Now that we officially know all of the details and can calm the hype trains down, lets talk about pricing. Apple has just confirmed an aggressive pricing strategy for the new iPhone 5C, coming in at just $99. However, many of you are probably interested in their flagship iPhone 5S. With an improved camera, fingerprint […]
After countless reports, rumors, and waiting Apple has finally confirmed what we all knew was coming this afternoon. That being the impressive new budget-friendly iPhone 5C. It’s official, and we have all the details right here. So since you won’t get the usual aluminum frame and standard design, how will it be priced? Aggressively. Check […]
Today, Apple has just announced their all new and improved OS X 10 Mavericks operating system, and it will be loaded with new features. Things such as finder tags, multiple screen use, serious memory management and much more. Now we know what you’re all wondering. When can you get it? Well, it looks like later
Now that the Xbox One has been revealed, it’s time to begin speaking about when the device will actually be released to the market. This week the Xbox One (code-named Durango or otherwise Xbox 720) was shown with several details including those surrounding the device’s innards, but as far as official word of its real final market release goes, Microsoft has been essentially mum.
The company announced thus far that the device will be released “later this year”. If this release is meant to coincide with several games that have been announced for the system already, this timeframe suggests the holiday season – and if it’s prepared to be released at the same time as major titles like Call of Duty: Ghosts, it’ll be out in November.
As Ghosts is set to be released on the 5th of November, and that timeframe is essentially perfect for a holiday gift-giving release, gamers can pretty much bank on the idea that they’ll be waiting at least a few more months before the final device is on the market. The fact that the console and peripherals shown yesterday were still being called “prototypes” by Microsoft handlers on-site also lends to the idea that the Xbox One wont be coming extremely soon.
Microsoft has made it clear that the showing yesterday – a mere one hour long – was only the first installment of at least 2 showings the device and the games that’ll work with it will be getting. The second showing will be at the gaming convention E3 2013.
At E3, not just Microsoft, but gaming developers galore will be showing their wares to the public. This convention traditionally plays host to the largest announcements of the year – but here in 2013, hardware and software companies have begun to get wise about their individual event power in the press. Microsoft and Sony (with their PlayStation 4) have decidedly split things up to have as much potential staying power as possible.
Gamescom will also be taking place starting on the 21st of August until the 25th – this is a less likely place for Microsoft and Sony to show off any major announcements, but sits in second place nontheless. E3 will take place June 11th through the 13th, and you can count SlashGear in for the whole lot – stay tuned!
Xbox One release date may appear at E3 in Microsoft’s second wave is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Back in February, ASUS revealed the FonePad, a 7-inch tablet with smartphone functionality and a design similar to the Nexus 7 (which ASUS makes). If you’ve dreamt of the day you could merge your smartphone and tablet into a single too-big-for-the-hip-pocket device and you’re located in the UK, you’ll be able to grab this device on April 26 for £179.99.
Pre-orders for the FonePad (not to be confused with the PadFone) will begin this Friday, with the device hitting shelves in the United Kingdom a couple weeks later on April 26. The tablet/smartphone hybrid runs Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, and sports a 7-inch display with a resolution of 1280 x 800 framed in a body that weighs only 380 grams, a nice light weight for something this large.
Under the hood, users will find a single-core 1.2GHz Intel Atom processor and 1GB of RAM, as well as 16GB of internal storage space and a microSD slot for expansion. There’s 10-point touch support, as well as 3G and HSPA+ for the non-WiFi model. At some point we’ll be seeing an 8GB model hitting shelves, too. You can check out our hands-on review of the slate here.
And as we’re sure you noticed, the price is excellent, undercutting the newly announced Galaxy Note 8.0, which has a said price of $399 for the US. The ASUS FonePad 7, priced at £179.99, would be about $275 USD, a drop of more than $100 over Samsung’s competing device, making a pretty good deal for those in the market.
[via Android Community]
ASUS FonePad 7 opens to pre-orders in the UK on Friday is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
As the HTC One nears release here in the United States and is delayed – just a bit – in the UK, we thought it time to do some educated breaking down of what the handset will cost in the states up against its upcoming rival: the Samsung Galaxy S4. With the Samsung Galaxy Note II costing right around 430 pounds in England right this minute and the HTC One costing essentially that same amount at 425, we can safely assume that the HTC One’s pricing in the United States will be essentially the same as that top-tier Samsung smart device.
As the Samsung Galaxy Note II will cost you right around $199.99 here in the USA on-contract and brand new, it shouldn’t be too much of a stretch to assume that the HTC One will be arriving at that price as well. It’s been tipped once or twice in the past few weeks (even before the reveal of the device itself) that the HTC One would be coming in more than one variant (different internal storage sizes, that is), for prices between $199.99 and $299.99 on-contract.
When the HTC One X was launched last year on AT&T, the device arrived for $199.99, and the carrier currently has new models available for $299.99 on-contract. As the HTC One will not be coming in a 16GB version (at least to AT&T), we’ll be seeing a $199.99 price point at least – perhaps $249.99 with the 32GB right out of the box. Then there’s the release date question.
Earlier today we received confirmation from HTC that the March 15th release date in the UK would be pushed back:
“We will start fulfilling pre-orders by end March in certain markets and will roll out to more markets as we approach April.” – HTC
With this release date pushed back, it’s possible that the USA will not be getting their models in until April at the earliest. With a release inside April, the HTC One and the Galaxy S4 will certainly be approaching the same timeframe for market rollout across the United States – not to mention the rest of the world. The Samsung Galaxy S4 will also quite likely have a pricing structure not unlike the Galaxy Note II, especially given the rumored specifications placing its processor at a higher point than that already-beastly handset.
Have a peek at our collection of recent HTC One hands-on experiences, analysis, and news bits to keep up on the release, and get pumped up about rolling out with one yourself – soon!
HTC One USA carrier pricing and release date predictions: very unofficial is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
We heard in the past that Microsoft’s upcoming Surface Pro line of tablets would be releasing sometime in January, which created speculation that the new tablets might make an appearance at CES 2013 next week, even though Microsoft isn’t attending this year. However, several sources say that the Surface Pro will be released later this month.
According to CNET, several Microsoft retail store employees expect the Surface Pro tablet to make its appearance at the end of the month. Starting at $899, the Surface Pro will sport an Intel Core i5 processor and a 1080p HD display. It will also run a full version of Windows 8, unlike the Surface RT running on tablet-optimized Windows RT.
Microsoft originally opened up pre-orders for its Surface RT tablet 10 days before the tablet’s release on October 26. If the company is to follow a similar pattern, then we’ll likely see an official announcement shortly after CES, with pre-orders starting at that time as well.
The Surface Pro will act more like a laptop than the regular Surface tablet, which was more of a hybrid. Of course, you’ll still have the ability to easily use the Surface Pro as a tablet, but using either keyboard attachments will no doubt give the Surface Pro more credit as a powerful laptop of sorts.
[via CNET]
Microsoft Surface Pro said to arrive at the end of the month is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
StarCraft II players have been waiting a long time for Blizzard to announce a release date for the game’s first expansion, Heart of the Swarm, and it seems the big day has finally arrived. Earlier today, Battle.net was showing a release date of March 12, 2013 for Heart of the Swarm, a date that Blizzard later confirmed. So, only five more months and you can finally get your hands on Heart of the Swarm. Exciting, no?
On its own, Heart of the Swarm will cost $39.99 and will be available physically at brick and mortar stores as well as digitally over on Battle.net. If you’re new to the world of StarCraft II, you’ll be able to pre-order a bundle that packs Wings of Liberty and Heart of the Swarm together for $60. Players who pre-order this bundle (pre-orders open up today, by the way) will have immediate access to their copy of Wings of Liberty.
There are also a couple collector’s editions for Heart of the Swarm. The first is the Digital Deluxe Edition, which as you may have guessed is only available digitally. This comes with Heart of the Swarm (naturally), a Torrasque skin for Zerg Ultralisks, special StarCraft II portraits and decals for your Battle.net account, a Baneling companion pet for World of Warcraft, and finally, wearable bladewings and a banner sigil for use in Diablo III.
The physical Heart of the Swarm Collector’s Edition features all of the digital goodies found in the Digital Deluxe Edition, along with a behind-the-scenes DVD/Blu-Ray, a copy of the Heart of the Swarm soundtrack, the compulsory art book, and a Zerg Rush mouse pad. The Digital Deluxe Edition will cost $59.99, while the full blow Collector’s Edition will set you back $79.99. Are you ready for some more StarCraft II action?
StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm finally gets a release date is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
During the iPhone 5 launch a couple weeks ago, Apple announced an update to its iPod Touch lineup that would include the same 4-inch screen as the iPhone 5. However, we were only given an “October” release date, so we weren’t sure if we’d see them at the beginning of the month or more towards the end. Today, it’s said that Australian users are seeing a ship date of “3 weeks” on Apple‘s website.
The new iPod Nanos are also seeing the same release date as the iPod Touch as well. Frankly, we’re surprised that Apple is taking this long to release the new devices. In the past, it was the iPod Touch and iPod Nano that got released before the new iPhone usually, but this time it’s exactly the other way around.
The iPod Touch comes in six different colors and comes with a lot of new changes from the last-generation iPod Touch. The larger screen and the addition of Siri are two of the more obvious changes, but it now comes with the faster A5 processor and is thinner than ever with a 6.1mm thickness. The camera can now shoot full 1080p HD video and the device even comes with a “Loop” to attach a wrist strap to.
For what it’s worth, the American Apple website still states “October” as the ship date, but you can pre-order the new iPod Touch if you haven’t done so already. It comes in 32GB and 64GB flavors for $299 and $399, respectively. If you haven’t taken a look at our hands on of the new device, now is a great time to do so.
[via Today’s iPhone]
New iPod Touch release date set for late October is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
The folks at Rovio have been hard at work on a sequel for the mega-popular Angry Birds franchise, here turning the whole world upside-down with Bad Piggies. This sequel to the Angry Birds original will have the mechanics of the game changed just a bit, with the Pigs being the center of attention instead of the Birds whom, up until now, where the ones you were tossing at the enemies – those being the Pigs. Here Rovio is letting details loose in bits in pieces in videos and comics to tease you ’til the final release.
The first set of clues you’re going to want to take a look at is here in a series of videos. What this playlist will show you is a set of science-related sequences that may very well lead up to the pigs bringing on their own inventions for the final game. What we’re seeing here is building – lots of building – and fire – lots of fire. Could the Piggies be racing soon?
They note that “gasoline should never be brought indoors”, this letting us know that there’s almost certainly going to be some explosions happening here in the next chapter. There’s a woodsman cutting down a tree, several airplanes taking off, and a bunch of balloons being left to fly straight upward. There’s a video showing the bottom of a shopping cart, and great amounts of creation.
There are also a couple of comics up made by a couple of talented artists (the massively talented duo of writer Jukka Heiskanem and illustrator Giorgio Cavazzano) who are showing off quite clearly what at least one part of the game will be about. The first of two comics has a young Pig creating a cart that quickly smashes into the ground. The second has a more seasoned Piggie helping the smaller Pig with a new cart, this time working with dynamite jets and an umbrella up top to keep him afloat.
The key here is the phrase “I’m afraid your design is not going to work.” This leads us to believe that this game will be all about building, physics, and crashing – or flying, by the looks of it. Stay tuned as Bad Piggies gets its first big release on the 27th of September – coming up quick!
UPDATE: Right on time – or right after time, rather, Rovio and Yahoo have teamed up to release this “exclusive” video showing off some in-game action. Check the Pig building superstars go at it very much how it appeared they would!
[via Rovio]
Angry Birds sequel Bad Piggies brings wave of video clues [UPDATE: Gameplay!] is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
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