Hasta La Gadget!

Just the other day, an alleged press rendering of the HTC M8 made its way online. The rendering featured the phone in a gold finish, and now thanks to another photo leaked by the ever-reliable @evleaks, the HTC M8 is pictured again in another press rendering, this time in a gray finish, which we have to admit looks pretty good. Now based on the rendering, it would seem that the handset features a brushed aluminum look, although a previously leaked photo would suggest that the “metallic” exterior seems fake, almost like a metallic sticker. However with the HTC One sporting an aluminum build, it would almost be a step backwards for HTC if they were to release the HTC M8 with slightly less premium build materials.

For those who have not been following the HTC M8 rumors, word on the street has it that the handset will sport a larger display at 5-inches, a slight step up from its predecessor which featured a 4.7-inch display. Unfortunately it seems that HTC will be retaining the Full HD resolution rather than a QHD resolution which competitors like Vivo and Oppo have done with their respective devices. The HTC M8 will also most likely be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 800 chipset with 2GB of RAM, an Ultrapixel camera similar to the HTC One, and also the possibility of a fingerprint scanner, a feature which other companies such as Samsung and LG will reportedly incorporate as well. The HTC M8 will also be skipping MWC 2014 and will launch in March in Beijing at a separate event instead.

Alleged HTC M8 Press Rendering Leaked In Gray original content from Ubergizmo.

If there’s one drawback to carriers in the US is that they typically require manufacturers to pass them handset updates to be certified and approved first before being released. This is an additional step in the updating process which explains why those living in the US sometimes receive their updates later than everyone else. Then again, better late than never, right? The good news is that if you’re a Sprint subscriber with the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, you might be pleased to learn that Sprint has announced that the Android 4.4 KitKat update will be making its way onto your devices.

The update weighs in at around 503.6MB so you might want to download this update over a WiFi network rather than use your data plan, lest you burn through your data cap too quickly. The update will introduce some changes, some of which are expected from Android 4.4 KitKit, along with music album art of the lock screen, launcher selection in the settings menu, camera shortcut on lock screen, improvements made to the TouchWiz UI, and prevention pop-up removal. We expect that there might be some updates directly related to Sprint, but for the most part this is about bringing Android 4.4 KitKat to the phone. If you haven’t received your update yet, don’t worry as we’re sure it’s busy making its rounds, but if you have, let us know in the comments below on how the update is treating you!

Sprint’s Galaxy Note 3 Receives Android 4.4 KitKat Update original content from Ubergizmo.

For those unfamiliar, Google Currents is one of the lesser-known services offered by Google, and rightfully so as there are many better alternatives out there, such as Flipboard. This is why we guess it does not come as a real surprise to learn that Google has officially killed of Google Currents with the latest update to the app. For those who have updated or who are planning on updating the app to version 2.3, launching the app now will just present users with a screen telling them that Google Play Newsstand has since replaced Currents, and provides users with a link to launch the Newsstand app.

Also according to the folks at Android Police, it seems that Google will also be doing you a favor and clean up after itself. This was discovered by Android Police dug into the code of Google Currents and found that the latest update will essentially help to clear app storage after launching Newsstand, which we guess is a pretty nice thing for Google to do. After cleaning itself up, the app then disables itself. For those who wish to keep the app around, you can go ahead and do so but it doesn’t do anything anymore, unless you want it for nostalgic purposes. For those who wish to delete it, we recommend you go right ahead and do that if you’re hoping to free up some space on your phone. Of course the alternative is that you keep Google Currents the way it is and not update it, but all good things must come to an end, eventually.

Google Kills Currents With Latest Update original content from Ubergizmo.

As we’re sure many of you guys have heard by now, BlackBerry has filed a lawsuit against Ryan Seacrest’s company, Typo Products, whom they claim infringed upon the design of their trademark BlackBerry QWERTY keyboard. As you can see in the image above, we’re sure many will find it hard to deny that the keyboard’s design is reminiscent of the BlackBerry keyboard which has become something of a signature look for the Canadian company. However as we have heard in the past, just because it looks similar it does not mean that it is a slam dunk case as there are a lot of other factors to take into consideration.

However in the meantime, Typo Products has since asked the federal court judge presiding over the case to dismiss all the claims in BlackBerry’s complaint with prejudice, which essentially means that BlackBerry will not be able to claim copyright infringement again in the future over the same matter. One of the reasons that Typo claims is cause for dismissal is because one of the patents in BlackBerry’s claims isn’t valid, due to the design being available for sale since 1988 which was before BlackBerry’s own patent was approved. We’re not sure if the courts will be so ready to dismiss the case, but we’ll definitely be keeping our eyes and ears peeled for more information.

Typo Asks Judge To Dismiss BlackBerry Lawsuit original content from Ubergizmo.

Earlier Facebook announced their plans to acquire WhatsApp, one of the world’s most popular instant messenger apps. With Facebook’s acquisition of WhatsApp, Facebook has entered into direct competition with the like of other instant messenger apps, such as Tango, for example. In an email sent to us, Eric Setton, the CTO and co-founder has decided to weigh in on the issue. According to Setton, he feels that Facebook might have gotten themselves a good deal. “With this move, Facebook acquired a messaging service that has more active users than Twitter at half the price.”

However Setton wonders how Facebook will be able to earn money from WhatsApp. After all, WhatsApp is based on a subscription service, while Facebook makes their money from ads. In fact with Instagram, Facebook has attempted to introduce ads as part of Instagram’s feed, but we’re sure that WhatsApp users will definitely not be pleased if Facebook attempted to introduce ads in the service as well. “The company is especially valuable to Facebook since mobile advertising is on the rise and it will be a good match to Whatsapp’s high engagement levels. Tango knows this first hand as we successfully introduced native ads last year. It’ll be interesting to see how WhatsApp’s “no ads ever” approach will play out now.”  That is a good question actually, will WhatsApp’s subscription service generate enough revenue to appease Facebook? Or does the social networking giant have something else planned?

Tango’s Co-Founder Comments On WhatsApp’s Acquisition By Facebook original content from Ubergizmo.