Hasta La Gadget!

While everyone is going a bit nutty speculating about Apple’s potential iOS smartwatch, Japanese watchmakers are pumping out their own interesting watches. This one includes a sound sensor making it work like the bar graphs on a digital VU meter.

Based on a design concept by Sam Jerichow, the Tokyoflash Kisai OTO Watch allows you to read the time vertically across two centrally-located lines. The four digits on the left represent hours stacked on top of minutes, while the two digits on the right display the seconds.

Above and below the numeric displays, you’ll find the bars, which actually move based on ambient sounds. The bar graphs can be switched off if it’s too distracting, or you can also just switch off the time and just show the VU meter.

The watch comes in blue, green, red or amber LCD versions, with matching color LED  illumination. Each one is then set into a sleek black anodized aluminum case. Power is provided by a built-in USB-rechargeable battery.

The Kisai OTO watch is available for an introductory price of $99(USD) through Thursday 2/14 at 4pm Japan time, after which time, the price will increase.

This week in speaking with the crowd at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference, Tim Cook let it be known that Apple has reached a new high mark in cash paid out to developers. While Apple announced back in early January that they’d paid around $7 billion dollars to developers in all, Tim Cook announced today that Apple has paid out more than $8 billion. That’s one massive up-swing in a very short amount of time!

It was also made clear by Cook that it’s not just with developer payouts that Apple is succeeding. China was spoken about as well, with Cook saying “when I look at what Apple has done in China, I think it is hard for anyone to evaluate, and say it’s not impressive. Apple has gone from a few hundred million in revenue in one year to $3 billion in the next, to $13 billion the next – we’re adding over $10 billion every year!” Cook was more than willing to let the audience know that he was pumped up about Apple’s current path.

Speaking also about what Apple would and would not do to earn cash, specifically with “affordable” products, Cook let it be known that the company’s “North Star” is “a great product.” Cook continued speaking about how they’d actually tried to make cheaper products, but found that instead of creating a Mac for under $500, it made more sense to make the iPad. Thus that product ecosystem was born.

Cook also had a question asked of him about limits in each of their most important “categories” of products. The Apple CEO spoke simply: “There’s that word limit. We don’t have it in Apple’s vocabulary.” Cook continued, “When I zoom out and look at the smartphone market in particular, what I see is a market that is projected to double in the next few years.” A mighty powerful claim for the company that’s been so very undeniably present in the smart device market since its inception.

Read more about these and additional subjects spoken about by Cook this week at the conference via the timeline below – and let us know what you think!

Apple developer payout jumps to $8 billion is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Someone needs to clue Apple CEO Tim Cook in on their new hires as just last week, they hired an OLED expert from LG, and today, Cook has spoken out against OLED displays.

During an investor conference hosted by Goldman Sachs, Cook called the color saturation on OLED displays “awful.” He continued his OLED rant by saying, “If you ever buy anything online and really want to know what the color is, as many people do, you should really think twice before you depend on the color from an OLED display.”

Of course, on the other side of the spectrum, Cook praised Apple’s Retina Display as he says it offers “superior quality” as the screen is twice as bright when compared to OLED screens.

OLED displays wasn’t the only topic within Cook’s crosshairs today as he also addressed rumors of Apple possibly creating an iPhone with a larger display, similar to the recent trend of phablet devices. Cook said he wouldn’t comment on the company’s plans, but criticized its competition as companies who focus on size and specifications can’t “create an amazing experience.”

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Apple Maps Blamed for Poor Bushfire Response in Australia, HBO Go Available On Apple TV Through Airplay Feature,

Samsung exec David Eun has blamed the ongoing legal battle with Apple for hindering innovation, pointing out that while the Korean firm may benefit financially from each iPhone sale, overall the consumer tech industry suffers. Speaking at the D:Dive Into Media conference this week, executive vice president Eun refused to be drawn on more specific insights around the regular court appearances legal teams from the two companies have made, but said that it represented “a loss” to innovation overall, despite Samsung’s own efforts to push its software portfolio.

“We’re doubling down on software innovation” Eun pointed out, “particularly software that will enhance our products.”  That follows a process of internal development, acquisitions, and partnerships, the EVP explained, including making investments into third-party firms courtesy of the Samsung accelerator program.

Nonetheless, Eun – positioning himself as a consumer – has apparently been disappointed by the split-focus of the key players today, though said that it was down to the lawyers to handle that patent litigation side of the business.

The Samsung exec’s comments came before Apple CEO Tim Cook took part in the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference, where while he did not name Samsung specifically, he did take obvious potshots at the South Korean company. OLED screens, for instance – which Samsung has used on all of its recent flagship Galaxy smartphones – were derided as having poor colors, while Cook also argued that Apple’s rivals, unable to compete on innovation, instead focus unnecessarily on base specifications.

Despite the snark, Cook is believed to have preferred a quieter approach to the litigation with Samsung than Steve Jobs’ “thermonuclear” war, with sources claiming that was down to his concerns around alienating a vital component supplier. Eun touched on a similar point himself, conceding that Samsung’s input into the iPhone hardware, for instance, meant that the company did benefit from Apple’s strong sales.

[via Apple Insider; via Engadget; via AllThingsD]

Samsung EVP: Apple war fallout is innovation loss despite financial win is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Just a few weeks ago, we heard Vertu was planning on delivering an Android-powered smartphone that was going to be ridiculously expensive. It was originally expected to retail for a little over $4000, but we guess that wasn’t a high enough number for Vertu as they’re announcing their new handset, the Ti, will retail starting at $10,000.

We know you can probably think of a lot of ways to burn $10,000, but let’s run through the specs of the Vertu Ti. First off, the Ti will run on Android 4.0, which by that spec alone should drop the price substantially as it’s an old version of the Android OS. The Ti will come with a 3.7-inch WVGA screen and dual core Snapdragon S4 processor.

Alright – the Vertu Ti’s innards aren’t that impressive, but the Ti is handmade and is encased in titanium and has a sapphire crystal display. Also, you’ll have a 24-hour concierge service available to you, which we know you’ll probably end up using it to hand deliver your pizzas to you at all hours of the day.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: LG Optimus G Pro Officially Has a 5.5-inch Display, No Entry-Level BlackBerry 10 Smartphone in 2013,