TECH BLAZZER

In November 2011, Samsung released the first of a series of ads that would define the company for the next three years. It started with a bunch of hipster-looking people waiting outside a mock Apple Store for the next iPhone. As the hipsters tick down the hours until they have the right to get Apple’s new iThing, they spot others on the street using something better. The phone, Samsung’s former flagship Galaxy S II, had a big screen and a 4G wireless connection, two major features that were missing from Apple’s new iPhone 4S. And unlike the iPhone, you didn’t have to wait around to buy a Galaxy S II. You could get it now.  But you didn’t see anyone lining up to buy a Samsung, or anything other than an iPhone, in those days. Things started to change with the first “Next Big Thing” spot. Just like Apple poked fun at Microsoft with its “I’m a Mac” campaign in the 2000s, Samsung’s goal was to tap into the same strategy — a little guy taking swings at the dominant player in the ...

Apple Watch Edition estimated to pack $850 worth of 18k gold Apple hasn’t revealed pricing for the Apple Watch Edition or the mid-range model of its new smartwatch. Instead, we only know that the entry-level sport model is going to come in at a starting price of $349. So how much is the most high end model going to run you? We don’t know yet, but it’s definitely not going to come cheap. One man, Greg Koenig, took rough estimates of the Apple Watch size and created a software model to determine how much 18k gold might be needed for the Apple Watch Edition model. He came up with a rough estimate of 29.16g. We ran that figure through a quick gold calculator at a price of $1,210.88 per troy ounce and with an 18k quality, and it means that we might be able to expect roughly $851.41 worth of gold on the smartwatch. Remember, this is just one man’s estimate, so there’s room for error. Take into consideration the cost of the Apple Watch hardware, whatever premium straps ar...

New Google Wallet reportedly planned to take on Apple Pay Google Wallet was one of the first mainstream mobile payment options in the United States, but the launch was marred by lack of broad carrier support initially. A competing platform, SoftCard, may have been partially to blame; it’s a service developed by AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon that competes directly with Google Wallet. Now, facing stiff competition from Apple Pay, Google is looking to revamp its Wallet initiatives with a new version,  The Wall Street Journal  said Friday. Google is apparently hoping to relaunch Google Wallet during Google I/O in May, the news outlet said.  The Wall Street Journal  explains a few of the reasons why Google will continue to face headwinds, however, including Samsung’s new acquisition of LoopPay. With its own service on the horizon, Samsung may not be as quick to adopt Google’s option. “A person familiar with the Samsung-LoopPay deal said big smartphone makers...

Android Customization: Top 5 icon packs to get you started Android customization has always been a badge of honor worn by fans of Google’s OS. And there are seemingly infinite ways to tweak and customize the experience exactly to one’s liking—not something  easily achieved in other ecosystems . So where does one start when beginning the customizing journey? Well,  here’s a good place  to begin. And once you’ve done that, there are also many, many great icon packs out there that’ll help you achieve the exact look that you want. As handsome and functional as Android Lollipop might be, the bright, flat look doesn’t appeal to everyone. And there’s just something about tweaking an OS to reflect your unique personality. Maybe you want more rounded icons, or maybe you want something more transparent. Hey, there’s something for everyone, which is such a big draw of Android in the first place. Like everything Android, the video above in no way encompasses the breadth o...

Apple Has Released iOS 8.1.3 Sit down, connect to Wi-Fi and back up your phone: it’s time to update. Apple on Tuesday released iOS 8.1.3, introducing a slew of new big fixes, enhancements and other new updates. This is very incremental in nature, which means you shouldn’t expect a completely new experience. What you can expect, however, is a much smoother, stable experience—and hopefully one that doesn’t crash and break every few minutes. Today’s update to iOS 8.1.3 is available for all devices running iOS 8, including the iPhone 4s and up, iPad 2 and up and the fifth generation iPod touch. According to the “Learn More” tab of the update, iOS 8.1.3 includes: Reduces the amount of storage required to perform a software update Fixes an issue that prevented some users from entering their Apple ID password for Messages and FaceTime Addresses an issue that caused Spotlight to stop displaying app results Fixes an issue which prevented multitasking gestures from working on iP...

Galaxy S6 may pack a totally different camera than originally thought Most of the rumors leading up to the  Galaxy S6  introduction on March 1 have suggested that Samsung is going to equip the phone with a 20-megapixel camera. Those rumors may turn out to be false, according to a new report from  SamMobile  that suggests Samsung has different plans entirely. SamMobile  said Friday that Samsung had been testing a prototype with a 20-megapixel camera but that it can “now confirm” that Samsung has instead decided to pack the device with a 16-megapixel Sony IMX240 module. That’s the same sensor Samsung outfitted the Galaxy Note 4 with. Samsung has been teasing major camera advancements, however, and  SamMobile  says it’s still possible the company will follow through on those promises with the introduction of software and “considerable tweaks to the camera lens.” Remember, earlier this month a Samsung exec said the camera will snap “ amazing pictu...

It doesn’t look like we’ll have to wait until March 1 to see HTC’s upcoming flagship. A listing found on  Cyberport.de , via  Evleaks , shows the device in full, from specs to design—and even price! What more do you want? If this is legit, it’s pretty much everything  we’ve been expecting , and the design is indeed similar to the past few iterations, not that we’re complaining. As we’ve been hearing, the new HTC One (M9) will feature a 20-megapixel camera, marking a big jump over last year’s M8; the front-facing camera will be just 4-megapixel (Ultra pixel); not out of the ordinary for HTC. Other specs include a 2GHz Snapdragon 810 processor, 5-inch 1080p screen, 3GB of RAM, a 2900mAh battery, 32GB of expandable storage, Android 5.0 Lollipop, BoomSound speakers and HTC Sense 7. That sounds like a pretty typical (and expected) jump from year-to-year. The design has always been one of HTC’s strong suits, and that’s the headlining feature here once again. The listing...

Microsoft developing People Sense app for finding friends on Windows Phone It looks like Microsoft wants to take Apple's Find My Friends head on.  According to Spanish-language site  Microsoft Place , the company is in the process of developing an app called People Sense, which looks to deeply integrate Bing Maps with messaging and calling features. Microsoft Place  took a deep dive into the most recent build of the app (which is currently codenamed Buddy Aware), and it seems fairly robust. In addition to providing real-time location info for the people you follow, it will give detailed directions to contacts' locations and also have calling and messaging baked right in. By the looks of it, the only thing it lacks is notifications for when friends are nearby, though more features might be on the way.

Samsung teases 'amazing' camera in new flagship phone A month ago, I wrote about the iPhone's camera and how instrumental it is to many of the things that make that bestselling device so appealing. Today, Apple's most direct competitor, Samsung, has reiterated its long history of developing cameraphones and promised to deliver nothing less than "the future of cameras." In a post by Samsung's camera R&D chief DongHoon Jang, the company promises its 2015 flagship phone "will be intelligent and do all the thinking for users, allowing them to take amazing pictures under any conditions, without having to worry about anything more than just pressing the shutter button." Imaging technology has been a traditional strength for Samsung's flagship smartphones, and the latest Galaxy Note 4 has marked an appreciable upgrade after a couple of years of relative stagnation in image quality. Now Samsung seems intent to step things up another not...

Samsung wants to get everyone excited for its newest flagship, the Galaxy S6. The company has released two more teasers of the upcoming device, and they do give us a bit more information on what to expect. A dramatically-lit profile shot of the new phone posted on Instagram suggests that Samsung will indeed use a metal in the new phone. It also shows a unique tapered design that may go hand-in-hand with the heavily-rumored curved screen that's said to grace the phone. Samsung also drops a few hints about that bent screen in a new teaser video. A brief shot appears to show the face of the device with the screen tapering off both the left and right edges of the phone, as sources told  Blomberg  earlier this month. Meanwhile, in the video, the narrator does her very best to get us hyped for the phone as she offers an enigmatic description of the device: "Metal will flow. Borders will disappear. Reflections will be free." We'll be in Barcelona come March 1st t...