaining because it was too difficult," Nguyen added. "However, I believe the game is still challenging enough when people want the final medal or compete with their friends."

The game has a few high scorers above 75, but that is likely to go up now with the update.

Mario Kart 8, already the best game in the series and one of the only reasons to get the Wii U, is about to get a little better.

A couple of new DLC packs will add more vehicles, playable characters and new colorways for some existing characters.

Coming in November, the DLC will cost $7.99 each, or $11.99 together, and will add Link (from Zelda), Tanooki Mario, a villager from Animal Crossing, Dry Bowser and Cat Peach, 8 new vehicles and "As a bonus for purchasing both packs -- as a bundle or separately -- you can get eight different-colored Yoshis and eight different-colored Shy Guys that can be used right away."

The game recently just got an update that makes a new Mercedes vehicle available in the game free from the eShop.

Dropbox has announced today a major update for their Dropbox Pro product, including better security and better collaboration tools.

First:

"Simple collaboration is one of the reasons people choose Dropbox Pro, but we've heard you ask for more ways to protect the stuff you share. That's why we're bringing new sharing controls to Dropbox Pro.

Passwords for shared links create an additional layer of security so only people with the password can access your link. Expirations for shared links safeguard your sensitive files by letting you set how long your links stay up. View-only permissions for shared folders let you pick whether recipients can edit or just view files within your shared folder."

Fans of the service have been asking for the extra password layer for some time, and from quick testing, Dropbox has not disappointed.

Second:

"Remote wipe lets you delete your Dropbox files from a lost or stolen device while keeping them safely backed up in Dropbox. For example, if you've ever left your laptop on a plane, you're not just worried about the laptop -- you're worried about the stuff that's on it."

Thanks to a new blog post, we have a few screenshots of the alleged Nexus X built by Motorola.

The pre-order pages were posted and quickly removed from the fnac.com retailer website, showing off the Google reference device and some basic specs.

If accurate, the pages revealed a 5.2-inch display, a 2.7Ghz quad-core Snapdragon 805 SoC, a 13MP camera and Android L (now revealed as Lemon Meringue Pie).

Additionally, the pages only showed a 32GB and 64GB model, so perhaps Google has done away with the more popular (and cheaper) 16GB model. The price tags also seem extra high compared to past Nexus devices, starting at €419.99 (usually a 1-to-1 conversion to USD, so $415 off-contract for 32GB).

Finally, take the report with a large grain of salt, as the source also notes that the fnac site is "very open to hacks and modified pages" so someone could have just been having a little fun. Regardless, we will know by October about the new device, the standard launch window for the reference devices.

According to a new report, Apple is preparing a new, large 12.9-inch iPad for launch next spring.

Much larger than current iPads, which are 7.9 inches or 9.7 inches, the new iPad would compete directly with Samsung's 12.2-inch Pro series and Toshiba's 13-inch Excite line.

Apple's tablets have seen a decline in sales for two straight quarters, worrying analysts that believe that the market for iPads could be close to saturation as consumers stick to their laptops and 5-inch or larger smartphones.

The company is also looking to get into that market, and is expected to launch a 4.7-inch iPhone 6, and potentially a 5.5-inch iPhone 6 phablet next month during their annual launch event.

A 12-inch iPad could be particularly useful for businesses and consumers really love their HD movies but hate watching on tiny screens.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has said this week that HP will be recalling over six million power cords as fire hazards.

The Commission received 29 reports of the LS-15 AC cords melting or charring. There were two claims of minor burns and 13 claims of property damage although all were minor.

LS-15 cords were sold with HP and Compaq notebook and "mini notebook" PCs and also came with docking stations and other accessories.

"Customers should immediately stop using and unplug the recalled power cords and contact Hewlett-Packard to order a free replacement," the Commission said.

The cords were made in China and 5.6 million of those recalled were sold in the U.S. Nearly 500,000 were sold in Canada. The PCs and accessories were all sold between September 2010 through June 2012.

Ever wanted to create cool time lapse videos? Don't have expensive hardware or software or the time to learn how? No problem says Instagram, who has launched their new Hyperlapse app for iOS.

The minimalist app let's you quickly create smoothed out time lapse videos right from your phone, with just two clicks.

After selecting where you want to start, you hit start and begin recording video. For time lapse videos to work the best, you must record at least a few minutes of video (working from fast moving objects are extra cool), and then Hyperlapse allows you to jack up the playback speed by up to 12x when you are done. The final video could be just a few seconds long but show a full sunset or even a full train ride.

Of course, the video can then be run through filters and shared right to Instagram, although the company warns the quality will not translate well to the big screen. There is also no sound recorded, but there are plenty of other apps to add a soundtrack.

Check the examples here:

LG has officially introduced their previously leaked G3 Stylus smartphone, looking to possibly take some phablet customers away from the Galaxy Note in developing nations.

The G3 Stylus has the full 5.5-inch display of the G3 but rather than the high-end QHD resolution, it has a much cheaper and worse qHD IPS (960 x 540). From a design standpoint, the device also has the same "Floating Arc" tapered edges and "metallic skin" as its more expensive brother device. The Stylus model includes a stylus and programs and apps that make use of the digital pen, making it a comfortable device for note taking.

"With its exceptional hardware and exceptional price that can't be beat, the LG G3 Stylus is in a category all by itself," said Dr. Jong-seok Park, president and CEO of the LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company. "The LG G3 Stylus is the perfect tool for consumers who don't want to be bogged down carrying a laptop, tablet and smartphone. It gets things done and lets you have fun while doing without having to compromise on quality, style or user experience."

Among the other specs are a 1.3GHz quad-core processor, 1GB RAM, 8GB internal storage (microSD expandable), 3000mAh removable battery, and 3G (no LTE support), making the device a low to mid-range specced phone.

Chinese smartphone giant Huawei has said they will be discontinuing development of Windows Phone-based smartphones.

Richard Yu, Huawei's consumer business group chief, says the devices are unprofitable and it is hard to convince consumers to adopt the OS. "We have tried using the Windows Phone OS. But it has been difficult to persuade consumers to buy a Windows phone," Yu noted.

Does that mean Huawei will create their own OS or move to the fledgling Tizen? Absolutely not. "We feel Tizen has no chance to be successful. Even for Windows Phone, it's difficult to be successful," Yu said. "We have no plans to build our own OS. It's easy to design a new OS, but the problem is building the ecosystem around it."

Android remains the undisputed king of the smartphone world, controlling over 81 percent share, according to nearly all research firms. Apple controls anywhere between 11-15 percent, depending on the source, and the two operating systems have a ridiculous 96 percent share, leaving Windows Phone with just 3 percent and everyone else with the other percentage point.

In January, we reported that the government-backed Chinese Academy of Sciences, in conjunction with Shanghai Liantong Network Communications Technology, were working on a secure OS for the Chinese market.

It appears now that the homegrown OS could be made available as soon as October.

The operating system will allegedly work on desktops, set-top boxes and mobile devices rivaling Apple, Microsoft and Google. Especially recently, the Chinese government has made issue with Microsoft over the lack of security of their Windows operating system, even blocking Windows 8 and Microsoft Office from government-issued devices.

Ni Guangnan, who heads the alliance, says they hope to launch the OS by October including full app stores and legacy app support. In time, they hope the software will replace desktop OS within 1-2 years and mobile OS within 3-5 years. Certainly, the alliance will have an uphill battle on that front. Android by itself has over 1 billion users, and Microsoft has over 1 billion Windows users. Apple has over 100 million Mac users and near 500 million iOS owners.

LG has announced the launch of the world's first 4K OLED TV, available in 65 and 77-inch models (models 65EC9700 and 77EG9700, respectively).

The OLEDs will have curved panels, use the company's own proprietary Four-Color Pixel WRGB technology and "33 million sub-pixels working to produce the most lifelike colors and infinite contrast ratio." Self-lighting pixels also "guarantee" dark blacks and a lightning fast response rate.

"LG 4K OLED TV is the pinnacle of technological achievement and a new paradigm that will change the dynamics of the next generation TV market," said Hyun-hwoi Ha, president and CEO of LG's Home Entertainment Company. "As the next evolutionary step in display technology, OLED will play a major role in reshaping our industry. I feel confident when I say that 4K OLED is a bona fide game changer."

The TV's "smart" features come via the webOS TV operating system, which LG has been working on since acquiring from HP.

"OLED TVs are expected to overtake LCD in sales within a few years and no company is better prepared for this than LG," added Mr. Ha. "OLED's benefits are obvious. There's no deterioration in picture quality and issues such as image blurring, distortion and color leakage in curved LED units are simply non-existent on curved OLED TVs. 4K OLED TV represents superb value for the consumer in terms of color reproduction, contrast ratio, detail and viewing angles."

Amazon has acquired video game live streaming video service Twitch.tv for $970 million, following an earlier rumor that the company was looking to pay up to one billion.

"Broadcasting and watching gameplay is a global phenomenon and Twitch has built a platform that brings together tens of millions of people who watch billions of minutes of games each month – from The International, to breaking the world record for Mario, to gaming conferences like E3. And, amazingly, Twitch is only three years old," said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com. "Like Twitch, we obsess over customers and like to think differently, and we look forward to learning from them and helping them move even faster to build new services for the gaming community."

Twitch will remain independent but will have Amazon's resources to "bring you an even better Twitch," added Twitch CEO Emmett Shear.

The live streaming company has over 55 million unique visitors and over 15 billion minutes of content published. Twitch is built-in to the Xbox One and the PS4 allowing for easy uploading of game footage right from the console.

Thanks to new leaks, we have a pretty vivid picture of what Google's upcoming unified music subscription service will look and feel like.

If accurate, the new YouTube-based service will be called YouTube Music Key, and Google will rebrand its awfully named Google Play Music All Access to Google Play Music Key to avoid brand confusion.

YouTube Music Key will offer ad-free music through the video site, as well as background/screen-off listening and offline caching and playback. Background listening is a huge, huge deal, since mobile users can save their battery now if they don't necessarily care for the video itself and just want the music (or other audio).

The service will be free for the first month, and then cost $9.99 per month and subscribers will get both YouTube Music Key and Google Play Music Key. Google Play Music All Access currently offers a Spotify-esque catalog of tracks for unlimited listening on desktops or mobile devices.

Making YouTube Music Key a great complement to audio-only streaming services, is the fact that you get ad-free access to officialy concert footage, remixes and covers.

It remains unclear when the services will launch, as Google still needs to negotiate new licensing deals with the major record labels and major indies as well as some popular individuals.

25-year-old Philip Danks of the UK has been sentenced to 33 months in prison after he was convicted of filming "Fast and Furious 6" and being the first person to upload the film to piracy sites in May 2013.

Allegedly, his camera copy of the popular film was downloaded over 700,000, with distributor Universal Pictures claiming that copy cost the studio £2.5 million. In addition to uploading the film, Danks, who went by the online handle "Thecod3r," sold DVD copies for £1.50 each, netting near £1,000 in total.

Danks was arrested six days after uploading the film, after police and Universal Pictures connected very easy dots to find his identity. Searching the Web for any reference to "Thecod3r," they found a comment on a piracy site by "Thecod3r" and also that "Thecod3r" was Danks' handle on the dating site Plenty of Fish.

Even after being caught and arrested, Danks decided to continue being stupid, posting "Seven billion people and I was the first. F*** you Universal Pictures" on his Facebook page.

As expected, the judge gave an extremely harsh sentence to Danks due to his attitude and blatant lack of remorse. "This was bold, arrogant, and cocksure offending. Your approach to the film industry was made clear in the posting you made on Facebook two days after your arrest. I accept the personal profit was modest, but the real seriousness of this case is the loss caused to the film industry as a whole," wrote the judge.

A few documents and lines of code seem to suggest that Android L will get its dessert nickname in due time: Lemon Meringue Pie.

The code shows Android L as "LMP," for example the official preview SDK referencing "lmp-preview-release" and HTC's Wi-Fi certification (the Nexus 8) showing multiple LMP entries, as well.

Of course, Google could still pull an audible and team up with another candy company for a branded effort like Android 4.4 KitKat was.

There had also been rumors that L was short for Lollipop but that seems squashed at this point.

LG, who was the first OEM to introduce an Android Wear-backed smartwatch earlier this year (see our review here), is already preparing a sequel, set for launch at the IFA event next week.

The new device will have a round face and will be a direct competitor to the upcoming Moto 360, which is also set to be officially unveiled at an event in early September.

Dubbed the LG G Watch R, so far all we have is a teaser trailer (below) that shows the round face and some new exciting watchfaces. The device also appears to have a button on the side (probably a "confirm" or a power button), which the original G Watch did not include.

LG will have to compete with more than just the Moto 360 for the holidays, as Asus is said to be launching a cheap square smartwatch at IFA and HTC has been rumored for months to be completing their own watch. Let's also not forget that Samsung has released a few watches already, and Apple has been rumored to be working on the iTime for three years now.

According to a new report, Google received over 1 million takedown notices per day over the last week, for a total of 7.8 million for the week, 10 percent higher than the previous record that was set just one week prior.

When Google first began publishing the amount of DMCA notices it was receiving, it was in the low hundreds for the year, mainly from the same record labels and outfits like the MPAA. That number has grown exponentially over time, and only seems to be getting larger.

While Google's bots are very good at catching what is truly piracy and what is not, the company has confirmed that some links are removed in error whether or not they really have anything infringing.

Millions of these requests are mistakes, abuses or do not include any copyright material so Google disregards them. Of course, plenty really do have pirated material. One thing is clear, 1 million takedown notices per day is just the beginning.

The Sony PlayStation Network remains down thanks to a DDoS attack earlier this morning.

Hacking group 'Lizard Squad' claimed credit for the attack, which has flooded the massive network with data and taken down legitimate services.

Sony says its engineers are working on bringing the services back online but did not confirm the attack.

SoundCloud, the extremely popular streaming site that allows anyone to upload audio, will soon have a business model.

Tracks from major artists have become hits thanks to SoundCloud, as have podcasts and many an up-and-coming DJ. Until now, however, artists nor labels were compensated, which is part of the agreement when uploading audio.

The company recently announced that it now has 175 million monthly listeners, more than double that of Pandora, and over four times the number of Spotify active listeners.

As part of a new licensing deals with entertainment companies, SoundCloud will also start offering advertising. Artists and labels will also be able to collect royalties as part of the deal, making the company "legit" in the eyes of the industry. In the near future, SoundCloud will also offer a paid subscription to skip ads, just like Spotify and Pandora do.

In addition to the new deal, some of the labels and indies are negotiating for equity stakes in the company. In exchange for the stakes, the labels have agreed not to sue SoundCloud for any past copyright infringements, a very big deal for a startup. That being said, the labels have not secured the deals just yet, as it is hard to figure out royalty compensation for many of the tracks, which can include mashups.

According to a pair of leaked documents, Apple may offer a 128GB model iPhone 6 when it launches next month.

So far, Apple has only sold iPhones in 16, 32 and 64 GB iterations. There are 128GB iPads available, but never for the flagship smartphone.

In the documents, it appears Apple will offer 16GB and 64GB iPhone 6 with the flash storage built by Hynix, Nynix, and SanDisk. The 128GB model will be built by Toshiba.

Apple charges $199 on-contract for 16GB models, and adds $100 every time you double up the internal storage. If that model continues, the 128GB capacity should cost $499 off-contract, a hefty investment.

Previous reports had also claimed a 128GB variant, but that it would be reserved for the rumored 5.5-inch iPhone phablet.

Apple has confirmed that a "very small percentage" of iPhone 5s that were sold in the U.S. or China have battery issues and will be replaced.

The batteries "may suddenly experience shorter battery life or need to be charged more frequently."

Reads the company's page on the matter: "Apple has determined that a very small percentage of iPhone 5 devices may suddenly experience shorter battery life or need to be charged more frequently. The affected iPhone 5 devices were sold between September 2012 and January 2013 and fall within a limited serial number range.

If your iPhone 5 is experiencing these symptoms and meets the eligibility requirements noted below, Apple will replace your iPhone 5 battery, free of charge."

Worried your phone may be affected? Check Apple's support page here.

According to Reuters, Apple's suppliers have hit a "snag" in iPhone 6 display production, meaning there could be supply issues at launch next month.

Every year there is some sort of rumor about Apple not having enough phones to feed demand and indeed every year there are some delays especially for more popular colors.

It had been rumored previously that Apple's suppliers were already hit with delays thanks to making the screen thinner on the larger 4.7-inch display, which already pushed production back.

The latest problem relates to the backlighting of the display, which Apple believed was not bright enough.

Apple will launch the new iPhone 6 at a press event on September 9th.

Disney Interactive has announced this week the launch of a new mobile game, "Star Wars: Commander," a freemium game for iOS.

The game is the first from Disney after the giant acquired Lucasfilm for over $4 billion in late 2012.

Reads the description:

In the game, fans will join either the Rebel Alliance or the Galactic Empire to recruit and lead an unstoppable force across the Star Wars galaxy in epic battles to claim ultimate victory for their side.

Star Wars: Commander features the full array of vehicles, weapons and technology from the Star Wars universe. Players who rally to the Rebellion will call upon iconic heroes such as Han Solo, Chewbacca and Princess Leia to support missions for justice and freedom, while leaders of the Imperial forces will command AT-ATs, TIE fighters and Stormtroopers to gain control of the galaxy.

Star Wars: Commander also offers an original Star Wars storyline set within the Galactic Civil War of Episodes IV – VI, where "commanders" determine if it's the Empire's strength and relentlessness or the Rebellion's heroism and resourcefulness that will win the war.

Microsoft has begun testing a "Free Play Day" feature that would allow Xbox One gamers to download games for free and play it for a 24-hour period as a sort of free trial.

Gamers in the U.S. that are part of the Xbox One console beta reported yesterday that 'Max: The Curse of Brotherhood' was made available as a free, unlocked title. It came with the label "Free Play Day with Gold" suggesting that you must be an Xbox Live Gold subscriber to take advantage.

Microsoft said nothing except that an official announcement would be made "shortly," suggesting it was a brand new feature that was not supposed to go live, yet.

Gold subscribers already get two Xbox One titles for free every month from a limited list so it appears that Microsoft is looking to add significant value to its $60-per-year subscription service.

Earlier this month, Sony proudly boasted that the hit PlayStation 4 console had reached 10 million units sold in just 9 months, a record for the company.

While setting records for sales would normally be seen as a huge positive, the sales have left a confused strategy for Sony's head execs, who are now scrambling to figure out the future of the console.

Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios President Shuhei Yoshida confirmed during a recent interview that the company does not know why the console is selling so hotly, and that not knowing could bring their team issues moving forward. For example, if the 10 million sales were all to hardcore gamers, once those run out, the company will have a very hard time predicting future sales as "casual gamers" may not find the PS4 a necessary expense.

Says Yoshida: "As soon as we see a great sales number, our instinct tells us we should be concerned about future sales, right? Are we exhausting all the core gamers? If we sell this number of units, there are no more consumers we can sell to. That's a really terrifying prospect."

Of course, there could be a nice mix of consumers purchasing the PS4, including those that simply want a Blu-ray player/set-top box combo. Sony will have a better grasp as the year continues on.

According to sources, Microsoft will officially unveil Windows 9 'Threshold' on September 30th.

The "tech preview" will be aimed at developers and give an early look at the software.

For Windows 9, Microsoft is rumored to have removed the Charms bar feature, added a new "mini" Start Menu and made other key UI changes that will make the operating system more functional for keyboard and mouse users compared to just touchscreen users. Additionally, Microsoft is said to be building in Cortana, the voice-activated personal assistant.

In conjunction with the tech preview, Microsoft has planned an event where they will overview the new features.

Earlier in the week, Sprint and Sharp announced a new line of smartphones, the Aquos Crystal, which they promised would have designs not seen before.

The first of the line, the 5-inch Aquos Crystal, will sell for just $239 off-contract (a huge discount compared to the $600 iPhone or Galaxy S, for example) and features an edge-to-edge design that has no bezel, a fantastic look for a phone.

To accommodate the display, the phone itself is thicker than current premium devices, and it has a dimpled back similar to the Nexus 7 tablet. The phone has a basically stock Android 4.4.2, a 1.2GHz quad-core processor, 1.5GB RAM, 8GB internal storage (microSD expendable), HD Voice, Wi-Fi Calling, Harmon Kardon speakers (and audio tech) and LTE support including support for Sprint's "faster" Spark network.

Interestingly, Sprint is offering the new "App Pass," a $4.99 monthly subscription service that offers unlimited access to a handful of premium apps including productivity tools and even games.

There is no word on availability of the device.

Smartwatch startup Pebble has made some impressive hires this week, announcing that Itai Vonshak will be their new head of product and UX and Liron Damir will be head of design.

Both executives just worked at LG on the webOS TV operating system and user interface, and previously they designed updates for webOS after HP acquired original creator Palm.

Vonshak says that Pebble wants to "focus heavily on a product-focused philosophy alongside a spirit of openness that's appealing to his webOS roots."

Pebble remains a popular option in the smartwatch market, although Android Wear devices are slowing creeping onto the scene, and Apple's iTime is expected early next year.

Asus has posted a teaser picture for their IFA event on September 3rd in which the company will reveal their rumored smartwatch.

The Android Wear-powered device is rumored to be priced at under $150, making it easily the cheapest of its kind in the market.

Although unconfirmed, the new Asus watch is expected to have specs on par to the LG G Watch and Gear Live, but that sadly includes the poor battery life of those devices, as well, which range from 1-2 days depending on use.

There is not much else known but the teaser seems to show a watch with a curved rectangular face, different than the boxy G Watch and the round Moto 360 watch.

Developer Dong Nguyen is back, following the success and ultimate shut down of 'Flappy Bird,' with a new game for iOS.

Named "Swing Copters," the game is set for release on Thursday and will be completely free (with ads) or purchased for $1 with no ads.

Basically, you take your character and his helicopter hat and fly vertically avoiding hammers. It is said to be as hard as Angry Bird was.

Touch Arcade has had a hands-on with the new game, and here is the video for those that are possibly interested in the game.

According to new reports, LG will be unveiling a new IPS 21:9 Curved UltraWide Monitor at the upcoming IFA 2014 event in Berlin.

The 34-inch monitor has 3440 x 1440 resolution, supports Thunderbolt 2 for high-speed data transfers and as expected allows daisy chaining for multiple devices. In addition, the display has a built-in 7W stereo speaker system.

"Many people spend more time in front of computer monitors than they do in front of TV sets and yet the industry's biggest monitor manufacturers don't seem to innovate at the same pace as TV manufacturers," said Hyoung-sei Park, head of the IT Business Division at LG Electronics' Home Entertainment Company. "At LG, innovation in display technologies isn't just limited to our market-leading TV products but are actively being implemented in our advanced PC monitors. And that's why we're particularly proud to be introducing at IFA the world's first 21:9 Curved UltraWide monitor with a curved IPS display which delivers a wide 178-degree viewing angle for an immersive viewing experience."

IFA 2014 starts on September 5th.

Microsoft and HP have teamed up to take on Chromebooks, launching the HP Stream 14 at just $199, even undercutting most of the Google-backed cloud-based systems.

The 14-inch notebook runs on Windows 8.1, giving it its first advantage over Chromebooks, has a 1366x768 resolution display, 2GB RAM, 32GB internal storage (SDXC slot is available to add up 128GB more) and an AMD A4 Micro-6400T Quadcore SoC clocked at 1GHz. The SoC has an integrated Radeon R3 GPU.

Additionally, the laptop has the standard three USB ports, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, HDMI out and a webcam. The Stream 14 has four speakers, and takes advantage of Beats Audio software.

Since the internal storage may not be enough, Microsoft is throwing in 2 years of 100 GB OneDrive cloud storage for free.

The design isn't too pretty, and the laptop is heavy at 3.9 lbs, but for $199 HP may have a potential hit on their hands.

According to new reports, Apple could be preparing to unveil a new Lightning cable for the iPhone 6 that can be plugged into a USB port with either way up, avoiding user confusion that has existed since the beginning of time.

Apple filed a patent in 2013 that described "reversible or dual orientation USB plug connectors" that can plug into any standard PC and "reduce the potential USB connector damage and user frustration."

Such a design would also be future-proof as long as the computer (or other device) has a full-sized USB port.

SonnyDickson also leaked a photo of the alleged cable:

If you are in your late 20's then you probably spent at least a year of your life collecting, trading and playing Pokémon cards. You will now be able to do so again, with your iPad.

The makers of the Pokémon Trading Card Game have confirmed the game is set for release later this year, although from the screenshots it looks like a port of the PC game that has been available for some time. Regardless, this will be a touch enabled game, and if it is like its PC counterpart, it will allow you to import your physical cards to your digital deck.

It may be time to take out the old binders that are collecting dust.

It looks like Pokémon TCGO is in works for the iPad! Should be a huge way to expand the game. #PlayPokemon pic.twitter.com/SPlx3QZaTC

-- Josh Wittenkeller (@TheJWittz) August 15, 2014

Expected to be officially launched on September 4th, Best Buy has let the cat out of the bag on the upcoming Motorola Moto 360, the highly anticipated Android Wear smartwatch.

According to the retailer's listing, the watch will cost $249.99, more expensive than current Android Wear devices, but less than the rumored $299.99.

The device will have a 1.5-inch backlit round LCD with 320x290 resolution (205ppi) and will be protected by Gorilla Glass 3. The watch is powered by an unspecified Texas Instruments processor, weighs 2.1oz, has 512MB RAM, an ambient light sensor, water resistance up to 1 meter, a pedometer and a heart rate monitor.

The Premier League has confirmed they will be actively shutting down fan videos posted online of goals from League games.

For every game, hundreds of goal Vines and YouTube videos are posted online, and thousands more are expected now that the new season has started this weekend.

Dan Johnson, director of communications at the Premier League, added: "You can understand that fans see something, they can capture it, they can share it, but ultimately it is against the law. It's a breach of copyright and we would discourage fans from doing it, we're developing technologies like gif crawlers, Vine crawlers, working with Twitter to look to curtail this kind of activity."

Understanding that fans will be angry, Johnson added, "I know it sounds as if we're killjoys but we have to protect our intellectual property."

Many major media companies paid hundreds of millions of pounds/euros for exclusive rights to Premier League games, and understandably don't want the same content available for free without them getting a cut.

The developer team behind the messaging app Glyphic have created a new way to easily make GIFs from YouTube videos, creating the site gifyoutube.com.

You don't even have to go to the site to use the service, however, as you can add the word "gif" to theURL, right before the "youtube.com."

For example, "https://www.gifyoutube.com/watch?v=TLzhlsEFcVQ"

Google hasn't officially sanctioned the tool so who knows how long it will last, but it is cool while it exists.

Microsoft's hotly anticipated Docking Station for the Surface Pro 3 tablet is now available in North America.

The Docking Station turns the tablet into a fully-fledged PC, as it can connect to 4K monitors, mouse/keyboard, printers, speakers and more.

Microsoft has included 6 USB ports, 4 of which are 3.0, Gigabit Ethernet and a mini Display Port, as well.

The accessory is available directly through Microsoft or through many retailers.

Although Amazon has not released an updated Kindle Paperwhite this year, the company has confirmed that its recent inventory now has double the internal storage of previous models.

If you purchased a Paperwhite in the last month you will have 4GB of internal storage, compared to 2GB.

By adding more storage but not updating anything else, it appears that Amazon may be holding off an full Kindle Paperwhite hardware refresh this year although there is still plenty of time left. Amazon had been rumored to be building a new Paperwhite with a 300ppi display for clearer text rendering and an overall thinner design.

The extra space may feel good for consumers, but will have little real-world use since most ebooks are 1.3MB or less. Amazon also has free cloud backup of all your ebooks, so really, unless you plan to have thousands of books on your device at one time, 2GB compared to 4GB really means nothing.

Earlier this month, Microsoft announced that it was shutting down its Xbox Entertainment Studios division, after investments for the past few years led to just one original program.

Sources are reporting now that Microsoft has been shopping the studio, and that Warner Bros. has emerged as a potential suitor. If accurate, the reports say Warner would merge XES with its YouTube network Machinima, which currently specializes in gaming-based content.

The talks are in very early stages, and there are no guarantees that the talks move forward to an agreement of any kind.

Although the studio has been shut down, a couple of projects will continue to be developed, including the Steven Spielberg-produced Halo series, the digital "Halo: Nightfall," and the documentary series "Signal to Noise." XES was first launched in 2012, and was run by longtime TV exec Nancy Tellem who came from CBS. The point of the studio was to create exclusive projects for the Xbox 360 (and eventually Xbox One) but only one series ever made it, the newly launched "Every Street United" soccer reality show.

The two teams would be a good fit, especially given XES' pipeline of shows that are almost sure to be hits. Microsoft also worked with Machinima in the past to distribute the Halo 4 digital series last year.

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) has approved IBM's sale of its x86 server business to Chinese PC and smartphone giant Lenovo.

Originally announced in January, the deal saw no progress for months due to national security concerns. The $2.3 billion sale will give Lenovo IBM's x86-based servers, blade networking and maintenance operations.

Chinese regulators approved the deal last month, after similar scrutiny.

The main concerns of the deal is the fact that the servers are used in the data centers of the Pentagon, putting extremely sensitive data in a potentially compromised situation. It appears the worries have been overblown if the deal was approved.

Source:
ZDNet

Microsoft is said to be preparing a "technology preview" of the upcoming Windows "Threshold" (Windows 9) operating system, which will be available to anyone who is interested by the end of the next month.

The operating system itself is expected to launch in full sometime during the spring of next year and will include a scrapping of many unpopular Windows 8 features, including the confusing "Charms Bar." Most importantly, Microsoft will continue to improve on mouse-and-keyboard functionality, taking the OS back to its roots.

Additionally, "Modern/Metro" apps will be able to run on the desktop, virtual desktops will be integrated and the Start Menu will make an honest return. Potentially, Microsoft's voice-support assistant Cortana could be integrated, as well.

Sources say if you install the tech preview, you will have to agree to have monthly updates pushed automatically, which should not be a problem given how Microsoft pushes updates currently.

There have been rumors that Microsoft will make Threshold free to anyone with Windows XP, Vista or 7, in an effort to move them away from the older OS's.

According to new data from IDC, the smartphone market reached a new milestone, with global OEMs shipping 300 million units for the Q2 2014.

Overall, the market saw 25.3 percent growth year-over-year, which was still impressive but smaller than past years as the market reaches saturation.

On the operating system front, there are only two players remaining, with Android and iOS combining for a ridiculous 96.4 percent market share. Android accounted for 84.7 percent of shipments, and 255 million smartphones. The iPhone came in second at 11.7 percent share, good for 35 million units sold for the quarter. Apple's share has mostly peaked but the company remains one of the most profitable on the planet and sales are still very strong for the iPhone in its multiple iterations. Windows Phone dropped, with shipments at 7.4 million and good for 2.5 percent share.

"With many of its OEM partners focusing on the sub-$200 segments, Android has been reaping huge gains within emerging markets," says Ramon Llamas, Research Manager with IDC's Mobile Phone team. "During the second quarter, 58.6% of all Android smartphone shipments worldwide cost less than $200 off contract, making them very attractive compared to other devices. With the recent introduction of Android One, in which Google offers reference designs below $100 to Android OEMs, the proportion of sub-$200 volumes will climb even higher."

Microsoft has built an app that will rival the popular market leading Snapchat, dubbed "WindUp."

WindUp works similarly to SnapChat in that it allows users to send messages and other media to friends and family that destroy themselves in a few seconds.

Sources say Microsoft chose the name as it is made to "'wind up' your friends as they race to see what you've posted." That being said, Microsoft is not known for pushing the boundaries of creativity with their brand names.

Unlike Snapchat, the WindUp app for Windows Phone will not require Locations Services permissions, which should be a relief to those who don't like apps following you.

Try it here.

Sony Music has introduced a new app in the U.S. that will offer deep discounts on music albums from its artists on a daily basis.

One album will be discounted by up to 70 percent every day for 24 hours, with links directly to the iTunes store for downloads.

The label calls the service the "first music flash sales app," and the app will push notifications daily with what album is available including previews and contextual information.

Until recently, the app had been available only in Germany since March, and will rollout past the U.S. in the coming months.

Digital download sales have stagnated of late, as more and more consumers move towards unlimited streaming services including Spotify and Beats.

Motorola has sent out press invites for a launch event on September 4th in which the company will show off a few new products including the hotly-anticipated Moto 360 smartwatch.

The invite promises a "Moto Launch Experience," and the logos seem to reveal a new "X" phone, a new "G" phone, the Moto 360 and potentially a Bluetooth headset or accessory.

As leaked, the new X phone is the X+1, a successor to the company's Moto X, albeit without the same proprietary processor and engine under the hood.

Popular actor Tom Hanks has released a typewriter app for iOS, dubbing the application "Hanx Writer."

The app "recreates the experience of a manual typewriter, but with the ease and speed of an iPad," reads its bio, and iPhone and iPad users appear to love it.

As of writing, the app has 1137 ratings, at 4.5 stars out of 5.

Hanks, who is well known to love writing on old-school typewriters, explains why he built the app, which is really just a cool gimmicky word processor: "I wanted the sound of typing if nothing else... cause I find it's like music that spurs along the creative urge. Bang bang clack-clack-clack puckapuckapuckapucka..."

Try the app here.

Erafone, a large Indonesian retailer, has leaked the specs of the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Note 4.

The company's next phablet will include high-end specs but there was little released about the software or any new features.

Spec sheet (as leaked):

According to a leaked memo, it appears that T-Mobile will be cracking down on unlimited data users who are "abusing" the system and download torrents, warez and from P2P sites.

The carrier currently offers unlimited text, talk and 4G/LTE data (with free tethering/mobile hotspot) for $80 per month. All other data plans already throttle your speed down to 2G/EDGE after you have reached your cap (generally 2.5-5.5GB).

Reads the memo:

"T-mobile has identified customers who are heavy data users and are engaged in peer-to-peer file sharing, and tethering outside of T-Mobile's Terms and Conditions (T&C). This results in a negative data network experience for T-Mobile customers. Beginning August 17, T-Mobile will begin to address customers who are conducting activities outside of T-Mobile's T&Cs."

Among the "abuses" in the T&C are "using the Service in connection with server devices or host computer applications, including continuous Web camera posts or broadcasts, automatic data feeds, automated machine-to-machine connections or peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing applications that are broadcast to multiple servers or recipients, "bots" or similar routines that could disrupt net user groups or email use by others or other applications that denigrate network capacity or functionality."

Lenovo, the world's biggest PC maker, has announced that they now ship more smartphones than PCs, a major milestone for the company.

Additionally, the company claimed it was the top Chinese phone maker during the quarter, although research firms have disputed that data point, instead claiming Xiaomi was the leader in the market.

For the quarter, Lenovo shipped 15.8 million smartphones (up 39 percent year-over-year), versus 14.5 million PCs during the same time frame.

Although on a smaller scale, tablet sales jumped 67 percent to 2.3 million, officially making Lenovo third in that market, well behind Apple and Samsung.

Overall, Lenovo has 19.8 percent of the PC market, ahead of giants like HP and Dell, and saw notebook growth this quarter while the overall market saw a decline.

Samsung has made their highly-anticipated Galaxy Alpha smartphone official, following weeks of rumors and leaks.

The new metal phone has a design similar to the iPhone, and weighs just 4.05 ounces with only 6.7mm thickness.

As leaked, the Galaxy Alpha has a 4.7-inch 720p Super AMOLED display, is powered by a Samsung Exynos octacore processor (Quad 1.8GHz + Quad 1.3GHz) and 2GB RAM. The phone has 32GB of internal storage (with sadly, no microSD slot), a fingerprint sensor, dual 2.1/12MP cameras, and LTE-A support for faster download and upload speeds if your carrier supports it.

At launch the device will run Android 4.4.4 with the company's own TouchWiz UI. Other standard sensors and connectivity options are Wi-Fi 802.11ac, NFC, Bluetooth 4.0, USB 2.0, gyro, geomagnetic, hall, light, proximity, gesture, an accelerometer and HR.

Samsung is launching the device in five colors starting in September rolling out to over 150 countries.

Twitter has announced in a regulatory filing that "up to approximately 8.5%" of its active accounts are completely automated "without any discernible additional user-initiated action."

The social media giant has 271 million active monthly users, so automated accounts are up to 23 million of those.

Among the automatically updated accounts are handles that post directly from third-party apps like dlvr.it, or that post pictures that were shared on Facebook or Instagram, for example, without the user having to go to Twitter at any point.

Unfortunately included in the group are spam accounts, which account for less than 5% of monthly active users, says Twitter.

Real, human-backed active accounts are what advertisers are looking into when judging Twitter's potential, and 8.5 percent of accounts never seeing an ad is a large figure.

According to new reports, a vast majority of the Apple Stores in the U.S. will begin offering iPhones with carrier financing programs later this month.

The iPhones will be available with AT&T Next, Verizon Edge and T-Mobile Jump all of which allow buyers to get the latest device at $0 down (or sometimes more) and then pay a monthly finance charge until the device is paid off or until you move on to the next device.

If accurate, the reports claim Apple will roll out the pilot program on August 20th.

Check the leaked internal slide below, via 9to5Mac:

Microsoft has used Gamescom to confirm details about the previously announced 'Cirrus' white console.

The white color Xbox One will be bundled with the exclusive Sunset Overdrive game for $399.99.

Included with the game are some special "Day One" edition in-game items.

Besides the color and the game, the internals of the machine match the current black color model, and will begin shipping on October 28th.

Following a major update earlier this month, the team behind Popcorn Time has now released beta 0.2.2 for Android (version 2.2), with some minor fixes.

The last update made headlines as it added the ability to watch movies and TV shows with free VPN, improved Chromecast support and made the software available to many more Android devices.

Stability and bug fixes were key to new update:

What changed?

Wrong subtitle bug is fixed- no more trying to watch Portuguese subtitles and getting Hebrew lol ;-)
Some stability issues were solved
We managed to achieve even faster download speed on this one...

CBS CEO Les Moonves has announced this week that the company's CBS Studios division is actively working on original TV series that will be eventually be made available on streaming video services like Amazon Prime and Netflix.

The studio currently sells mainly to CBS' own channels, but it does not have any restrictions on where it can sell programming. Best known for "NCIS," CBS Studios even recently sold the new show "The Club" to rival network ABC.

Moonves did not reveal which companies they were developing for, just to say that "shortly, you're going to hear us being in business with some of the [streaming video services] with original program[s]. We will be producing more and more shows for more and more outlets, including major streaming companies and other emerging distributors."

Demand remains very high for high-quality programming, especially after Netflix paid big money for the now Emmy-winning 'House of Cards' and the extremely popular 'Orange is the New Black.'

CBS Studios has significant capital to invest in original programming, and CBS does not have enough channels or enough prime time slots for all of them. Streaming services have no such limitations.

Today at Gamescom 2014, Sony has announced a new milestone for the PlayStation 4 console: 10 million units sold.

Sony last revealed the amount of units sold back in February, and the figure was an impressive 5.3 million so it appears that demand for the console has not slowed down in the least.

The console has outsold its rivals ever since launch, although Microsoft has made somewhat of a comeback after launching a Kinect-less version of the Xbox One at the same price as the PS4.

Sony's PlayStation 4 is available around the world, starting at $399 USD.

Electronic Arts has taken their EA Access gaming subscription service out of beta and officially launched the product for the Xbox One.

To start, the service is available in Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain, UK, and the US.

The new service will cost $5 per month or $30 per year and give access to downloadable games through "The Vault," a small but growing collection of EA games. At launch, EA Access will have just four games: FIFA 14, Madden NFL 25, Peggle 2, and Battlefield 4, with the promise of more being added in the near future.

In addition to the cheap gaming on older games, EA Access members also get 10 percent off EA games and other content including DLC and free trials of new EA games up to five days before their retail dates.

You can buy passes to EA Access on Amazon and at GameStop.

Microsoft has sent out press invites for an event in which the company will launch a new Lumia Windows Phone.

Expected to be launched is the Lumia 730, described by Microsoft devices head Stephen Elop as the company's new "selfie phone" during an internal meeting.

In the invite, there is a picture of the camera in the lettering and the invite asks press members to "Join us for more face time," once again suggesting the front-facing camera will be key.

So far, if leaked Lumia 730 pictures are to be believed, the phone will have a 5-megapixel front camera, notably larger than most current high-end phones including the Galaxy S5, iPhone 5S and HTC One.

The event is scheduled for September 4th.

Microsoft, through its newly acquired Nokia, is looking to expand their presence to the emerging markets of Asia and Africa, unveiling the new $25 Nokia 130.

The company says the 130 is "an ideal handset for first-time mobile phone buyers, or for people seeking a reliable backup phone to complement their existing smartphones." The device runs on Nokia's own Series 30 OS, not Windows Phone, so the strategy is a bit different for Microsoft than usual.

Available in China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and Vietnam starting in the Q3, Microsoft says it wants a bigger piece of the "estimated" 1 billion people around the globe that do not have a mobile phone, at all. The company also says that over 300 million phones priced under $35 are sold every year.

The phone is available in single or dual-SIM models, has a microSD slot for 32GB of extra video or music, and has a 1.8-inch display (non-touch of course) with a full 9-digit keyboard and a trackpad. Most notably, the phone has 36 days of standby time, at least 10 times higher than most smartphones.

Acer has announced their latest Chrome OS notebook, the Chomebook 13, featuring some killer specs for that type of device.

The device has a 1080p display, one of just three Chromebooks to ever feature Full HD, is powered by a Nvidia Tegra K1 processor, and starts with 2GB RAM and 16GB internal storage. There is also a 4GB, 32GB model available if you are willing to shell out a little more cash.

Acer has moved to an all new design, as well, which is relatively light and thin, at 3.31 pounds at 0.71 inches thick. The notebook is fanless and there are two full sized USB 3.0 ports and a full HDMI port.

Perhaps most notably is the addition of the new quad-core K1 processor, which easily beats up on other Chromebook processors in nearly all benchmark tests. The K1 also includes a fifth "ninja" core to help throttle other cores when not in use, and supports 3D rendering and improved multitasking.

The promised battery life is 11 hours, which would be the best for a Chromebook yet.

Acer's latest is $299 for base and $379 with the increased space and RAM.

Lenovo has unveiled their latest flagship smartphone, the Vibe Z2 Pro.

The phone features a massive 6-inch QHD (2500 x 1600) display (490 ppi), is powered by a Snapdragon 801 processor clocked at 2.5GHz, 3GB RAM and a full metallic premium look. The Pro also has dual-SIM capabilities, and 4G LTE support.

Around back is a 16MP camera with a BSI sensor and OIS that can handle 4K video recording.

If you were worried about battery life, don't fret, it has a 4000mAh battery.

The Z2 Pro goes on sale in September at a yet unknown price.

Source:
PhoneArena

The team over at Popcorn Time has released the latest Android beta of the software, including some sure to be well-accepted features like free VPN.

Reads the latest post:

"Beta 2.1 is out and now you all can watch movies and TV shows with free VPN sponsored by Kebrum.com!!! Awesomeness.

Get it at: http://www.popcorn-time.se

What else is new on 2.1?

Support for Android 4.0 and above
Improved, faster download speed!!!
Support for many more devices which were not supported before. If it still doesn't work on your device, report it on: http://forum.time4popcorn.eu/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1098
Smoother watching experience
Many bug fixes (that annoying search function bug? Gone!!! Take that you bugger! ;-) )
improved Chromecast support
We're here for you guys, working, improving, changing, adding awesome features!
Popcorn Forever."

Popcorn Time is affectionately known as the "Netflix of Piracy" due to its ability of letting users quickly search and find any film they want and watch it in up to 1080p quality.

Sony has joined competitors in announcing large, curved 4K HDTVs for the mass market.

The consumer electronics maker has unveiled 65 and a 75-inch S90 models, both of which are less curved than existing LG or Samsung TVs. Sony says this helps for a more immersive experience and improved viewing angles for larger groups.

Powering the TV is an UltraHD Triluminos display with Sony's own "X-tended dynamic range" for darker blacks and better brightness. The TV also has advanced HD-to-4K upscaling capabilities, active 3D and even angled speakers and subwoofers for 4.2 surround sound.

If you are into "social viewing," there is a live football mode for tweeting and photo sharing while you watch.

Priced well out of the range of the average family, the TVs are expected to cost $5000 and $7500, respectively.

Microsoft has confirmed that its Windows Phone Store now has over 300,000 apps and games with "hundreds more" being added on a daily basis.

The company hit its last milestone, 200,000, in December 2013, so the growth rate has certainly increased in the last year.

Windows Phone is still missing many of the more popular iOS and Android apps, but the gap has been closing. Both of the bigger stores have over 1 million apps and games and are priorities for developers.

If a new leak is to be believed, the upcoming Nexus 8 tablet will have awesome specs to go along with the latest Android operating system.

It has been long rumored that HTC's "Volantis"/"T1"/"Flounder" tablet is really the next Google Nexus device, and we now have alleged specs for the Volantis.

The device will have a 2560 x 1600 resolution 8.9-inch display, right in between the Nexus 7's 7-inch display and the Nexus 10's 10.1-inch display and more in line with newer high-end form factors.

Under the hood, the tablet will be powered by a 64-bit Nvidia Tegra K1 processor (which kills the competition, see our review here) and 4GB RAM. Additionally, it has an aluminum body, premium compared to the rubber and plastic of its other iterations. Volantis will launch with Android 5.0 "L"

The device's cameras will also get an upgrade, up to 1.6MP/8MP.

Pricing and availability has not been confirmed but expect $399 and a launch in October.

Samsung and Barnes & Noble have sent out a press invite for an event on August 20th in which the two companies will officially launch their co-branded Galaxy Tab 4 Nook.

The companies are holding the event at B&N's flagship Union Square retail store in NYC.

Back in June, the companies revealed they were developing the GT4Nook, with an August launch date. The company's own Nook tablets were sales failures, and last year B&N announced it was partnering with bigger OEMs to build any future Nook-based products.

There are likely to be more announcements at the event, which only generally promised "to bring together the best of both worlds."

Samsung's Galaxy Tab 4 has a 7-inch 720p display, 1.5GB RAM, a 1.2GHz quad-core processor and dual cameras.

Microsoft has selected an end-of-life date for older Internet Explorer browser versions, giving users until January 12, 2016 to use all versions before IE 11, if they want to keep up-to-date security that is.

The tech giant will no longer provide security updates for the browsers or any other tech support after the date, if you are using IE 8-10, which many corporations still use despite being heavily outdated.

In its post, Microsoft lists the reasons to update anyways, including speed, usability, security and third-party developer support. "Protection against malicious software increased from 69% on Internet Explorer 8 in 2009 to over 99% on Internet Explorer 11.," adds the company, a huge difference.

If you are unsure how to upgrade, Microsoft also created a few sites to help with the migration, including one for consumers, one for enterprise and one for developers.

Read more or get updated here.

Microsoft's hit Surface Pro 3 will be available to a lot more people in the near future.

The company has announced that the tablet will be available in 25 new nations by August 28th.

Australia, Austria, Belgium, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Korea, Luxembourg, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand and the UK will all have the tablet available by the end of the month, with most taking pre-orders starting this week.

Many of the countries will also see sales just in time for the back to school season.

Netflix has finally overcome HBO in subscriber revenue, reporting $1.146 billion in revenue for the last quarter compared to $1.41 billion for HBO.

The streaming giant has 48 million paid subscribers, and 35.1 million in the U.S.

HBO has 127 million paying subscribers in total, but that includes HBO 2, HBO Family, Cinemax and more.

Says Netflix CEO Reed Hastings: "Minor milestone: last quarter we passed HBO is subscriber revenue ($1.146B vs $1.141B). They still kick our ass in profits and Emmy's, but we are making progress. HBO rocks, and we are honored to be in the same league. (yes, I loved Silicon Valley and yes it hit a little close to home.)"

Book retailer Barnes & Noble is now working with Google for same-day delivery of books in some metro areas including Manhattan in New York, West L.A. and San Francisco.

Market leader Amazon offers local delivery in some areas, and now B&N (with some help from a tech giant), is looking to challenge them with a low cost alternative.

"We think we're going to get new customers and incremental sales" through the deal says Barnes & Noble chief merchandising officer Jaime Carey. "The speed to market they are offering our customers and their customers is really incredible."

Google added: "We're excited that people in San Francisco Bay Area, West LA and Manhattan will be able to use Google Shopping Express to get same day deliveries from Barnes & Noble, joining our existing retail partners like Target, Costco and Staples."

The news comes on the heels of Amazon's expansion of their same-day delivery service, adding new locations in NYC, D.C., Philly, Dallas, Baltimore and Indianapolis. Amazon delivers much more than just books, however, at $5.99 for Prime subscribers.

For the new partnership, Google Shopping Express members get free same-day delivery and non-members pay $4.99.

According to a new report, Microsoft is working on bringing a retail store to Fifth Avenue in New York City, near the now iconic Apple "cube" on 59th and 5th.

The tech giant is negotiating a deal at 677 Fifth Ave. near 53rd St., right in the middle of a plethora of high-end luxury stores.

At 8700-square feet over two stories, the space was previously occupied by fashion brand Fendi, which has since moved on to Madison Ave. The deal will not be cheap for Microsoft, with prices topping $3000 per square foot for ground floor space on Fifth Ave.

Microsoft still has a small retail presence on the east coast, but has been expanding rapidly into metropolitan areas like Boston, New York and Philadelphia. Microsoft only has one other retail store in Manhattan.

After making an ill-received tablet last year and a better-received gaming handheld, Nvidia has come back with a vengeance combining the two with the new Shield Tablet.

The device, which is a full Android tablet at its core, can double as a gaming console, adding much more functionality than standalone devices can offer. Nvidia, which rules the PC video card market, knows gaming and has emphasized that expertise.

Under the hood, the company has also packed in high-end specs to a premium-feeling device with a price tag that is certainly competitive, but the company will have a battle against more well known consumer names like Samsung and Apple and Google.

Read ahead to learn about the powerful multi-function Nvidia Shield Tablet.

Specs, Display, Performance and Design

Just hours after it was reported that French carrier Iliad is looking to increase their bid for the U.S.' fourth largest carrier, T-Mobile US, it appears their main suitor Sprint is ending their pursuit.

Sprint, now owned by Japanese carrier Softbank, is said to be dropping their bid due to the insurmountable regulatory hurdles that such a merger would have caused in the U.S. Anti-trust agencies in the U.S. have long said they do not want more consolidation in the U.S. wireless market and are content with four big players although Verizon and AT&T each have over double the customers and spectrum of Sprint and T-Mobile and operate as a duopoly in some areas.

Softbank had been in advanced negotiations with T-Mobile parent Deutsch Telekom for over three months. Financing concerns are also said to have caused the end of discussions.

T-Mobile has been gaining subscribers at the fastest pace in the industry for the last two years, thanks to customer friendly new plans and features, while Sprint continues to lose customers and lose hundreds of millions of dollars per quarter.

Microsoft has confirmed that the expected Windows 8.1 update is coming on August 12th.

The company did not call the update pack "Update 2" as expected, meaning it should be on a much smaller scale than Update 1 from earlier this year.

Among the updates are trackpad stability improvements, enhanced SharePoint Online integration and a reduction in login prompts, and a large Wi-Fi API update (Miracast Receive) for third party devs. Update 1, on the other hand, improved external device support and rehauled the user interface, making the update a huge deal for the operating system.

Moving forward, there may not be an "Update 2" as Microsoft plans to make smaller but more frequent updates. "Rather than waiting for months and bundling together a bunch of improvements into a larger update [...] customers can expect that we'll use our already existing monthly update process to deliver more frequent improvements[.]"

You can read more about the updates here.

Earlier this month, French carrier Iliad made a surprise bid for rising star T-Mobile U.S., offering $15 billion for a 56.5 percent stake.

Many believe that bid was completely dead on arrival, but it now appears that Iliad is speaking with investors and other companies in order to improve their bid, including speaking to cable and satellite giants Cox, Dish and Charter.

T-Mobile majority owner Deutsche Telekom has been in negotiations with the U.S.' third largest carrier, Sprint, for a $32 billion merger, but that deal has so many regulatory hurdles that an official bid has not even been made.

Besides the cable and satellite companies, Iliad is also talking to pension funds and sovereign wealth funds, seeking investors to help increase their bid. Sources claim investment banks can secure $13 billion in debt, and Iliad founder and billionaire Xavier Niel is planning to put up 1 billion euro of his own wealth. Additionally, the company will raise 2 billion via a stock sale, diluting current shareholders.

Iliad shook up the French market since launch in 2012, and has plans that start as low as 2 euro a month. T-Mobile has done similar in the U.S., offering innovative "Uncarrier" features and "Simple Choice" plans that start as low as $50 for individuals and $100 for families of 4.

21st Century Fox and its chairman Rupert Murdoch have withdrawn their massive $80 billion bid for rival Time Warner.

The media giant says Time Warner was unwilling to negotiate and Fox's share price continued to fall since the bid was revealed last month, causing worry.

Time Warner owns some highly coveted properties including Warner Bros. Entertainment, HBO, TNT and TBS and the acquisition would have been the largest since AOL's $160 billion acquisition of Time Warner at the height of the tech bubble in 2000. That purchase was an unmitigated disaster, and led to write-offs in excess of $100 billion.

Murdoch, infamous for overpaying for what he wants and being aggressive, says the original bid was friendly, "However, Time Warner management and its board refused to engage with us to explore an offer which was highly compelling. The reaction in our share price since our proposal was made undervalues our stock and makes the transaction unattractive to Fox shareholders." The chairman says this should end any further exploration of a deal.

Time Warner's shares fell 11 percent on the news, making the shares much more attractive than they were even seconds before the news. Fox shares rose over 5 percent.

U.S.-based security firm Hold Security has claimed today that a group of Russian cybercriminals have been quietly stealing and accumulating the most Internet login credentials in the history of the world.

In total, 1.2 billion username and password combinations have been stolen, in addition to 500 million email addresses.

Hold Security founder Alex Holden says the data was stolen from 42,000 sites across the Web, with no specific agenda. "Hackers did not just target US companies, they targeted any website they could get, ranging from Fortune 500 companies to very small websites," Holden noted. "And most of these sites are still vulnerable."

If accurate, the thefts would make last year's Target security breach look like child's play, where about 60 million credit and debit card numbers were stolen over the course of a few months.

Holden says the Russian outfit is about a dozen young hackers who first bought stolen data off underground markets and then began working with another group to aim bigger. "There is a division of labor within the gang," Holden added. "Some are writing the programming, some are stealing the data. It's like you would imagine a small company; everyone is trying to make a living."

After asking for a restraining order against sites that were sharing the leaked DVD quality copy of 'Expendables 3' last week, Lionsgate has won temporary injunctions against the anonymous operators of the torrent and cyberlockers including popular Billionuploads.

Lionsgate had claimed that a high-quality copy of the film had been stolen and uploaded to the Internet on July 24th, and that it had been downloaded over 2.1 million times.

In her ruling, U.S. District Judge Margaret Morrow says that "Lions Gate has established that it will suffer irreparable harm in the absence of immediate relief. Among other things, Defendants' likely infringement has stripped Lions Gate of the critical right of first publication, is interfering with Lions Gate's contractual relationships with third parties, is damaging Lions Gate's goodwill among consumers, and is depriving Lions Gate of revenue that will be difficult or impossible to calculate, but is likely far in excess of any amount that Defendants could repay to Lions Gate in damages even if the amount could be calculated."

Major smartphone OEM LG has apparently leaked their own upcoming device, dubbed the G3 Stylus, in an ad for another device.

In the ad, which features the 5-inch G3 Beat, the Stylus model is visible, clearly larger than its brothers but including a pop-out stylus for better writing and drawing capabilities.

The model seems to be a direct rival to the popular Galaxy Note given its phablet screen and stylus but prior leaks have the display at a measly 540 x 960 resolution, almost guaranteeing the device will not be priced at the high-end like the G3.

Check the full ad for the Beat here:

According to a new trusted report, Apple will unveil their next iPhone on September 9th.

John Paczkowski, who has correctly reported the launch date of new iPhones for the last few years, made the post today.

While nothing has been confirmed, the new iPhone is expected to have a 4.7-inch screen and be even thinner than last year's 5S models.

In addition, Apple is also expected to launch a 5.5-inch model of the phone, which would be far and away the largest screen smartphone Apple has ever released.

According to the latest figures from research firm Strategy Analytics, 84.6 percent of all smartphones shipped for the Q2 were running Android, a new record high for the mobile OS.

Overall, there were 295.2 million smartphones shipped for the quarter, and Android took share at the expense of Apple, Microsoft and BlackBerry.

"Global smartphone growth in the current quarter is at its lowest level for five years, and there are wide variations by region," noted Linda Sui, a director at StratAn. "Africa and Asia are booming, while North America and Europe are maturing."

249.6 million Android units shipped for the quarter, 35.2 million Apple iPhones were shipped, 8 million Windows Phones were sold and BlackBerry managed to somehow ship 1.9 million units, down over 60 percent year-over-year.

Samsung kept its commanding OEM market share lead, at 25.2 percent, but that figure was significantly lower than last year during the same quarter. Apple had 11.9 percent share, Chinese giant Huawei had 6.8 percent and Lenovo, Xiaomi and LG rounded out the rest of the top list, all at around 5 percent.

Earlier this month, HP unveiled that it was working on a luxury designer smartwatch with luxury flash sale site Gilt and designer Michael Bastian.

Details were very scarce at the time, but we seem to have a little more today, thanks to a statement from Gilt and reports from other "sources."

The smartwatch will push your texts, emails and calendar notifications and also give you information about the weather, stocks, sports and more like normal smartwatches, but this device will not be touchscreen instead letting users rely on buttons on the side of the watch face for interactivity.

Another source says the watch will be more than just standard watch that can give you notifications, stating that apps and widgets will be available right from the home screen. In these regards, the watch should match the functionality of the Pebble Steel, which may be a turn off for anyone who has used an Android Wear device.

What is also confirmed is that the Bastian Smartwatch runs a proprietary operating system that syncs with both iOS and Android. The device has a 44mm stainless steel and water-resistant design and will include three interchangeable bands (sleek black rubber, perforated brown leather, and olive green nylon.)

Amazon has announced today that their Fire TV streaming set-top box has received a whole new set of apps although the one everyone is waiting for - HBO Go, is still not available.

Among the new services are WATCH Disney Channel, WATCH Disney Jr., MLB.TV, Animal Planet L!ve, and the WWE Network. Expected in the coming months are WATCH ABC, WATCH ABC Family, NFL Now, A&E, Lifetime, Outside TV, Young Hollywood, North Face TV, Fashion TV, Green TV and Dailymotion (and of course, HBO Go).

"Customers are loving the selection on their Fire TV, telling us how easy it is to watch their favorite movies and TV shows, listen to music, and play games in their living room. And because of that, developers continue to bring great apps to the platform, with app selection more than doubling since launch," said Steve Rabuchin, Vice President, Amazon Appstore. "And it's still day 1--we have a great pipeline of new services and games coming soon."

In the gaming section, Amazon inked an exclusive deal for developer Dong Nguyen for the re-invented Flappy Birds Family, and also recently added Dungeon Quest, Castle of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse, The Wolf Among Us, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and The Bard's Tale.

The team behind the popular media center XBMC have rebranded the software as Kodi moving forward, just as the v14 of the media center moves into alpha.

Originally launched in 2002, XBMC launched first as Xbox Media Player (for the original Xbox console), followed by Xbox Media Center and finally XMBC. Despite its roots, the software has never been officially launched for the Xbox 360 nor the Xbox One, making its name quite silly and confusing.

So why the change finally? Reads the blog post: "Six years have passed since the Xbox Media Center became XBMC, and simply put, "XBMC" fits less now than it did even in 2008. The software only barely runs on the original Xbox, and then only because some clever developers are still hacking on that platform. It has never run on the Xbox 360 or Xbox One.

Furthermore, while the software still acts as a media center, it also hosts addons, loads games, streams content to and from numerous devices, and can ultimately act as a complete replacement for whatever platform it is hosted on. Indeed, XBMC today is far more an Entertainment Center than a simple Media Center. Read more...

Microsoft insider Mary Jo Foley says Windows 9 (aka Threshold) is on the way to a spring 2015 release, and some older Windows users could even be getting it for free.

Because of how soon Windows 9 is to release, Windows 8.1 users will likely only get smaller update packs in the future, and that some may not even be mandatory like Windows 8.1 was.

There was even talk that Windows 8.1 update 3 could be scrapped altogether, especially if Windows 9 stays in its anticipated time frame for launch.

Most interestingly from Foley's report was the rumor that older edition Windows users (namely XP, Vista and 7) could be given Windows 9 for free if their PCs can run it, as a way to quickly boost adoption of the updated OS.

Windows 8 adoption has slowed of late, and the boost in the PC industry experienced in the last year could already be on its last legs.

Last week we reported that a DVD-quality version of the upcoming 'Expendables 3' action movie had made its way online in one of the highest profile leaks of the last five years.

Lionsgate, the production company behind the film, sued six sites last week arguing that they did not respond to take down notices quickly enough including the popular cyberlocker, Billionuploads. Now, the company has asked for a restraining order on the sites that would shut the sites down and freeze their assets, no small task.

In addition, Lionsgate (with help from piracy monitors IP Echelon, MarkMonitor and Entura) has sent over ten thousand takedown notices to hundreds of web services trying to get all copies of the film wiped away.

As always happens, many of the takedown notices are for legitimate URLs, including news articles or blurbs from many major news outlets. Allegedly, the official Expendables 3 website was even among the sites targeted, showing how many darts the companies are throwing blindly.

Lionsgate's EVP for Content Protection Robert Wenokur also noted that the company is likely to face serious losses at the box office thanks to the leak, although past leaks have proven this false time and time again: "Individuals who view the Film in this manner may not pay for tickets at the box office when the Film is released later this month. Similarly, such individuals may not purchase or rent copies of the Film when it is released to the home entertainment market after its theatrical run."

'Flappy Bird' dev Dong Nguyen pulled the surprisingly popular game from the iOS and Google Play stores in February, despite rumors that he was making as much as $50,000 a week in advertising revenue. The dev said at the time that he felt guilty over the 'addictive' nature of the game.

As promised, the game is now back, but it has been updated with multiplayer functionality. The game is now called 'Flappy Birds Family,' and it is apparently launching exclusively for the Amazon Fire TV, at least to start.

For the multiplayer additions, there is a two-player mode that let's you race others through the same course to see who gets to the end first. There are also new enemies that float around, adding additional problems besides the pipes infamously known to gamers.

Given the Fire TV's small install base, unless they made a large payment for exclusive rights, the game is expected for Android and iOS in the future.

@Evleaks, aka Evan Blass, has retired from the "leaking" industry today, bluntly stating that he needs a job with more financial stability.

The Twitter account became famous for leaking big and small products alike, from all major OEMs including HTC, Samsung, LG, Microsoft and Motorola.

So why did Blass want to retire from the business when he has become so famous for it? Via an interview with TNW, he revealed that "these matters are always somewhat complicated, but like many things, it mostly comes down to money. Trying to monetize a stream of Twitter leaks is not easy. First I tried monthly sponsorships. Then weekly. Then single sponsored tweets. I took donations -- felt like online panhandling.

I also started a website, and it's actually done somewhat respectably, but with all the leaks going out on Twitter anyway, people have little incentive to visit, and most of my tech-savvy-heavy audience seem to be pretty heavy ad-block users, as well. It all adds up to an unsustainable living, and with a progressively worsening disease [Ed; Blass was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis], I need to make sure I can prepare myself better for the future, financially."

Four-year-old Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi is now the fifth biggest smartphone maker, taking on established corporate giants and winning.

According to the latest data from Strategy Analytics, the company gained an incredible amount of global market share in the last three months alone, shipping 15.1 million phones for the quarter. The company now has a 5.1 percent global share, compared to 1.8 percent year-over-year.

"Xiaomi's Android smartphone models are wildly popular in the Chinese market and it shifts millions of them every quarter through its extensive online and operator channels," says SA analyst Woody Oh. The devices are extremely popular because they are often half the price of the high-end unlocked Samsung or Apple phone and feature top-end specs.

While the company is clearly a winner, it has literally no presence outside of China and in fact U.S. buyers cannot even officially acquire Xiaomi products without going through third-party sites or auction sites.

BlackBerry has made its popular BBM messaging app available for Windows Phone users.

Launched in beta, the app follows its iOS and Android counterparts released last year.

Reads the app bio:

French carrier Iliad has made a surprise bid for U.S. carrier T-Mobile US, throwing its hat into the ring against Sprint and its owner SoftBank who have been working on an official bid for over six months.

The company offered $15 billion in cash for a majority 56.6 percent stake in the upstart carrier, which has been growing its subscribers at an impressive clip since starting its Uncarrier programs last year.

While the French bid appears to be inferior, it most likely has a better chance of succeeding than Sprint's, which will face heavy regulatory hurdles. "The U.S. mobile market is large and attractive," Iliad said. "T-Mobile US has successfully established a disruptive position, which in many ways, is similar to the one Iliad has built in France."

Of course, there are questions about the bid. Iliad has a market value of $16 billion, and T-Mobile has a value of about $27 billion so it is unclear how the financing will work although Iliad says the bid will be funded by debt and equity.

Source:
WSJ

The highly-anticipated public beta of the PlayStation Now game streaming service is now available to gamers in North America.

Currently, the beta is only for PlayStation 4 users, although Sony confirmed that it will reach the PS3, PS Vita and PS TV in the coming months.

At launch, there are over 100 titles available to rent, and Sony says the prices will be based on how long your rental is for. A speedy 4-hour rental will cost $2.99, a week rental will cost $5.99, a month rental costs $7.99 and a three-month rental will set you back $14.99.

After reading numerous complaints and feedbacks, the company is also considering an unlimited subscription plan. "We've heard you loud and clear for an update on a PS Now subscription option and want to reassure you that we are working on it," said Jack Buser, Senior Director for PlayStation Now.

Google has made its 64-bit Chrome browser for Windows available via beta channels after first appearing in alpha for Dev/Canary users.

To use it you need a Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 8.1 machine and the 64-bit version of the OS.

"To try it out, download the 64-bit installer from our Beta download pages. The new version replaces the existing version while preserving all your settings and bookmarks, so there's no need to uninstall a current installation of Chrome," explains the search giant.

Besides better utilizing 64-bit operating systems, the 64-bit Chrome promises speedier performance and less frequent crashes.

Sony has issued yet another warning, following slow sales of its smartphones, now claiming that the company will not make a profit on its smartphone division for the year.

For the quarter ended June 30th, total operating profit doubled, thanks mainly to strong PlayStation sales and asset sales, but its smartphone sales forecast dropped severely, with the company now expecting to break even rather than its previous $250 million profit forecast.

"It is possible the (smartphone strategy) review might result in an impairment charge against various assets in the mobile communications segment," said new CFO Kenichiro Yoshida. "We are also discussing whether to change the number of phones in our line-up and adjust their lifecycle."

For the year, Sony says it now forecasts a 140 billion yen operating profit but a large 50 billion yen net loss ($486 million USD). For phones, the company expects to sell 43 million smartphones for the year, down from 50 million.

In better news, the company expects to be profitable for its TV division for the first time in a decade thanks to cost cutting that includes 5000 layoffs and a smaller product line.