News written by Matti Robinson (May, 2016)

Google entered the VR market two years ago with Google Cardboard (pictured). At the time it was a low risk investment into virtual reality, one that it expressed the interest towards a possibly a tremendous opportunity in the future. Now it seems that Google is ready to gear up for a proper go at VR.

According to information Android Police managed to find from Google Play Developer Console, Google is indeed going to release an actual virtual reality device. Google Cardboard is, after all, just a box that fits a smartphone. It is a simplistic version of what Samsung is promoting with its newest flagship, Galaxy S7.

There's really three types of VR devices at the moment: the Gear VR type that require a phone or a tablet, the ones that have displays but require a PC for processing such as Oculus Rift, and the entirely standalone devices that run the software and have displays to display it.

Some rumors have it that Google is going to release VR goggles that are in the latter category. This would also mean that it would not rival Oculus or HTC Vive in terms of pure processing power but would be more portable.

Apple has been revealed to have invested a small chunk of its $130 billion bankroll on a transportation company that is one of the main rivals of Uber. Didi Chuxing is essentially the Chinese version of Uber, and it provides transportation to 11 million people daily.

Didi Chuxing (formerly Didi Kuaidi) was looking for a billion dollars worth of investment and had to look no further than Apple. The smartphone based transportation service offers cab rides, personal drivers, and premium cars in what is one of the fastest growing market for apps and technology.

Founded in 2012, the company has already gathered a few billions of investments but Apple's latest addition is the largest single investment. Apple CEO Tim Cook said that the investment is strategic and helps them understand "the critical Chinese market."

Apple is said to be developing an electric car, which seems to be the obvious reason for a such a huge investment. Also the pressure from Chinese regulators has increased on Apple, says Reuters. The investment will possibly aid both situations.

The app that stroke gold with vintage camera filters years ago has decided to renew its look and feel both in and outside the app. Outside it means replacing the logo with a flatter one, inside the changes update the UI.

The logo has abandoned the skeuomorphic design and adopted the colorful and flat-faced look known from iOS. The change seems to be more or less the same what Apple did in iOS 7 back in 2013.

Even though the logo is a breath of fresh air with bright colors, that does not carry out to the new UI. User interface consists only of shades of grey, black and white. According to the company this is to draw attention to the user generated content, which is, after all, the point of the service.

The Instagram related apps, namely Boomerang, Hyperlapse, and Layout, got the same logo update.

As you can imagine, the web went insane over the changes. Especially the change in logo seems to have baffled a lot of people. The narrative is that a recognizable logo has been switched for one that iPhone has 13 in a dozen.

In the end, however, all Instagram wants is for people to use the app more.

Released last summer Apple Music was expected to become a success that quickly rivaled and possibly even surpassed Spotify as the leading streaming service for music. Due to failures mainly in UI design the service has had troubles rising to the occasion even with exclusives like Taylor Swift.

Apple is expected to revamp the messy user interface completely though. The overhaul is said to be unveiled at the WWDC in June, but that is not the only measure Apple is taking in order to catch up to Spotify.

Now Apple has revealed a new, cheaper tier that is solely meant for student. College students around the US as well as in countries like the UK, Germany, and Australia will be able to get Apple Music subscription for half the price. This amounts to $5.99 (depending on the market).

However, Spotify has its own Premium subscription for students for $4.99 and obviously something that Apple does not – a free ad-supported tier.

So the question remains will this get people on board the service that has been accused of randomly deleting songs and ruining the experience with a garbled and confusing user interface. Things could well change, though, if on June 13th bulk of the problems disappear.

Even if not all products out of Redmond have captured the market (yes, I'm looking at you Windows Phone), you have to give it to Microsoft Research for being one of the most innovative R&D departments in the country. Be it HoloLens or the AI features now used in Cortana, every one loves a glimpse at the future of computing.

One those futuristic glimpses might as well be in the video below. Microsoft Research has released a video on YouTube in which it demonstrates a new type of predictive touch display which it calls Pre-Touch.

The display on what looks like a Lumia looking prototype recognizes when a hand or a finger is coming close to the display, and even measures the pressure when squeezed.

Like you can see on the video this enables all kinds of handy tricks with the user interface. Knowing where the users hands are before the touch makes it possible to cater for a specific need, for example one handed use always on the right side of the phone.

As this video comes from Microsoft Research and not a keynote speech at the Mobile World Congress, it'll probably still be a while before we see this in our own handsets. Maybe that will happen when Microsoft allegedly transforms its smartphone business under Surface brand.

TIME magazine has released its list of 50 most influential gadgets of all time. The winner is not a surprise but there's a lot of variety further back.

The number one spot was clinched by the original iPhone released by Apple in 2007. Many would say that was an expected top spot for the highest grossing consumer gadgets of all time.

Following iPhone the rest of the top five Sony's revolutionary color TV Trinitron from 1968, Apple's first Macintosh, '80s sensation Sony Walkman, and IBM Model 5150 that taught us what PC is.

Later on the list you can also find possibly your first proper cellphone Nokia 3210 equipped with internal antenna and of course Snake, gaming systems like NES and Sony PlayStation, and my personal favorite Commodore 64.

While a nostalgia trip is inevitable there's many recent invention in the top 50 as well, including some virtual reality and 3D printing equipment. Check the list in its entirety here.