Hasta La Gadget!

Hashtags have long been the domain of Twitter, where users utilize them alongside keywords to make searching and grouping easier. Over time, hashtags have become an embedded part of our vernacular, used as a part of speech to emphasize a particular aspect of the conversation, the speaker’s setting, and other such things. As such, it only makes sense that Facebook would add the hashtag to its own service.

The information comes from individuals who are said to be familiar with the matter, according to the Wall Street Journal. The hashtag feature, once incorporated, will allow events and trends to be aggregated together by their shared topic, with users being able to click on the hashtag to see a list of statuses with the same marker.

While the hashtag is a staple of and most commonly associated with Twitter, it isn’t exclusive to that service, and can be found in use across the web, including on Facebook’s own Instagram, which makes it easier for photos to be sorted and discovered. As it currently stands, Facebook users can already tag certain things via “@.”

This comes at a time when Facebook is making some big changes and is competing against Twitter in a spectrum of areas, not the least of which is getting more advertisement dollars flowing its way. Recently, the social network updated its search engine, stated that public statuses will be searchable, and has pushed users to post more content publicly rather than with just their friends. Says the sources, this feature won’t roll out for awhile, so don’t expect to see it with the updated news feed.

[via Wall Street Journal]

Facebook to add hashtags, says sources is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

We’re in countdown mode to Samsung‘s event in New York City tomorrow, during which the Korean company will launch its highly anticipated Galaxy S IV smartphone. The handset has been the source of numerous leaks and rumors (which you can check out in the Timeline after the jump), the latest of which has appeared just hours ahead of its unveiling on the Chinese forum it168.

The alleged Galaxy S IV featured in the leak, which you can see in the gallery below, is said to be a dual-SIM sample model. It first appeared on it168 earlier this week, but the latest round of images give a better look at the handset, including a handful of specs to go alongside the new batch of pictures.

The plastic backing on the phone features a crosshatched texture, while the home key is said to be embossed, with the entire unit measuring in at only 7.7mm in thickness and weighing 138 grams. The screen is an expected 4.99-inch full HD 1080p display, and inside there’s a reported 8-core 1.8GHz Exynos 5410 processor accompanied by 2GB of RAM.

The internal storage is a decent 16GB, and there’s the ever-present microSD slot for expansion. The battery has a 2600mAh capacity. Also revealed were a few software features, the most interesting of which is the ability to hover a finger over a portion of the display to pull up an S-pen stylus effect. Are the specs spot-on? We’ll find out tomorrow at Samsung’s event in NYC, which we’ll be covering live, so stay tuned!

[via Engadget]

Alleged Galaxy S IV pictures and specs appear on Chinese website is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Samsung’s big Galaxy S4 reveal is almost upon us, but that hasn’t stopped the steady drip of leaks which today includes a new set of cases for the flagship smartphone. The colorful covers, 98-percent trusted” from UK retailer MobileFun‘s source, are unbranded, but they do fit in with what leaks we’ve seen in the past week or so about the expected form-factor for the new handset.

Whereas earlier indications pointed to a squared-off S4, stepping back to the aesthetic of the Galaxy S II in some ways, and away from the rounded edges of the Galaxy Note II, these shells – along with the latest batch of chatter – hint that won’t be the case. Instead, we’ve seen Samsung itself tease with a snippet of the Galaxy S4′s curvaceous shoulder, while more unofficial rumor-mill-grist have shown a phone that looks strikingly similar to Samsung’s existing range, plastic case and all.

This new lot doesn’t stray too far from any of that, and in fact – though we’re expecting a bigger display, up to 5-inches from the 4.7-inch Galaxy S III – the general aesthetic is almost identical. The speaker and LED flash do seem to have shifted somewhat, though, with the flash now underneath the camera lens (believed to be a 13-megapixel shooter) and the speaker down near the bottom edge.

We’ll have to wait and see as to whether these accessories are legitimate or not, but there isn’t long to go before we know for sure. Samsung’s event kicks off at 7pm ET in New York City on Thursday, and SlashGear will be there to bring you all the news as it happens.

More Galaxy S4 cases leak on eve of Samsung’s big reveal is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

A video that is said to be of Google Now for the iPhone and iPad was leaked onto YouTube earlier today, only to be pulled a short while later – not before it was downloaded, it would seem. The video has since been reappeared on the video sharing website, where it is still available for all to enjoy. You can check it out after the jump.

The video surfaced over at Engadget, where a tipster made its existence known. As they point out, a careful ear will note that the voice in the alleged promotional video sounds the same as the one featured in official Google Now promotional videos. That and the fact that it was pulled shortly after surfacing publicly gives it an air of legitimacy.

According to the video, using the iOS version of Google Now is as simple as “swiping up.” It provides all the goodies current users enjoy, including contextual data cards and alerts. This leak follows a non-functional tease of Google Now on Chromium, indicating that the service is at least finding its way to the desktop.

Of course, while it is nice to believe this to be a legit foreshadowing of what is to come, there are some other possibilities, the most of obvious one of which is forgery (although it would be quite a high-quality fake if that is the case). And it is also possible that this low-res promotional video shows a project that Google toyed around with but ultimately abandoned. For now, at least, the search engine giant hasn’t commented either way.

[via Engadget]

Google Now for iPhone and iPad video leaked on YouTube is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Remember back in January when Lenovo CFO Wong Wai Ming hinted at a possible acquisition of BlackBerry (formerly known as RIM)? After discrediting those rumors shortly after they surfaced, Lenovo is back with more chatter of the possibility of a BlackBerry buyout. Lenovo CEO Yang Yuanqing says that a BlackBerry acquisition “could possibly make sense.”

According to Bloomberg, Yuanqing told French newspaper Les Echos that buying BlackBerry would be possible, but Lenovo would first “need to analyze the market and understand what exactly the importance of this company is.” These remarks are of similar timbre to Wong’s comments back in January, although Lenovo downplayed the significance of Wong’s comments.

Thanks to Yuanqing’s comments, though, BlackBerry shares rose 9.7% to $14.32 today, which was the company’s biggest midday gain since early last month. Shares closed at $14.87 for the day. When BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins was asked about the acquisition rumors, he slyly denied the claims and wasn’t sure why Lenovo would make such comments.

Of course, all acquisitions have to be approved by regulators first, especially any foreign acquisition. An acquisition of Canadian-based BlackBerry would have to be automatically reviewed by the Canadian government, since the company value is over $335 million. The approval process would be to determine whether the transactions are of “net benefit” to the country.

[via Bloomberg]

BlackBerry acquisition speculation surfaces again thanks to Lenovo CEO is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.