Hasta La Gadget!

According to a report yesterday, it was suggested that the Xbox One and Xbox Live service was extremely buggy at the moment which could lead to a lot of issues during the console’s launch, and that it would take months until Microsoft is able to fix the issues and get everything working as per normnal. It was merely a rumor at that time and it turns out that perhaps it is just a rumor and nothing more, especially since Microsoft executives, Phil Spencer and Major Nelson, have stepped forward and dismissed the rumors as nothing more than rumors with no truth behind the claims.

According to Phil Spencer, “Games are in certification now and we are playing SP & MP nightly. Anyone can post “stuff” to the web.” Larry Hryb a.k.a Major Nelson, was quoted as saying, “You should ask the COD folks about their game. As far as Xbox One, I’ve been testing the OS at home it’s been great.” Like we said it was merely a rumor at that time and we guess thankfully they were not true. However at the same time we expect that gamers should run into some issues at the start, especially at launch day given that there will be many gamers attempting to play games and connect on Xbox Live all at the same time, and as with new product/service launches, teething problems are to be expected, but thankfully we won’t have to wait months for it to be resolved.

Microsoft Execs Dismiss Buggy Xbox One And Xbox Live Rumors original content from Ubergizmo.

Google’s Nexus 5 handset is expected to be announced on the 5th of November at an event held in Tel-Aviv, and while we’re sure this is the Nexus 5 handset that many are looking forward to, what about the Nexus 4? Will it be discontinued? Or will it be kept around and offered at a lower price for those who might find the Nexus 5 a little out of their budget? While a lower-priced Nexus 4 remains to be seen, the ever-reliable @evleaks has revealed that at the very least, the handset will be kept around. This is according to a photo taken of a retailer’s inventory where it lists both the Nexus 4 and Nexus 5 in black and white options.

Of course it is possible that the retailer might simply be listing the Nexus 4 stock they have left and that it might not mean Google will keep the handset around, but considering that the handset was recently sighted at the Bluetooth SIG with LTE connectivity on board, perhaps we should not be so quick to write the Nexus 4 off just yet. In any case a lower-priced phone would not be a stretch of the imagination. After all Apple does the same thing with older iPhone models, offering them at cheaper prices as a lower-cost alternative to the current flagship iPhone model, so perhaps Google is looking to do the same, but with the Nexus handsets being pretty affordable as it is, we have to wonder just how much cheaper can it get?

Nexus 4 Could Still Be Sold After Nexus 5 Launch original content from Ubergizmo.

Indiegogo co-founder and CEO Slava Rubin took the stage today at TechCrunch Disrupt Europe 2013, and he shared some interesting stats about the crowdfunding platform’s progress to date, and he specifically addressed some of the company’s international growth. Over the past year, Indiegogo has managed to expand its business 300 percent in Europe over the past year, and international funding now accounts for a full 30 percent of its platform activity.

A lot of the hard work about that came around adding new languages, Rubin said, and then it was also challenging because of the various currencies that had to be incorporated into the platform. Most of the heavy lifting is around working out how to take and receive payments in different countries, Rubin said, and adding a number of new international capabilities in that regard has really helped speed up their growth.

The international growth is actually a core part of Indiegogo’s vision, for an open and democratized future of funding.

“It’s really simple, we want to democratize funding across the world, the only way to do that is to be open,” Rubin said. “To be open is hard […] The only way to create an open platform is to be totally global, if you only focus on one vertical or one country, you’re only creating liquidity in that space.”

It’s hard because you need to reach as many people as possible, you need to build a product that’s both open to all submissions but also reliable and consistent, and because you have to defend against fraud, which is hugely complicated when you’re trying to be open.

Yet defend against fraud is exactly what Indiegogo has done. The crowdfunding company has faced numerous fraud attempts since 2008, but Rubin says that they’ve had “virtually zero” actually carried out successful. Its net of anti-fraud detection, which includes community monitoring, advanced fraud detection algorithms, and people to track down and follow-up with flagged incidents, is so far pretty bulletproof, Rubin says.

As to what this means in terms of actually delivering funding to project creators, Rubin says that there’s now “millions” being distributed to between 70 and 100 different countries per week. Indiegogo may have strong competition in the form of Kickstarter, but it’s clearly focus on growing internationally quickly and covering as much ground as possible while Kickstarter moves a little more slowly on reaching new countries.

With tablets these days and apps such as Evernote and Paper, we guess the need to use pen and paper might soon be a thing of the past, but at the same time there is just something about writing with a pen and paper that is comforting and familiar, not to mention sometimes a tad more efficient when you need to quickly jot down something where writing on a piece of tissue is faster than pulling out your phone or tablet and launching an app. This is where the Livescribe 3 smartpen comes in. The Livescribe 3 smartpen is essentially a pen that allows the user to write down notes on a piece of paper, after which the information written on the paper will be transferred to your mobile device as a digital copy via Bluetooth.

This is thanks to a special Livescribe dot paper that can record what is being written, transferring the information instantly as you write it to the Livescribe+ app. The pen itself will also sport a built-in microphone, allowing the user to dictate notes or capture audio when writing is not possible or when it will not be fast enough. Available in two variations, the Livescribe 3’s first option will be priced at $149.95 which will include the pen, a 50-sheet Livescribe notebook, a USB charging cable and an ink cartridge. The more expensive package, priced at $199.95, will include the pen, a 100-sheet hardbound journal, a charging cable, extra ink cartridge, along with a one-year subscription to Evernote Premium. The Livescribe+ app is currently iOS-only, but an Android version is currently in the works. [Press Release]

Livescribe 3 Smart Pen Announced original content from Ubergizmo.

While HTC One devices from T-Mobile and those in Europe are getting their hands on the Android 4.3 update with Sense 5.5, it looks like Verizon subscribers are in for a wait as the HTC One update for their phones will be delayed for a month. We’re not sure what went wrong with the update for Verizon’s version of the phone, but either way this is pretty bad news for Verizon subscribers who were looking forward to the update on their HTC One devices, especially with news that the update is currently making its rounds not just in the US, but around the world as well.

This news was confirmed by HTC America VP, Jason Mackenzie, who said, “@htc One Vz customers: we need more time to spin new SW & re-test 4.3 update. Approx a month. Appreciate your patience as we work to deliver.” No specific release date was mentioned, but given that the tweet was made towards the end of October, we’re guessing it will be the end of November, or possibly even early December, that the update will be released, unless of course HTC and Verizon somehow manage to work around the clock on this and deliver in earlier than anticipated. Either way we’ll keep our eyes peeled for more info, but in the meantime we guess Verizon HTC One users will just have to wait.

Verizon HTC One Android 4.3 Update Delayed By A Month original content from Ubergizmo.