There are plenty of Internet controlled thermostats on the market today, including the Nest thermostat. The idea behind these gadgets is to allow users to control the climate system in their home using a smartphone from anywhere they can get online. UK utilities provider British Gas has unveiled its own remote control thermostat system called […]
In an unusual bout of frankness, a Samsung official has acknowledged that the Galaxy Gear smartwatch lacks, you know, whatever the Korean is for je ne sais quoi. As reported by the Korea Times, the unnamed official said:
“We’ve acknowledged that our Gear lacks something special. With more investment for user interface and user experience, Samsung devices will be better in terms of customer satisfaction.”
We’re not sure if the source of the quote is Samsung’s VP of strategic marketing, Lee Don-joo, but this exec is quoted in the same Korea Times article as saying that the watch is “definitely receiving a warm response” and that improvements would stem from software tweaks and the hiring of new UI experts, rather than from the development of a whole new device. He described the Gear as part of Samsung’s drive to create new categories of “wow product” and, in virtually the same gasp, he also reiterated that Samsung would launch some sort of heavily curved — or perhaps even partially bendable — smartphone in Korea next month.
Filed under: Cellphones, Wearables, Samsung
Via: Unwired View
Source: Korea Times
Unless BlackBerry bosses embark on some wild scorched earth policy as they retreat from the smartphone business, their hometown of Waterloo, Ontario, should prove to be fertile ground for other mobile companies looking to expand. Motorola could become one of the first to capitalize on the situation, having just opened a small office in Kitchener-Waterloo, where its parent company Google has already had an R&D base since 2006. Speaking to the Financial Post, Motorola Canada’s engineering director, Derek Phillips, said he has “big plans” for the area and is “optimistic” about finding the right mobile tech talent. He stopped short of saying he wants BB workers specifically, instead pointing to other sources of brainpower like the University of Waterloo (which happens to be the home of the Lazaridis-backed Quantum-Nano Centre). For the sake of the 4,500 people recently left unemployed due to BlackBerry’s strategic failures, however, we hope he was just being diplomatic.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Google, Blackberry
Via: Punit Soni (Google+), Android Central
Source: Financial Post
Portable battery packs for smartphones/tablets are pretty common place these days, although the downside is that you’d not only have to remember to bring the battery pack with you (versus a battery case), but you’d also need a cable because otherwise the battery pack would be useless. Well the good news is that if your phone supports wireless charging, like some Nokia Lumia devices do, Mugen has announced the Mugenizer N11 which will support wireless charging for devices that are compatible with the Qi Wireless charging standard.
The device will support wireless charging from a range of 4-7mm, but presumably you’d have the device on top of the battery pack anyway so this shouldn’t be an issue. Apart from that, the Mugenizer N11 will pack a 4,800mAh battery and weighs about 230grams and measures 75mm x 137mm x 14mm, meaning that it shouldn’t be too obtrusive or too heavy to bring around with you, and given its battery size, should be enough to charge Android devices at least once with some juice left over, and iPhone devices at least three times. Priced at $69.95, the Mugenizer N11 can be ordered directly via Mugen’s website.
Mugenizer N11 Battery Pack Will Support Wireless Charging original content from Ubergizmo. 
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One of the cool things about the Microsoft Surface tablet would be its keyboard accessory, which when not in use can be folded up and used as a cover for the tablet at the same time. Perhaps Samsung is thinking about something similar for their future tablets, thanks to a recently discovered patent which revealed the South Korean tech giant’s plans for a foldable keyboard accessory which could have been designed for tablets in mind. As you can see, this keyboard accessory acts a little different from Microsoft’s keyboard cover for the Surface.
According to the diagram, the tablet is sandwiched in between the keyboard, with the front portion of the accessory opening up to be a keyboard, while the back portion actually comes with a built-in kickstand, allowing the user to prop up their tablet while they type out emails or word documents on the go. Of course this is merely a patent and there’s no telling if and when Samsung will release such an accessory for their tablets, but what do you guys think? Is this an accessory you’d like to see Samsung release in the future for their Galaxy Tab and Galaxy Note tablets?
Samsung Patent Reveals Folding Keyboard For Tablets original content from Ubergizmo. 
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It seems that after introducing the new iMac with refreshed hardware the other day, Apple also made some quiet changes to the prices of their Mac mini computers for some countries, and not necessarily for the better either. The regions affected by the price increase include countries such as Australia, Brazil, Portugal, and Malaysia. For example over in Australia and prior to the prices being increased, the Mac mini was priced at A$699 and A$899 for the standard models, while the Mac mini Server was priced at A$1,099. Now after the price increase, customers in Australia can now look forward to paying A$749 and A$999 for the standard models, while the server version will set them back A$1,249, all of which are pretty substantial increases in price.
It is unclear as to why Apple raised the prices for those regions, although it is likely that this is due to the currency fluctuations, but whatever the reason is, we’re pretty sure that customers won’t be too thrilled by it. As it stands the Australian government has questioned companies such as Apple and Adobe as to why prices for their products in their country are more expensive, even when converted back to USD, and we’re sure with this price increase, consumer watchdogs will probably have something to say about it as well.
Mac Mini Prices Increased In Some Countries original content from Ubergizmo. 
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It’s always an exciting day for computer gamers when AMD unveils new video cards. Today AMD has unveiled two new graphics card families for computer gamers called the AMD Radeon R9 and AMD Radeon R7 series. Both of these graphics card families are designed specifically to allow gaming on UltraHD displays. The new R9 and […]
Language translation is a notoriously difficult task for humans, let alone computers. But in trying to solve that problem Google has stumbled across a clever trick, that involves treating them like maps—and it really, really works.
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There is a serious problem going on currently with messages sent from some users via Google Hangouts. The problem is that some senders are seeing their chat messages sent to the wrong recipients. The problem has reportedly been occurring since about 4 PM EST. The users report that during chats with a specific person the […]
A wide-tipped serrated knife does wonders on everything, from bread to brisket to butter. This utility blade could be the only kitchen knife you’ll ever need.
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