Hasta La Gadget!

Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging for an update. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it’s easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don’t escape without notice, we’ve gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery we could find during the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy!

Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile

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It was just last week that Microsoft took the wraps off their new Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 tablets. Both devices are expected to see a release on the 22nd of October and Microsoft has since been taking pre-orders via its website as well as through it retail stores. Well the good news is that if you wanted to pre-order the tablet but weren’t willing to pay full price for it yet, it seems that Microsoft is now allowing customers to walk into their stores and reserver a Surface 2 or Surface Pro 2 tablet for themselves without having to pay anything for it, at least until the device arrives and they have to pay for it in order to take it home.

Microsoft has yet to make such an announcement, but according to the folks at Windows Phone Central, they have confirmed this via a tip from a Microsoft retail store employee, as well as by calling other Microsoft stores in Southern California to double check. Previously pre-orders could be made  at a local store but you’d have to put down $50 as a deposit of sorts to reserve the device. In any case if you wanted the tablet but do not have the money yet, we guess this could be one of the ways to go about reserving one for yourself until either device has been released.

Microsoft Surface 2 And Surface Pro 2 Tablets Can Be Reserved In-Store For Free original content from Ubergizmo.

Both Nokia and Microsoft have been taking digs at the competition in the past few months, with the most recent one from Nokia where the Finnish company made fun of the recent Apple Maps mishap. However thanks to a recent billboard sighting from Nokia over on Lombard Street, California, it looks like Nokia could be taking another jab at Samsung’s Galaxy S4 Zoom, especially since the ad for the Nokia Lumia 1020 reads, “The most megapixels you can fit into a pair of skinny jeans.”

For those who are unfamiliar with the Galaxy S4 Zoom, this is a smartphone by Samsung that shares some of the hardware specs of the Galaxy S4, with the main difference being that the phone will pack a 16MP camera on the back. However the design of the phone felt more like a camera rather than a smartphone, making it an extremely bulky device, at least when compared to the more svelte Lumia 1020. While the Lumia 1020 does pack more megapixels when compared to the Galaxy S4 Zoom, it should be noted that more megapixels aren’t necessarily a good thing, nor does it determine a camera’s quality, but it’s still a pretty funny ad nonetheless.

Nokia Lumia 1020 Ad Pokes Fun At Samsung original content from Ubergizmo.

Back in August it was revealed that the Wii U version of Batman: Arkham Origins will not come with multiplayer mode, leaving some to wonder if this meant that the game would cost less for Wii U gamers. After all it did not make sense for Wii U gamers to pay the same price for the game as other platform owners, but at the same time be denied access to a rather big feature. Well the good news is that it turns out that the game will cost less for gamers who own the Wii U, according to a rep of the publisher for the game who confirmed the price cut to Kotaku.

The game will see a price cut of $10, meaning that the game will cost $50 instead of $60. Granted it might not seem like too big of a cut, but we guess something is better than nothing, right? It is unclear as to why the Wii U version of the game will not see multiplayer mode. Last we heard the developers wanted to focus on platforms with a larger audience, which does seem a little unfair. We’re not sure if this feature will be added in the future through a patch, but for now Wii U gamers should not expect to see a multiplayer mode if they were to get their hands on the game.

Batman: Arkham Origins For Wii U Will Be Priced Cheaper Due To Lack Of Multiplayer original content from Ubergizmo.

Okay so most of us have probably never had a clock we had to wind, but it seems like an appealing ritual. Calm and quiet. A connection to the passage of time. Or maybe it would be totally automatic like brushing your teeth. Whelp there’s only one way to find out.

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