Hasta La Gadget!

There is plenty that the new Samsung Galaxy S5 is, where it is capable of being water resistant, laughs at the colony of dust bunnies in your home, being full well capable of shooting some very high quality video along the way, but one thing it is not – bulletproof. Sure, we have seen the Galaxy S5 go through some rather abusive tests in the past, including falling under the drop of a hammer, but Rick Ryan, the “tech assassin,” has decided to send the Samsung Galaxy S5 to the firing range and see how it stacks up against a .50-caliber Barrett.

Of course, the entire appeal of Ryan’s effort has nothing to do with the real time destruction of the Galaxy S5, but rather, the slow motion video capture (it would be really ironic if it were to be another Galaxy S5 that recorded everything that happened in 4K glory, but I digress) that will let you see what happens when a bullet rips through this technological marvel.

Needless to say, no smartphone has managed to come out unscathed after being hit directly with a bullet, although we have heard an instance of the iPhone possibly saving a soldier’s life while he was on duty in Afghanistan.

Samsung Galaxy S5 Vs .50 Caliber Rifle: Fight! , original content from Ubergizmo, Filed in Cellphones, galaxy s5,

Microsoft has just started to accept universal applications for its combined Windows and Windows Phone Store, and what better way to introduce universal apps than in the form of a game – Halo: Spartan Assault? The one time purchase of this game will be able to be used on either platform, where it has been listed as a universal app in both the Windows Store and Windows Phone Store.

In a nutshell, anyone who actually picks up the game via either store will be able to obtain a license to play the game on both Windows and Windows Phone platforms. Halo: Spartan Assault costs $4.99 a pop, thanks to a recent price cut for the app.

There is also a new disclaimer on the Windows Phone Store that takes note on how the universal nature of the app, touting that this particular title was developed “for Windows Phones and Windows PCs.” Apart from that, there is also another icon in the store’s listing that shows off the game’s dual-platform status. The game itself has not changed, of course, and it remains to be seen whether Microsoft will take the step to extend its universal app store to the Xbox One or Xbox 360. Are you going to give Halo: Spartan Assault a go anytime soon? You can pick up Halo: Spartan Assault for Windows Phone 8 at 691 MB and for Windows 8 and RT at 843 MB here and here, respectively.

Halo: Spartan Assault Kicks Off Universal Windows Games , original content from Ubergizmo, Filed in Cellphones, Gaming, halo, Windows, Windows Phone,

If there is one perk to owning a Nexus handset is that updates are typically pushed to your device first. That and the fact that you’re running the stock version of Android means that there is no unnecessary lag from overly fancy user interfaces that OEMs like to install on their phones. That being said, if you’re getting bored of the default Android UI and want to shake things up a bit, you might be interested to learn that the Sense 6 UI from HTC has been ported onto the Nexus 5.

For those who have the Nexus 5 and don’t mind taking the HTC Sense 6 UI for a spin, you can head on over to the XDA forums to find out more and to download the ROM. However we should note that the Sense 6 ROM for the Nexus 5 is currently in its alpha stages meaning that there not all of its functions are working.

At the moment according to the developer who ported it, GalaxyUser, the functions that are working at the moment includes the touchscreen, SIM card detection, SMS and phone calls, WiFi, SD card, vibration, Bluetooth, and light, orientation, and proximity sensors. Of course given its alpha nature there are also bound to be plenty of bugs that needs fixing, so if you wanted to use it as your daily driver, it’s probably not the best idea.

In the meantime it seems that while the Nexus 5 could potentially be enjoying the HTC Sense 6 UI, HTC’s own products like the HTC One from 2013 have yet to receive the update which is currently scheduled for a late-May release.

Sense 6 Gets Ported Onto Nexus 5 , original content from Ubergizmo, Filed in Cellphones, HTC, nexus 5,

Smartphone OEMs typically release flagship devices once or twice a year at most, and in between they tend to release devices that aren’t as powerful with low-mid ranged specs to appeal to a broader group of customers, which is why a recently leaked screenshot for a certain Sony D6603 has us scratching our heads and wondering what could be Sony’s game plan?

The image was originally spotted on Digi-Wo which revealed the model number D6603. This model number has been sighted before on benchmarks which revealed the handset to pack specifications that are very close to Sony’s latest flagship handset, the Sony Xperia Z2 (D650X).

This means that the D6603 will come with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 chipset clocked at 2.3GHz, an Adreno 330 GPU, a Full HD 1080p display, a 20.7MP rear-facing camera, 16GB of onboard storage, and the interesting part is the only difference would be its RAM, with the D6603 sporting 2GB versus the Xperia Z2’s 3GB. Other than that both devices appear to be identical.

We should note that benchmark results can be faked so there is a chance that the benchmark results might not have been the real deal. Some have also speculated that the D6603 might be a prototype device that might not even make it to the market, while others think that the D6603 might be an Xperia Z2 variant destined for another carrier or other markets. Either way its specs are still relatively high-end meaning that we doubt the phone would be marketed as a low-cost alternative to the Xperia Z2.

In any case take it with a grain of salt for now, but until more evidence surfaces, we’ll just have to speculate. In the meantime we’ll be keeping our eyes and ears peeled for more info, so do check back with us at a later date to see if there are any additional details that can be had.

Mysterious Sony D6603 Spotted In Screenshot , original content from Ubergizmo, Filed in Cellphones, Sony,

Smartphone theft is on the rise and lawmakers are doing whatever they can to help discourage thieves from stealing more smartphones. This has resulted in certain lawmakers pushing for carrier and smartphone manufacturers to equip their phones with kill switches, thus ultimately rendering the phone useless if a theft were to occur, which in turn would hopefully discourage thieves.

While we’ve yet to see the widespread adoption of the kill switch (it has been proposed in the state of California), Apple has recently decided to throw its name behind a new initiative along with a handful of other Android OEMs that basically see smartphones manufactured after 2015 include a series of anti-theft features. (more…)

Apple Participates In Smartphone Anti-Theft Voluntary Program original content from Ubergizmo.