Jan 16
It may not look like much right now, but this strip of blown-out, busted-up buildings is usually swarming with celebrities.
     |
Jan 16
Apple and Samsung have a bitter rivalry, one which we can only hope they will work out in the near future, but either way given that both Apple and Samsung have created some of the most popular phones for the iOS and Android platform respectively, the rivalry is only to be expected. However it seems that while iOS might not have the largest market share at the moment, that honor goes to Android, in terms of individual products, Apple’s iPhone ownership in the US has actually grown to 42%, outpacing the likes of Samsung and other manufacturers in the process.
According to the report from the NPD Group, they have estimated that Apple’s iPhone ownership rose from 35% back in 2012 to 42% in Q4 2013, which might have been attributed to the introduction of two new iPhones – the iPhone 5c and the iPhone 5s, as well as officially arriving on T-Mobile’s network. However in terms of growth, it seems that Samsung and LG did grow compared to back in 2012, but other companies such as Motorola, HTC, and BlackBerry actually lost some market share in Q4 2013. The gap between Samsung and Apple is pretty big at the moment but will Samsung ever be able to catchup, or will the iPhone forever lead it in terms of appeal? What say you?
iPhone Ownership In The US Sits At 42%, Well Ahead Of The Competition original content from Ubergizmo. 
| |
Jan 16
BlackBerry has had a change of leadership several times in the past few years. Prior to BlackBerry’s “crisis”, they had an interesting setup of dual CEOs comprised of Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie. They were then replaced by CEO Thorsten Heins who sounded promising and made claims that he would be taking BlackBerry to new heights, but it was not to be and he has since been replaced by John Chen, who was initially meant to be the interim CEO until the board of directors could find someone new. So will Chen be able to succeed where his predecessors have failed? It remains to be seen but if anyone has confidence in BlackBerry, it would be none other than Apple’s ex-CEO himself, John Sculley.
It seems that Sculley is pretty impressed with Chen and has a huge amount of respect for him, calling him one of the most respected CEOs in the tech world, and going on to say that “if anybody has a chance to turnaround BlackBerry, it’s John Chen.” Indeed so far Chen has proven to be different from the normal CEO and has called himself “abnormal” when he was asked if he would have been better off taking a “safer and easier” job. In fact investors seemed to be pretty upbeat about Chen’s appointment as stock prices have risen during his first earning’s call. Will he have what it takes to turn things around? With Fairfax Financial backing the company and with a new CEO at the helm, these are certainly exciting times for the Canadian company.
Apple’s Ex-CEO John Sculley Believes John Chen Can Turn BlackBerry Around original content from Ubergizmo. 
| |
Jan 16
Hitman fans, we know that there has been some confusion about the future of the franchise. It wasn’t too long ago that it was suggested that the next game after Hitman: Absolution had been cancelled, but as it turns out it was simply being worked on under a different studio instead. Well perhaps looking to end the confusion and to update fans on the progress of the game, IO Interactive has since released an open letter to fans of the Hitman franchise, letting them know what is going on at the moment.
The exact story of the game was not revealed and based on what we know, it seems like the game is pretty early in its development stage, suggesting that it might take a while before it will be released. What we do know is what IO Interactive has mentioned, which is that the game will be built on the Glacier 2 engine and it seems that unlike previous Hitman games, IO Interactive will be adopting an open-world design, similar to what Rockstar has done with GTA 5. The developer has also revealed that they will be bringing back Contracts Mode, allowing you to be challenged or be the challenger. IO Interactive expects to share more details throughout the year so be sure to check back with us later for more updates.
IO Interactive Sends Out Open Letter To Hitman Fans original content from Ubergizmo. 
| |
Jan 16
Some Americans have no doubt been tempted by T-Mobile’s willingness to pay early termination fees for switchers, but the offer has many catches — you have to jump ship from a major carrier, for one thing. However, the network tells Re/code that its …
Jan 16
Google’s research department just released a fun visualization called Music Timeline, which attempts to chart the rise and fall of different musical genres in terms of their relative popularity. Watch rock, pop, alternative, and hip hop each rise to the top.
| |
Jan 16
Good news, Rdio loyalists: Spotify users aren’t the only ones who are now able to stream music for the unbeatable price of free. Presumably as a result of the Cumulus Media deal revealed earlier this year, Rdio customers can now listen to the …
Jan 16
We have DSLRs, compact cameras, smartphone cameras, and even tablet cameras to help take photos with. However there are times when those options might not be readily available, or you might not have a cable to transfer the photos over onto the computer with, so what do you do? You use a camera mouse, of course! Japanese company King Jim is expected to launch a camera mouse in the near future, the 31st of January to be exact, and as the name and the photo above implies, it is a mouse with a camera that you can use to take photos with, but also double up as a regular mouse when not in use.
It seems that this mouse has been designed for users who might need to make quick snapshots of documents and products and send them off to a customer ASAP for reference purposes, although who’s to say that the mouse won’t be used to take selfies for Facebook and Twitter uploads, right? Not to mention given its diminutive size, it can be packed into a laptop bag and taken out in public as well. In any case it’s not the most powerful camera at 2MP but should be good enough to get the job done. With its accompanying software compatible with both Windows 7 and Windows 8, the camera mouse by King Jim will be priced at ¥4,200 (which is about $40 after conversion).
King Jim’s Mouse Comes With A Camera Built Into It original content from Ubergizmo. 
| |
Jan 16
When it comes to helping developers create apps for the WIndows Phone platform, Microsoft has been pretty aggressive, such as offering to fund developers to a certain degree and so on. It is financial incentives like this that when it was rumored that Microsoft could be looking to pay their OEMs to manufacture Windows Phone handsets, it did not exactly come as a huge shock or surprise. From what we heard, Microsoft was rumored to pay a bunch of OEM – Samsung, Sony, Huawei, and others – $2.6 billion in total to make Windows Phone devices for them.
Typically it would be the other way around, as OEMs would have to pay Microsoft to license the Windows Phone platform from them. This rumor came about from Eldar Murtazin who is pretty well-known when it comes to revealing spot-on leaks and rumors. However in this case it seems that Eldar might have gotten it wrong, at least according to Sony, who refuted those claims. According to a tweet by Microsoft’s Frank X. Shaw, he wrote, “reality check. Do we do co-marketing with partners? You bet! But these numbers are complete fiction!” Perhaps the $2.6 billion figure could be wrong, but Shaw does not exactly deny the practice either. Could that number be more, or could it be less? What do you guys think of Microsoft’s strategy anyway?
Microsoft Refutes $2.6 Billion Payouts To OEMs original content from Ubergizmo. 
| |
Jan 16
What’s classier than a tiki torch, tougher than a luminaria, but less commitment than a big ol’ backyard pit? Well hey, it’s this cool Fire Bucket. And whoa, it can do double duty as a planter. Neat!
| |
Who's in charge here?
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.