Hasta La Gadget!

Remember all the fuss a couple years ago about Apple storing your location data from iPhone 4 handsets and the subsequent privacy lawsuits that resulted? Well, that’s all amounted to nothing for four of the plaintiffs, as their claims have just been dismissed in court by none other than Judge Lucy Koh. She said that those folks failed to show they had relied on any alleged Apple misrepresentations, and suffered no harm in any case. Shortly after the allegations were made in 2011, Apple countered that it was just using the data to improve connection times, and the only thing it did wrong was keep it for too long. As a result, it ended up patching the problem so that the offending file only stored your information for a week, instead of a year. Despite Koh’s ruling, Apple has paid out similar suits elsewhere, and still has up to 19 more to contend with stateside. Anyway, after what we’ve seen since then, the whole thing now seems downright quaint.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Apple

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Source: Reuters

While HTC has been known to put out some pretty impressive devices, they have not been having the same amount of success that Android manufacturers such as Samsung are experiencing. In fact it was only recently that HTC announced an operating loss of $101 million, but it looks like the Taiwanese company might have figured out a way to fight back. For the most part HTC relies on Qualcomm for their supply of chipsets that has made its way into devices like the HTC One and the HTC One Max, and will use different Qualcomm models depending on whether the phone is a high-end or a low-end one.

However with the recently unveiled HTC Desire handsets, the Taiwanese company has instead enlisted other chipset manufacturers such as Spreadtrum, Broadcom, and even ST Ericsson. In fact the new HTC Desire 501 features a 1.15GHz dual-core ST Ericsson chipset, while the HTC Desire 600 and 700 sport Broadcom and Spreadtrum chipsets respectively. While it seems that these chipsets could be used to lower costs, they are actually used to help increase HTC’s profit margin, which we guess would be more beneficial after HTC’s recent operating loss. It is unclear if this new strategy will pay out and if these chipsets will make their way into higher-end HTC devices, so we guess we will just have to wait and see.

HTC To Improve Profit Margins By Enlisting Spreadtrum, Broadcom, ST Ericsson For Chipsets original content from Ubergizmo.

Just days after it unveiled a second gold One, HTC is releasing another variant of its Android flagship in an attempt to boost sales in the UK. Today, the company announced the availability of the HTC One Dual SIM, which you may already know as HTC One 802w. Just like it’s Chinese counterpart, the device comes with a removable back for access to dual SIM slots and, more importantly, a microSD slot. That means you can switch between SIMs to receive calls and also fall back on up to 64GB of external storage, should you max-out the One’s 32GB of internal storage. The dual-SIM functionality does come at a price, however, as the latest One variant does not support LTE — otherwise the specs remain unchanged. If you can overlook that, the One Dual SIM is up for pre-order on HTC’s official store for £495 ($809), with it likely to head to a “number of networks and retailers” in the near future.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, HTC

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Official HTC Store

We’ve all made excuses as to why we aren’t doing the things that we’re supposed to do. For example we claim we’re too tired/busy to go the gym when in reality we’re just too lazy, and one of the things we can do about that is by motivating ourselves to get off our chairs and actually set out to do what we said we would. If you’re the type that finds it hard to be self-motivated, perhaps the BetterMe app might be an app worth checking out. BetterMe is essentially a to-do app where instead of just setting the time of the task you’re supposed to accomplish, it relies on a GPS check-in system as well.

Basically users will have to enter the address of the place they’re supposed to be at, like the gym, and the app will then rely on your location to determine if you have arrived at the place at the scheduled time. Assuming you decided to play hokey, the app will know and will then publicly shame you on Facebook for not completing the task that you were supposed to do! There will also be goals which asks your friends to hold you accountable for, and there is also an alarm which when you press snooze, will publicly shame you as well! It’s a little harsh but for those who really need that extra push, perhaps this is an app worth checking out.

BetterMe App Will Shame You Into Completing What You’re Supposed To Do original content from Ubergizmo.

Emoticons do a great job of conveying how we feel when we send instant messages. A smiley face could indicate happiness, while a frown could indicate displeasure. But what if there is no emoticon for whatever you’re feeling at the moment, and what if your current expression could do a better job of conveying your feelings? Well according to a new patent from Nokia, it has been suggested that perhaps your phone will be able to detect your mood and snap a photo of you at the moment and use that as an emoticon instead.

How your phone will detect your mood will rely on factors such as your typing speed, your typing pressure, and the use of the back space key. For example if one were excited about an upcoming holiday with friends, you could be typing really fast (because you can barely contain your excitement) to the point where you might be pressing harder than you’d like on your display, and could be causing a lot of typos hence the excessive backspacing. Once the phone has detected your mood, it will then launch the front-facing camera which will then take a snapshot of your face to be used in place of normal emoticons.

It sounds like a pretty novel idea, but at the same time kind of creepy. We’re not sure how we feel about our phones being able to detect our moods, but what do you guys think?

Nokia Patent Wants To Use Your Face And Your Mood As Emoticons original content from Ubergizmo.