Netflix on Wednesday confirmed it will expand into more international markets this year, revealing plans to launch its video streaming service in various European markets. The company did not reveal and precise release dates or subscription details for its major European launch, saying that its service will be available to more customers in the region in “late 2014,” for “a low monthly price.”
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Google’s self-driving car project may still be in its infancy, but one day the system it proposes will be available to consumers at large, who’ll be able to have their cars driven for them instead of having to actually do the deed themselves. While Google is further developing its driverless car, legislation also needs to be adapted to address potential legal problems of the future, such as when police give tickets to self-driving vehicles.
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The cold, dreaded hands of Microsoft devices and services boss Stephen Elop are now apparently responsible for killing off another product. Bloomberg is reporting that Elop, who most famously ordered the death of the once-dominant Symbian platform during his tenure as Nokia’s CEO, was responsible for axing a smaller, cheaper version of Microsoft’s Surface tablet that was tentatively called the Surface mini.
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Sprint was hit with a $7.5 million fine by the Federal Communications Commission for not complying with the Do Not Call Registry by sending consumers unwanted phone calls and text messages, according to The Associate Press. Sprint’s fine is the largest Do Not Call-related fine the FCC has ever handed out. That being said, Sprint will probably be OK, with its $8.88 billion in revenue last quarter.
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In-app purchases have been a controversial topic in the mobile market ever since they debuted on the App Store. Free-to-play game developers, which had formerly depended on advertising revenue to sustain their business model, were suddenly presented with an attractive alternative: sell in-game currency or exclusive items for real money to empower the players. Of course, not everyone sees IAP as beneficial to the market, which is why Italy’s Antitrust Authority is launching an investigation against Apple, Amazon, Google and app publisher Gameloft regarding commercial practices related to IAP.
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Apple kicked off a new trade-in program that lets iPad owners turn in their older tablet models for credit that will count towards a new iOS device purchase, The Next Web reports. The offer is good for old devices, including iPad 2, iPad 3, iPad 4 and first-gen iPad mini, which can all be traded in, while the current-generation iPad Air and iPad mini with Retina display won’t be accepted by Apple retail store employees.
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In case we weren’t clear enough in our review last year, the Galaxy Gear failed to impress us. It was an underwhelming entry into a market that hasn’t quite found an audience yet, but we might have underestimated the power of Samsung’s marketing team. According to a recent report from Strategy Analytics, Samsung’s original Galaxy Gear smartwatch shipped more units in the first quarter of 2014 than Pebble, Motorola or any other vendor.
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So far a lot of the speculation about the upcoming Galaxy S5 Prime has been about its reportedly sturdier metal build but now ZDNet Korea reports that the S5 Prime might be better than the Galaxy S5 in yet another way: Its wireless connectivity. ZDNet Korea’s sources in the telecom industry say that the Galaxy S5 Prime will be able to support download speeds of up to 225Mbps thanks to its inclusion of Qualcomm’s MDM 9635 chip that released last November and that it is capable of sending and receiving data through three different spectrum bands.
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The HTC One (M8) Ace is supposed to be HTC’s plastic version of the HTC One (M8), one of the best Android phones available in stores right now, although the company has yet to officially unveil it. Recent reports claimed that the Ace will pack M8-grade specs in a plastic body and will retail for a more affordable price, as HTC continues looking to offer smartphone buyers a better competitor to the Galaxy S5. However, not many images showing the alleged device have been leaked so far, with @evleaks having shared a blurry image of the front side of the handset back in early April.
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We’d love to review the OnePlus One ourselves… except the device is almost impossible to come by and even one person who thought that he’d gotten one only wound up with an empty box. However, Marques Brownlee has been lucky enough to get his hands on this semi-mythic device and he’s just posted a thorough video review showing off the OnePlus One’s best features.
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