Microsoft’s decision to unbundle Kinect from the Xbox One has been controversial among Xbox fans who worry that Kinect will never reach its full potential if developers believe that Microsoft has lost confidence in it. As it turns out, some of their worries might be justified.
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BlackBerry diehards may love smartphones with QWERTY keyboards, but their numbers are very few. A new chart posted by Alex Barredo of Post PC shows that the percentage of mobile phones with full QWERTY keyboards was still at above 25% as recently as 2010, even though today it stands at somewhere around 1%. In fact, QWERTY-equipped phones didn’t really start to drop off the map until the period between 2011 and 2012, when their share of the market plunged from around 20% to well below 10%.
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Apple and Samsung may be closer to a ceasefire when it comes to their never-ending patent wars, according to a report from The Korea Times. The Times source—an industry official “familiar with the negotiations”—said the two companies no longer want to spend their time fighting each other over patents.
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Fleksy on Wednesday launched a Messenger App that offers Samsung Gear 2 smartwatch users access to the company’s smart Fleksy keyboard app, allowing them to more easily compose SMS messages on the tiny display of the device. The application, a first of its kind for Samsung’s wearable device, is available as a free download from Samsung Apps.
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Google published a video on Wednesday introducing future developers to Android Wear, the platform on which many of the most anticipated wearables will run in the coming months and years. Other than a few hardware announcements, there’s still a great deal we don’t know about Android Wear, but this video from Google’s Timothy Jordan should help clear a few things up.
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Even various legit Android apps have been found to have additional hidden powers, which is why it shouldn’t surprise us that one more piece of malware has apparently made it to the Google Play Store. FireEye, the security firm that discovered the malicious app, worked with Google to have the app removed from the store after finding that it was able to steal user data including SMS messages, certificates and even banking details.
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Do money and taste really go together? The newest smartphone from luxury brand Vertu suggests otherwise. The Wall Street Journal brings us word that Vertu’s recently launched Signature Touch flagship smartphone features “a digital camera by Hasselblad, global Wi-Fi from iPass, Dolby Digital Plus virtual surround sound and a personalized concierge service.” Oh, and it will also set you back $14,100. Yes, you read that correctly.
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Elon Musk doesn’t invest in many companies, but when he does, you should probably pay attention, especially when that company is an artificial intelligence company. In a wide-ranging interview with CNBC, Musk said that pretty much the only companies he invests in are SpaceX, Tesla, SolarCity, and an artificial intelligence company called Vicarious. Why invest in artificial intelligence?
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Maybe the Wii U isn’t doomed after all. Following the release of Mario Kart 8, the two most recent VGChartz weekly sales charts show that the Wii U sold more units than the Xbox One for the first time since Microsoft’s next-gen console launched last November. The latest NPD report confirmed that Mario Kart 8 had been the second best-selling game of the month, even with just two days on the market after releasing on May 30th, but the ensuing resurgence of hardware sales is an even more exciting trend for Nintendo.
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For hardcore Android fans, no smartphone on the planet is more exciting and intriguing than the OnePlus One. Based on CyanogenMod software, the One is powerful, affordable and probably more tweakable than any other Android phone on the market. It’s also practically impossible to buy. OnePlus is a small company and it’s simply not equipped to handle the demand among Android enthusiasts for its new phone. In an effort to manage all of that demand, OnePlus is currently offering 2,500 invites to purchase a OnePlus One.
If you thought getting one was going to be easy, however, think again.
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