Latest news

Walmart is preparing to drop the price of the iPhone 5C to just $27 with a new contract, down from its standard price of $99.

The company offered a similar deal for Black Friday, but that was $45 and included a gift card.

Apple's device has not sold as well as its brother, the 5S, and Apple has reportedly cut production by as much as 40 percent for the cheaper, plastic model. It appears that Walmart is looking to get rid of excess inventory into the holiday season.

Additionally, the iPhone 5S will drop in price to $127 with contract, down from $199, and the first-generation iPad Mini will come with a $50 gift card.

The sale starts tomorrow at 8am and extends until Christmas Eve.

Google has updated their Sheets spreadsheet application, making it much more powerful including the ability to work offline, aiming directly at the heart of the market leader, Microsoft Excel.

The new applications supports larger spreadsheets with up to "millions of cells" and says that "scrolling, loading and calculation are all snappier, even in more complex spreadsheets."

Sheets has also added "filter views" to let you "quickly name, save and share different views of your data." Calculations have been made easier, as well, with function help guiding you as you type and highlighting errors. Additionally, "with the improved conditional formatting, you can add rules to change the colors and styles of cells in your spreadsheet based on custom formulas."

Most importantly, you can now work offline, editing spreadsheets when you are on the go and may not have a connection. When you log back into an Internet connection, your document will automatically sync.

Google's popular $35 HDMI dongle Chromecast has just seen its largest expansion yet, ten new applications.

Until now, the Chromecast only supported Netflix, HBO Go, Pandora, YouTube, Hulu Plus and Google Play Movies, TV and Music.

Reads the post:

Just in time for the holidays, 10 new apps have been added to the Chromecast family. Beginning today you can enjoy action sports, news, music videos, and more with the addition of VEVO, Red Bull.TV, Songza, PostTV, Viki, Revision 3 and BeyondPod.

And for those many holiday gatherings, you can also cast your personal media straight to your TV using Plex, Avia, or RealPlayer Cloud apps. There's no need to huddle around small screens when you can share your own photos and videos using your phone, tablet, or laptop.

Rovio has officially released their latest blockbuster, the Mario Kart-inspired "Angry Birds Go" racing game.

The game includes the same birds and pigs you have become accustomed to, and allows gamers to race karts down different tracks using power ups and gaining coins to be able to upgrade their kart.

Each level has different game modes, as well, including time trials, boss races, standard races and even a "smash the fruit" level where you must smash enough fruit on the track to unlock coins.

The game is free for Android and iOS but there are time playing restrictions unless you purchase in-app upgrades for your character's "energy bar."

Google has taken this week to add a substantial new lineup to its Google Play hardware store, including most recently the Sony Xperia Z Ultra and the LG G Pad 8.3 tablet.

The tablet has an 8.3-inch 1080p ISP display, thin bezels, and is just 8.3mm thick, just slightly thicker than the iPad Air.

Having used the non-Google Play model of the tablet, we found it to be one of the best Android tablets, ever, and a strong competitor to the iPad Mini with Retina, despite a lower resolution display.

Under the hood is a quad-core 1.7GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 600, 2GB RAM, 16GB internal storage, a microSD slot, NFC and Bluetooth 4.0, dual-band 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, dual cameras and a 4600mAh battery.

Gaming accessory maker Mad Catz has launched their entry to the Android game console market, the "Mojo" box.

The Mojo is available for sale now after first being unveiled at the E3 expo in June.

Running on Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, the device allows you to play your Android games on your big screen TV, as well as access your apps and media you may already have on your phone or tablet. There is full access to the million-app strong Google Play Store.

Powering the Mojo is a Tegra 4 processor, 16GB internal storage, a microSD slot, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0.

The most important part of the console is its gamepad, which Mad Catz explains:

To maximize control over controller-compatible games and apps, M.O.J.O. comes with a GameSmart C.T.R.L.R Mobile Gamepad which mobilizes gameplay without forfeiting the familiarity of the console-style controller you know and love. C.T.R.L.R offers three different gaming modes and enhanced portability for where ever the game may take you. Here are some cool features of the C.T.R.L.R Mobile Gamepad:

Sony's highly rated Xperia Z Ultra smartphone has finally gotten its own Google Play edition and stock Android.

Available to U.S. buyers, the powerful device has a massive 6.4-inch, 1920 x 1080, 342ppi display, a waterproof/dust-resistant design, and is powered by a quad-core Qualcomm 800 processor at 2.2GHz and 2GB RAM and a 3,000 mAh battery.

The device comes with stock Android 4.4.2 KitKat, and has 16GB internal storage (with a microSD slot).

Additionally, the smartphone is just 6.5mm thin, even thinner than the new iPhone, and has dual cameras; 8MP with a Sony Exmor RS sensor and 2MP upfront.

The device is unlocked and supports all bands of GSM/UMTS/HSPA+/LTE.

Check it here.

According to XBL head Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb, the Xbox One has already reached the 2 million units sold milestone.

The company says the pace of sales is "record setting" for Xbox since its launch on November 22nd.

Among the other milestones:

Over 83 million hours in games, TV, and apps on Xbox One since the system launched
39 million Xbox One achievements unlocked
595 million total Gamerscore achieved on Xbox One
At peak demand, customers were ordering the Xbox One console at over 1000 units per minute on Amazon.com

Dell has unveiled their first ChromeOS device today, the Chromebook 11.

The device is aimed at teachers and students, and features an 11.6-inch display while weighing just 2.9 pounds for easier portability.

Under the hood is a 1.4GHz Celeron processor and small 16GB SSD, and Dell is including a Wyse PocketCloud app for easier sharing in the cloud. There will be two models, one with 2GB RAM and the other with double, with the 2GB model expected to be aimed at the schools that may need to cut costs.

Most importantly, Dell promises 10-hour battery life, which would make it easily the best Chromebook available for longevity.

The device will go on sale in January with an expected price under $300.

Sprint has announced that their faster "Spark" LTE network is now live in Chicago, just a month after the carrier confirmed it was merging 800 MHz, 1.9 GHz and 2.5 GHz LTE spectrum to be able to offer speeds as high as 50 Mbps.

The carrier says that "as part of Sprint's Network Vision program, the company undertook a massive initiative to "rip and replace" equipment from its 38,000 cell sites across the country" and that Chicago is the first to see the upgrades.

For the time being, the LTE network will only work on tri-band phones, which for Sprint mainly means high-end devices like the Samsung Galaxy Mega, HTC One Max and LG G2.

"Sprint's investment in upgrading our network infrastructure has required a massive team of dedicated engineers and technicians to systematically install new, modern 3G and 4G LTE-capable equipment," said Bob Azzi, Sprint chief network officer. "This process involved equipping Sprint cell towers in the Chicago area with state-of-the-art network technology. It took us more than a year to complete and, although there have been some service interruptions, we expect our customers will find the improved Sprint wireless experience worth it."

Google Play Books has just updated to version 3.1.17, bringing with it a major feature fans have been asking for for over a year; native uploading from your mobile devices.

With the update, you can directly upload your EPUB or PDF files to your Books accounts, without having to log in to the website and doing it that way.

Open the book from your file manager or email, and a new option will be to "Upload to Play Books."

In testing the service out, Google Play Books had some issues with some PDFs, saying it could not display the books but one EPUB I tried worked just fine. Could be a work in progress.

Here is the rest of the change log:

Books open more quickly and smoothly.
Upload EPUB or PDF files to your library from your phone or tablet. From email or Downloads, touch the file to open it and choose Upload to Play Books.
Improved look and feel of highlights and notes.
Lower brightness settings, for better reading in low light.
Read any book in landscape view.
Dismiss recommended books in Read Now.
Additional improvements in performance, stability and accessibility.

New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg has announced this week that the Harlem neighborhood will get the largest free public Wi-Fi network in the nation, spanning just under 100 city blocks.

The network will stretch from 110th to 138th Streets between Frederick Douglass Boulevard and Madison Avenue.

Already in progress is the first phase, spanning between (110th to 120th between Frederick Douglass and Madison), with phase two (121st to 126th)set to be completed by February 2014 and the final phase to be completed by May.

"Our new Harlem wireless network brings critical connectivity to residents and visitors, giving them 24/7 access to everything from education materials for kids, to information about Harlem's rich history and attractions, to everyday needs like paying bills, checking library hours – or even just keeping tabs on the Knicks and Nets," said Mayor Bloomberg. "In 2013 being successful requires being connected; thanks to the Fuhrman Family Foundation and the Mayor's Fund, we are wiring nearly 100 blocks in Harlem and giving 80,000 New Yorkers another tool for success."

Apple has added new channels to its Apple TV set-top box, including popular ones like Crackle and Bloomberg.

Additionally, the company has added Korean channel KORTV and a "Watch ABC" channel that lets cable subscribers watch local content from ABC affiliates.

In the last few months, Apple has significantly added to the set-top's app catalog, adding PBS, Yahoo Screen, Disney, Vevo, WatchESPN, HBO Go, and Major League Soccer.

The company is also reportedly in talks with Time Warner Cable to added TWC TV and its thousands of hours of on-demand content for Time Warner Cable subscribers.

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson has said that the company will likely kill off device subsidies into the future.

"When you're growing the business initially, you have to do aggressive device subsidies to get people on the network," he said. "But as you approach 90 percent penetration, you move into maintenance mode. That means more device upgrades. And the model has to change. You can't afford to subsidize devices like that."

The wireless carrier just introduced new pricing plans that reward customers who keep their older devices, or bring their own, allowing them to save up to $15 per month on their service bill. Additionally, the company also introduced its "Next" program, which allows for no-money down and 0 percent financing for smartphones but adds to the monthly bill.

"If you are a customer and you don't need to upgrade your device, you can get unlimited talk and text and access to the data network for $45 all-in," adds Stephenson. "You can use your own device or finance it. I think this will be very powerful. It's where we see the market going."

As part of its press event today, Spotify has also announced it will be expanding to 20 new markets, its largest expansion ever.

After the rollout is complete, the streaming giant will be available in 55 markets and the new additions are mainly in South and Central America.

The new markets include Bolivia, Bulgaria, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Czech, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, Malta, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Slovakia and Uruguay.

CEO Daniel Elk also noted that this year users have streamed 4.5 billion hours of music, with 1.5 million new playlists being created every day.