Google and Motorola are apparently indeed working together on a Nexus 6 smartphone, a phablet of gigantic proportions unlike anything Motorola has done while under Google. Following a recent report from Android Police, which has obtained details about the Motorola “Shamu” Nexus 6, The Information said that it has been able to independently verify the device, adding that Google’s rumored Android Silver line of premium devices may be delayed.
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After a leaked imaged suggested Apple may be getting ready to release new Retina MacBook Pro models this week, the company went ahead and updated its online stores with the 2014 versions of its top of the line laptop. All models received processor and memory bumps, with some versions also getting a price reduction, similar to what the company did with its 2014 MacBook Airs.
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Let’s start with the obvious: the iPhone has been a massive, unequivocal success. Every subsequent release seems to break the records that the last one set before it, and now with the biggest hardware overhaul in the phone’s history rumored to be coming this fall, the books are primed to be rewritten once again. But before any of that happens, Jordan Weissmann of Slate has decided to take a step back and see just how big the iPhone really is (and we’re not talking about the 5.5-inch phablet).
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HBO gets it: You want to be able to subscribe to its content without having to pay for a bunch of other channels you don’t want. However, just because HBO understands what you want, that doesn’t mean it care. Re/code’s Peter Kafka has an excellent post explaining why HBO isn’t going to pull a Netflix and offer a standalone online subscription, no matter how much you beg it to do so.
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Samsung’s biggest fear is that it will become just another small-margin smartphone vendor along the lines of LG, HTC, Xiaomi and countless others. This is why it’s invested so many resources into creating its own Tizen mobile platform and why it’s tried unsuccessfully to heavily modify Android with overlays like Magazine UX to move its mobile devices beyond being vehicles for Google’s Android platform.
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Smartphones have effectively replaced a lot of the gadgets that we used to buy, including calculators, compasses, alarm clocks and dedicated GPS trackers. And now The Wall Street Journal reports that smartphones look poised to kill off another antiquated piece of technology — hotel key cards.
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Microsoft reportedly had plans to unveil a new Surface mini tablet alongside the Surface Pro 3 earlier this year, but the company supposedly cancelled those plans when it realized the mini tablet didn’t offer much in the way of compelling differentiation. Some reports suggest the Surface mini is back in the mix and could launch later this summer, while others state that tablet has been shelved indefinitely. Whatever the case may be, it looks like Microsoft has another new Surface tablet in store for us this fall.
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Apple will reportedly offer potential iPhone buyers a new way of acquiring iPhones in its retail stores, in addition to on-contract, prepaid and full price purchases, 9to5Mac has learned. The company will apparently test drive iPhone purchases via carriers’ early upgrade programs, including AT&T Next, T-Mobile Jump and Verizon Edge. It’s not known whether Sprint’s One Up plan will also be supported.
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Although Halo: The Master Chief Collection comprises four games we’ve already played, 343 Industries still hasn’t shown off much in the way of gameplay footage since announcing the project at E3 this year. That changed this week when the team took the stage at Comic-Con to reveal not only the gorgeous new cinematics that would be appearing in Halo 2, but also the graphical differences between Halo 2 remastered on the Xbox One and the original game, which you can swap between with a single button press.
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Microsoft has a new TV commercial for its Windows Phone 8.1 Cortana assistant in which it’s taking new shots at one of its biggest competitors, Apple’s voice-based assistant Siri. The new ad, titled “Happy Anniversary,” shows a smartphone user issuing certain commands to an iPhone 5s (Siri) and a Lumia 635 (Cortana), with only the latter able to recognize them and deliver appropriate responses.
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