Hasta La Gadget!

We’re sure many of us use our phones to play music, and for the most part it sounds alright. Of course it matters what kind of earphones and headphones you use, along with the type of file (whether it’s just MP3 or a lossless format like FLAC), and yes sometimes it does matter what device you are using to play it. Audiophiles can get picky when it comes to choosing a media player as the sound processing engine does play a part in replicating good sound quality as well, and while we can’t speak for Archos’ 40b Titanium yet, this is a device that the company has announced that will be aimed at the music lover in mind.

According to Archos, the 40b Titanium will feature an “enhanced audio system” and will also pack dual-front facing speakers to deliver “crystal clear and pure stereo sound”, which in a way reminds us of the HTC One and its front-facing stereo speakers. Apart from those features meant to appeal to music enthusiasts, the 40b Titanium isn’t much when it comes to hardware. It will pack a dual-core MediaTek processor clocked at 1.3GHz, 512MB of RAM, and 4GB of onboard storage. It will also come with a 5MP camera, a VGA front camera, a 1,400mAh battery with Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. Then again with its price tag of just £100, it doesn’t seem too bad, does it?

Archos 40b Titanium Is Aimed At The Music Lover original content from Ubergizmo.

Earlier it was reported that the Nokia Lumia Icon had officially gone on sale and interested customers would be able to get their hands on the device via Verizon’s website. However there are alternative places where you might be able to get the handset, which is either via the Microsoft Store online, or head on over to a physical Microsoft retail store. Why would you do that when you can go straight to Verizon, you ask? Well it seems that Microsoft has decided to make the Lumia Icon a tad more attractive as the company will be throwing in a free Nokia wireless charging plate worth anywhere between $30-$50.

This offer is valid from now until the 16th of March, so if you are still on the fence about the handset, perhaps this will change your mind. However like we said earlier, this deal will only be valid for customers who purchase it via Microsoft’s retail outlets (either physical or online), so that’s something to take note of as Verizon will probably not offer you the same deal. In fact this is a pretty good deal as wireless charging can come in handy, especially if you don’t like having to keep plugging and unplugging the charger cable on your phone. So, any takers?

Microsoft Throwing In Free Wireless Charger With Lumia Icon Purchase original content from Ubergizmo.

We guess everyone has heard by now that Facebook will be acquiring WhatsApp, the popular instant messaging app, for a cool $19 billion. However it seems that Facebook was not alone in their bid for WhatsApp as our previous report had also suggested that Google expressed their interest as well. However it seems that Google’s offer of $10 billion without a seat on the board was not enough for WhatsApp to sell themselves to the company, which led to them selling to Facebook instead. However according to a report from The Information, it seems that Google had made a last-ditch attempt to acquire WhatsApp and was even willing to pay more than $19 billion.

The report goes on to state that Google’s Larry Page was also willing to allow WhatsApp to remain as an independent company, while at the same time providing them access to Google’s resources. This would mean that WhatsApp would not only have the money, but would also be able to compete with Facebook with regards to photo and video sharing, as well as instant messaging. Unfortunately despite the tempting offer, it seems that WhatsApp executives felt that Facebook’s vision was more aligned with theirs compared to Google. In fact it seems that it was also rumored that Google offered WhatsApp millions just to be notified if the company were to enter acquisition talks with another company, possibly so that Google could outbid them instead. Of course none of this can be confirmed, but what do you guys think?

Google Reportedly Offered WhatsApp More Than $19bn In Last-Ditch Effort original content from Ubergizmo.

When you own a feature phone, chances are beyond the need for a plan to call and text, there is no need for a data plan since your phone either can’t support it, or you’ll be stuck with EDGE which is infuriating slow and there would be no point. That being said, it seems that with the iPhone’s market share in China on the rise, it looks like high-speed data subscriptions are on the rise too. This is according to data gather by Cantor Fitzgerald analyst, Brian White, who has reported that mainly due to the iPhone, China Mobile has managed to 14 million more high-speed data subscribers in the month of January alone, a growth which is apparently faster than any other time in history.

Given that China Mobile is pretty much the largest carrier in the country, and possibly one of the largest in the world, it is unsurprising that they have managed to nab that many new high-speed data subscribers. However it should be noted that despite rumors of a deal with Apple to finally offer the iPhone on its network, the carrier and Apple only managed to reach an agreement in late 2013, where they also finally deployed and certified its own TD-LTE 4G network, a frequency which is supported by the iPhone 5s and the iPhone 5c. This is versus the carrier’s TD-SCDMA 3G network which is not supported by current and previous iPhone models.

iPhone Responsible For China Mobile’s Increase In High-Speed Data Subscriptions original content from Ubergizmo.

So we sort of know that at MWC 2014, Nokia will be officially taking the wraps off its much rumored Android handset, the Nokia Normandy/Nokia X. In the meantime, rumors and leaks aside, Nokia has also been teasing its customers by turning its social media pages green, and in the latest teaser trailer for MWC 2014, Nokia has released a short clip in which an entire bunch of ducks can be seen in the water and are swimming towards a red traffic light. Did we mention that the ducks are green too? We’re not sure if there is any significance in the ducks, but the green is pretty telling as it looks like the same shade of green that Nokia has used with the Nokia X, at least based on press renders.

Let’s not forget that green is also the color of choice for the Android mascot, so that’s pretty telling as well. Hopefully when Nokia officially unveils the device, the ducks will start to make sense. It’s either that or that’s just some weird marketing on Nokia’s part. As a quick recap for our readers who might have forgotten, the Nokia X is a low-end Android device with a dual-core processor, a 800×480 touchscreen display, a 5MP camera, and will run on a forked version of Android which looks a lot like the tiled interface of Windows Phone. In the meantime what do you guys think these ducks mean?

Nokia Releases #GreenDucks Teaser For MWC 2014 original content from Ubergizmo.