News written by Andre Yoskowitz (August, 2015)

Huawei has unofficially revealed an $800 gold-plated Android Wear watch that will work with iOS, as well.

The company tweeted that the the device will be officially unveiled on September 2nd at IFA 2015, but Amazon already had listings for the smartwatch.

According to the listing, there will be four models of the watch, starting at $349.99 but going as high as $799.99. The basic model is stainless steel with a leather strap and the high-end model is gold-plated with a metal band. In the middle is a stainless steel black model for $449.99 and the gold plated model with a leather strap at $699.99.

Most interestingly, the listing says the watches are compatible with iOS 8.2 or later devices, potentially confirming Google's rumored move to let Android Wear work on iOS devices.

The listing has been pulled (obviously), but we will know more on September 2nd.

Hulu has announced today that it has inked a deal with Epix, just hours after Epix's distribution deal expired with rival streaming service Netflix.

Epix offers popular (and new) films from Lionsgate, MGM and Paramount so Netflix users will soon see titles like "Transformers" and "The Hunger Games" leaving the service.

Netflix's chief content officer Ted Sarandos confirmed the switch will take effect on September 30. "If you want to see them on Netflix US, now is the time," he noted.

Hulu, on the other hand, is making an expensive bet that the films will get people to sign up for their service, which is also $7.99 per month. Hulu currently has about 10 million paying subscribers compared to Netflix at 65 million but Hulu does offer content that Netflix does not - new episodes of current TV shows.

"This is a landmark deal for Hulu and it marks a huge expansion for our offering of premium programming," Hulu's head of content Craig Erwich said in a statement. Hulu also boasted the films that will eventually be available thanks to the deal including "Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1," "Interstellar," "Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation," and "The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water."

Six teenagers in the UK have been released on bail after being accused of using the Lizard Squad's cyberattack tool to take down multiple sites and services.

The teens are accused of attacking a national newspaper, a couple of gaming companies, online retailers and a school.

Lizard Stresser, the tool that helps would-be attackers to DDoS targets, was made available by the Lizard Squad, the group that made a name for itself last year by temporarily taking down Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network using the same tool.

The teens, aged 15 to 18, paid to use Lizard Stresser on specific targets, paying for its services with Bitcoin as they tried to remain anonymous.

Tony Adams, senior operations manager at the National Crime Agency (NCA) national cybercrime unit, added: "By paying a comparatively small fee, tools like Lizard Stresser can cripple businesses financially and deprive people of access to important information and public services."

Apple has quickly taken second place in the fledgling wearables industry, just a couple of months after launching their first device, the Apple Watch.

Market analyst firm IDC says Apple shipped 3.6 million watches in the Q2 2015, placing behind Fitbit, which shipped 4.4 million of its much cheaper health and fitness wearables.

Total shipment volume in the industry exploded 223 percent thanks to Apple, and was up to 18.1 million units for the quarter.

Xiaomi was a close third, shipping 3.1 million devices although their Mi Band sells for just $15, making it easily the cheapest such device on the market. The average Apple Watch sells for $450, while the average Fitbit device sells for $120.

Having started developing an app in early 2014, the New York City taxi industry is finally ready to fight back against Uber.

The new app, called Arro, will let New Yorkers hail a traditional yellow or green taxi except without the controversial surge pricing of Uber. The industry also claims that Arro is faster and more reliable than Uber.

Arro is currently being beta tested in just 7000 cabs but will launch publicly in a couple of weeks. Over the coming months all 20,000 NYC taxis will be compatible.

"We thought that there was a void in the taxi industry, certainly in New York and in other big cities," said Mike Epley, director of product management at Arro while completely forgetting that Uber exists. "We see the demand, both on the driver side and on the passenger side. And we want to fill that."

Arro has also partnered with Creative Mobile Technologies, the company that controls the video screens and payments systems that are available in most yellow and green cabs. This sends messages directly to the cabbies when a ride is being hailed. Just like Uber, when you hail a cab, the driver is given your address and name and in return you are given the driver's name and their medallion number (rather than car description, obviously). Your credit card info is stored so you can pay from your phone including tip.

Fans looking forward to the Vive VR headset will have to wait a little longer as the companies behind it say only a very "limited quantity" will be made available in 2015.

The headset was announced in February by joint partners HTC and Valve and will be a gaming-focused device.

HTC says on a very limited quantity will ship this year, with "larger quantities shipping in calendar Q1 2016." Unfortunately for HTC, that puts the Vive squarely in the same release time frame as the Oculus Rift which has infinitely more brand name power and is backed by Facebook.

The Vive developer headset began shipping two months ago, so it is also unclear what kind of support it will have out of the gate. Oculus, on the other hand, has been evolving since its launch in 2013, including sending out two developer kits since then.

Instagram has announced this week that you can now share posts in both portrait and landscape orientation, in addition to the classic "square."

Says the company: "Square format has been and always will be part of who we are. That said, the visual story you're trying to tell should always come first, and we want to make it simple and fun for you to share moments just the way you want to. It turns out that nearly one in five photos or videos people post aren't in the square format, and we know that it hasn't been easy to share this type of content on Instagram: friends get cut out of group shots, the subject of your video feels cramped and you can't capture the Golden Gate Bridge from end to end. Now, when choosing a photo or video, you can tap the format icon to adjust the orientation to portrait or landscape instead of square. Once you share the photo, the full-sized version of it will appear to all of your followers in feed in a beautiful, natural way."

While it will be exciting for photos to have more natural orientation, video posters are likely to see the biggest change as you can choose to post in widescreen now.

Furthermore, filters will now work across photos and video. Version 7.5 is available for iOS and Android.

Analytics firm Nielsen has confirmed that it has finally begun tracking streaming viewership, tracking nearly 1000 shows that are available via services like Amazon, Hulu and Netflix.

The overall goal is to help studios negotiate proper licensing rates for its shows that stream extremely well on subscription services.

Streaming has taken a decent chunk of traffic away from traditional TV viewership and studios are always looking for ways to make up for the lost revenue.

Reports note that Nielsen's tracking is still very limited, as it is limited to the U.S. and does not include mobile devices. Hulu is most popular on mobile devices.

LG has created a new Bluetooth keyboard that should be your ultimate companion in portability.

The new 'Rolly Keyboard' is only slightly smaller than a regular keyboard, with the keys at 17mm compared to the usual 18mm. The keyboard needs just one AAA battery, and has a listed battery life of about 3 months.

"LG Rolly Keyboard is just one of the many premium input devices we'll be unveiling in the coming months as we expand our accessories offerings," said Seo Young-jae, vice president in charge of Innovative Personal Devices at LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company. "The goal was to create a product that could add more value to LG smartphones and tablets at the same time offering a unique design proposition that hadn't been explored before."

We will know more next month at IFA, including price and availability.

Massive startup Uber has hired the two vehicle security researchers that recently remotely hacked Jeeps, causing a major recall of 1.4 million cars.

Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek will begin working with Uber next week, after resigning from their current positions at Twitter and IOActive this week.

Moving forward, the two will join Uber's Advanced Technologies Center, a research lab that is working on autonomous (self-driving) vehicles. Uber says the new hires will work "to continue building out a world-class safety and security program at Uber."

Just like other tech companies, Uber expects that one day it can offer a full fleet of self-driving vehicles, and it is imperative that these vehicles are as secure as possible.

Noel Biderman, the former CEO of Avid Life Media, has resigned.

Avid Life Media is the parent company of recently decimated cheating site Ashley Madison, among others including Cougar Life.

"Effective today, Noel Biderman, in mutual agreement with the company, is stepping down as Chief Executive Officer of Avid Life Media Inc. (ALM) and is no longer with the company. Until the appointment of a new CEO, the company will be led by the existing senior management team. This change is in the best interest of the company and allows us to continue to provide support to our members and dedicated employees. We are steadfast in our commitment to our customer base.

We are actively adjusting to the attack on our business and members' privacy by criminals. We will continue to provide access to our unique platforms for our worldwide members. We are actively cooperating with international law enforcement in an effort to bring those responsible for the theft of proprietary member and business information to justice," reads the press release.

In July, hackers attacked Ashley Madison, gaining access to millions of profiles, email addresses, and even photos of cheaters and would-be cheaters. Even more damaging for Ashley Madison was the fact that it charged users $19 for a "full wipe" of their profile yet actually kept that data on file. The attackers posted all that data, as well.

Thanks to Evan Blass (@Evleaks), we have what appear to be press images and images of Microsoft's upcoming flagship Lumia devices, codename Cityman and Talkman.

Cityman is the larger of the two, at 5.7-inches, and it also has a massive 20MP PureView rear camera with triple LED flash. In addition, it will include support for Microsoft's latest Surface Pen, will have a USB-C port and Qi wireless charging.

Full Specs:

Matte White or black polycarbonate body
5.7 inch WQHD (1440x2560) OLED display
Snapdragon 810, 64-bit Octa core
Iris scanner (infrared) for Windows Hello
3GB of RAM
32GB of internal storage with a microSD card slot
20MP PureView rear camera with triple LED flash
1mm silver ring inside the circumference of the black camera pod
Aluminum side buttons
5MP Wide-angle front facing camera
3300 mAh removable battery
Qi wireless charging integrated
USB Type-C

Matte White or black polycarbonate body
5.2 inch WQHD (1440x2560) OLED display
Snapdragon 808, 64-bit Hexa core
Iris scanner (infrared) for Windows Hello
3GB of RAM
32GB of internal storage with a microSD card slot
20MP PureView rear camera
5MP Wide-angle front facing camera
3000 mAh removable battery
Qi wireless charging with flip cover
USB Type-C
Cityman (Lumia 950 XL)

LG will be making a big OLED push at next week's IFA 2015 event in Berlin.

The company will unveil four new OLED TVs at the event, including 65 and 55-inch 4K high dynamic range (HDR) sets as well as a curved OLED TV that is just 4.8mm thick.

As LG explains, the "OLED display technology ensures that images are displayed in perfect black as well as perfect colors. This is what makes OLED technology an ideal match for HDR content because only OLED panels can deliver the absolute black which makes the bright colors of HDR look even more impressive. OLED TVs are able to render the required HDR light range at lower peak brightness, resulting in an exceptional and more comfortable viewing experience. What's more, LG's HDR-capable OLED TVs allow consumers to view HDR content from both streaming content partners as well as external sources."

All the new TVs will run on the webOS 2.0 smart TV platform and all include speakers built in partnership with Harman/Kardon.

"Anyone who sees our newest TVs at this year's IFA will walk away without a shred of doubt that HDR and OLED complement each other perfectly," said Lee In-kyu, senior vice president and head of the TV and monitor division at the LG Home Entertainment Company. "Our expanded 4K OLED TV lineup will demonstrate to consumers that OLED is here to stay and that LG is committed to leading the next generation TV market."

According to a new report, popular torrent client uTorrent is exploring new revenue models for its parent BitTorrent Inc., including charging for the client which has been freeware for a decade.

uTorrent has over 170 million users and currently makes money through bundled software and some ads but development costs appear to be high and BitTorrent says they were never too happy with the bundled model.

Moving forward, the uTorrent team will be testing alternatives to bundling, including "paid options for every budget."

"As you know, uTorrent is a free piece of software. To support it, we use bundled software and offers to offset the cost that would otherwise be paid directly by the user," said the uTorrent team. "We've never been satisfied with this revenue model. It requires compromises that detract from a premium user experience. We want to find a model that adds value to our product and our users. We want to find a better way."

We should know more in the coming weeks.

T-Mobile Austria has refused to block access to popular torrent sites like The Pirate Bay and Isohunt after a local music rights group asked them to voluntarily begin doing so.

The group, LSG, has been asking providers to block traffic to the sites following a court order that was issued against ISP A1 in the nation. Besides The Pirate Bay, Isohunt.to, 1337x.to and h33t.to were also named.

Helmut Spudich of T-Mobile said "We will not to comply with this request and access to The Pirate Bay will not be blocked." The company also noted that authorities in the nation should "implement clear legal regulations with regard to Internet blocking in Austria. We don't want to block our customers to be blocked inadvertently and would like a clarification on the correct procedure."

A year after acquiring Motorola Mobility, Lenovo has folded their own struggling smartphone division into its now more famous brand.

Motorola will now take over smartphone development and manufacturing in an effort to cut costs.

The news comes via Lenovo mobile business head Chen Xudong, who said the combined company will take the "best talent" from both Motorola and Lenovo.

Earlier this year, Lenovo laid off 3200 staff to help streamline the business, but it was not enough as its Motorola division continues to lose money.

Chen also noted that Motorola will run Lenovo's smartwatch development, as well, although non-Apple Watch smartwatches have generally struggled mightily to gain any traction.

Apple has confirmed that its upcoming iPhone event will take place on September 9th at 10AM PST at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco.

The tech giant is expected to unveil the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus, which are not likely to be major upgrades from last year's blockbuster devices.

What we do know so far is that the smartphones will add animated wallpapers, 4K video support, a 12MP rear camera, and flash for the front-facing camera, meaning night-time selfies will be a possibility.

There is also the chance that Apple will make the iPhones with force-touch, the feature released on recent Macs. Force-touch senses the strength of the press on the display, allowing for much more options.

Microsoft has boasted today that Windows 10 is now installed on 75 million computers, in just one month of availability.

By comparison, it took six months to get 100 million Windows 8 licenses out there, although it is not an apples-to-apples comparison given that Windows 8 was not free.

Additionally, the company says "90,000 unique PC or tablet models" have upgraded to Windows 10, the Windows 10 store "has seen 6x more app downloads per device than Windows 8" and 122 years of gameplay have already been streamed to Win10 PCs from the Xbox One.

It seems Microsoft is well on its way to "1 billion connected Windows 10 devices" as they've proclaimed.

As the world has moved away from physical media, states are now looking to make up the lost revenue in the form of "cloud taxes" on your favorite streaming services.

Chicago is currently experimenting with such a 'cloud tax' on cloud computing and streaming music and video sites, and Tennessee and Idaho have already been testing such taxes for some time.

The move is unsurprising. Annual sales of physical movie discs (DVD, Blu-ray) are down to $10 billion from a high of $20.2 billion in 2006, and recorded media (CDs) are down from a high of $13.2 billion in 2000 to just $1.9 billion last year.

"Seems to me like this might be kind of grudgingly... accepted by a Netflix," Yahoo Finance's Michael Santoli predicted. "I think it reminds me a little bit of when you look at your cable bill and see all the various taxes that are applied there."

It appears that large-scale corporate cyber attacks may have a theme song.

According to the Toronto police, Ashley Madison employees came to work on July 12th and were met with their PCs blasting AC/DC's "Thunderstruck" and their monitors stuck on a 'threatening message' that private data belonging to million of users was soon to be released.

As we all know, earlier this month the attackers released the names, email addresses and more of nearly 50 million cheaters and would-be cheaters as well as emails and financials for the company and employees.

In 2012, it was reported that an Iranian scientist had heard Thunderstruck from his PC following a cyber attack, so is it possible that hackers have a theme song?

According to a new report, Microsoft will launch Office 2016 for Windows on September 22nd, a couple of months after it launched for Mac.

There aren't expected to be any changes between versions, and the Windows app will launch with the new "colorful" theme known to mobile users and it will be touch-optimized, of course.

Additionally, Microsoft has improved search, attachments and email performance within Outlook 2016 and Word 2016 will get real-time co-authoring just like its web app counterparts.

Microsoft has not confirmed the date, but with developers testing the final release candidate as we speak, it is a good guess if anything.

Earlier this year, Google announced that it was preparing to take on game streaming service Twitch and that time has now come.

YouTube Gaming is now available for iOS, Android and desktop and has been well received.

The move has been well forecasted. Google was rumored to have tried to acquire Twitch last year but they were eventually outbid by Amazon. As Google has been known to do, they then set out on building their own version.

YouTube Gaming, just like Twitch, allows gamers to broadcast gameplay live to viewers and will also have exclusive content and interviews. Additionally, there will be 25,000 different landing pages for specific popular games.

For now, the service is just in the U.S. and UK but should expand.

Finland's casual mobile game hitmaker Rovio has forecasted yet another large drop in earnings this year, and will cut 37 percent of its workforce.

The company has forecasted flat sales and another drop in profits for 2015. Last year, revenue for the gaming company fell 9 percent to 158 million euros and profit fell 73 percent to 10 million euros.

Rovio recently released Angry Birds 2, which has been popular, but it is clear that the game will not make up for lost revenues in the years following 2009's original Angry Birds. The company is also launching an Angry Birds 3D movie next year which it hopes will lead to more licensing deals.

"Fundamental changes are needed to ensure Rovio succeeds in its global ambitions to be the leading entertainment company with mobile games at its heart," Rovio CEO Pekka Rantala said in a statement in regards to the layoffs.

Rovio already laid off 110 workers last year.

Sanford Wallace, infamously known as the "Facebook Spam King," has plead guilty to fraud and criminal contempt and will now face up to three years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Wallace admitted to using nearly 500,000 Facebook accounts to send over 27 million unsolicited messages to users of the social network.

According to the FBI, Wallace violated a court order that banned him from using Facebook multiple times, even as far back as 2009. The spammer started his business back in the 1990s through fax machines, and later moved to email before taking his talents to social media.

Wallace also used Myspace for spamming and peddled spyware in the 2000s.

Netflix has announced today that it has partnered with giant mobile carrier Softbank to launch their video streaming service in Japan.

The service will launch on September 2nd and will be offered in three tiers. The cheapest (basic) costs $5.40 (￥650) and is great for an individual while the next tier up is $7.85 (￥950) and allows for two streaming HD devices while $12 (￥1,450) gets you HD access on up to four devices.

In addition, the two companies will also produce original content just like Netflix does in other nations.

Japan has 36 million households with broadband and has been seen as a logical next step for Netflix as it expands around the globe.

Thanks to China's iNexus site, we appear to have a leaked image of the upcoming Huawei Nexus smartphone.

Reportedly, Google will launch two Nexus phones this year, a 5.2-inch model from LG and a larger 5.7-inch model from Huawei.

Strangely, the device appears to have a camera module that juts out, but otherwise does not look all too different from previous Nexus devices.

Thanks to the images, we can see their is a USB Type-C port, dual LED flash and stereo speakers but little else is known. A final screenshot purports that the prototype of the device is running a Snapdragon 810 with 3GB RAM and at least 64GB of internal storage.

We will know more in the coming weeks and months.

Microsoft has announced today that their digital personal assistant software Cortana is now available in public beta for Android owners.

"If you are currently a Windows 10 user, you already know the benefits of Cortana. The Cortana app on Android is the companion to your Windows 10 PC, extending Cortana's functionality across any device you carry, everywhere you go," adds Microsoft.

Just like on the desktop edition, you can set reminders, search the Web, track your important tasks and other important info (like flights) all accessed by voice.

In addition, Microsoft has updated Cortana to be accessed through the home button (in case you didn't want to use Google Now).

Nintendo has confirmed that they are looking to Hollywood for potential collaborations in the future.

The last film Nintendo used its IP for was 1993's disastrous Super Mario Bros., and Nintendo has understandably guarded its popular characters since then, sticking strictly to video games. Over the past few years, however, Nintendo characters have begun slipping into feature films, most recently in the Adam Sandler comedy 'Pixels' but the "cameos" have been few and far between.

"For Nintendo IP, a more active approach will be taken in areas outside the video game business, including visual content production and character merchandising," the company said during its recent quarterly earnings report.

Even more importantly is the fact that Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto and his Software Planning and Development (SPD) division will oversee the ongoing relationship with Hollywood.

"As we look more broadly at what is Nintendo's role as an entertainment company, we're starting to think more and more about how movies can fit in with that--and we'll potentially be looking at things like movies in the future," said Miyamoto in June.

According to a new survey, 48 percent of consumers who have tried using Apple Music have already stopped using it.

The survey comes via MusicWatch, and suggests that Apple's streaming service has already fizzled, like many of the company's non-iPhone devices and services have in the past.

Apple Music costs $9.99 per month for unlimited streaming and exclusive content, and Apple boasted of 11 million users a few weeks ago. Important to note is that all users are on a free trial so it is unclear whether Apple will steal any users away from established rivals like Spotify.

For its part, Apple says "Among those who signed up for the trial, 79 percent are using it on a weekly basis."

Source:
NYPost

Popular browser maker Opera has celebrated 20 years on the market with a brief history of the browser that is now used by 350 million people across desktops and mobile devices.

Pictured is Opera from 1995, back when it was called MultiTorg Opera and it was available on a floppy disc for a charge.

Reads the post: "[Opera]It all started in Norway in the minds of two computer engineers, Jon and Geir. They started to develop browsing software as a project for Telenor. Before long, they founded their own company, Opera Software, and continued working on the browser, which would soon be called Opera. From the beginning, Opera's vision was to bring the best internet experience to any device, regardless of network conditions or location. With that in mind, the Opera Mini browser was born in 2005 and quickly became one of the world's most popular mobile browsers, as it enabled users of even the most basic mobile phones to access the web."

By 2006, the company says it had reached 1 million users for Opera Mini and in 2008 that number had ballooned to 11 million. Today that number is 269 million.

Samsung announced last week that for $1, iPhone owners could test out new Galaxy smartphones for 30 days in an effort to get some users to switch over.

After just a few hours, Samsung has announced that their test program is a hit and there are none left available to rent. iPhone owners looking to try out a Galaxy S6 Edge, the new Galaxy S6 Edge+ or the new Note 5 will have to wait a little bit.

"We're now working quickly on how to make the Ultimate Test Drive available to even more people," said a spokesperson, although they would not comment on how many devices were available for loan in the first place.

Check out the program here: Ultimate Test Drive

According to a new report, Germany has apparently ruled that taking photos of food can infringe on the chef's copyrights.

Sharing images of the food can be illegal, and if you are taking photos at a famous restaurant, you must ask the master chef for permission before you upload it to Instagram.

In 2013, a German court widened copyright law to include applied arts, meaning almost everything can be copywritten if you build it. The report even notes that any restaurant owner can put up a notice in their restaurant that photos cannot be taken without permission and it is acceptable.

Of course, such measures could lead to less innovation in the world of food, but for now it seems that the law is little known, even in Germany.

Earlier this week, Spotify updated its privacy policy and it quickly angered and outraged users.

Under a section that read "Information Stored on Your Mobile Device," Spotify noted that "with your permission, we may collect information stored on your mobile device, such as contacts, photos, or media files." As you can imagine, there was considerable outrage as to why a streaming music service would need your contacts or your photos so CEO Daniel Ek posted a new blog post to clear up the confusion.

The post in its entirety:

We are in the middle of rolling out new terms and conditions and privacy policy and they've caused a lot of confusion about what kind of information we access and what we do with it. We apologize for that. We should have done a better job in communicating what these policies mean and how any information you choose to share will – and will not – be used.

We understand people's concerns about their personal information and are 100 percent committed to protecting our users' privacy and ensuring that you have control over the information you share.

So let me try and clear things up.

In our new privacy policy, we indicated that we may ask your permission to access new types of information, including photos, mobile device location, voice controls, and your contacts. Let me be crystal clear here: If you don't want to share this kind of information, you don't have to. We will ask for your express permission before accessing any of this data – and we will only use it for specific purposes that will allow you to customize your Spotify experience.

Read more...

According to new reports, BlackBerry is preparing an Android smartphone for release this November on all the major U.S. carriers.

Codenamed the BlackBerry Venice, the device will be the company's first smartphone to not run on proprietary BlackBerry software.

The new leak comes via "retired" leaker Evan Blass who also posted a detailed picture of the device. If accurate, the Venice will be a slider that slides to expose a full tactile keyboard bringing back the most popular option for smartphones in 2009.

If the other piece of the report is also accurate (all four major carriers), that will be a huge boost for BlackBerry as the company has struggled to secure deals with all the carriers in the past especially since the carriers will no longer use marketing dollars on their devices.

Vaio, the computer brand once owned by Sony, is trying to make a comeback.

Sony sold the brand last year to a private-equity fund as it tried to exit unprofitable businesses and the firm immediately discontinued global sales as it tried to makeover the brand in Japan.

Vaio Corp. will begin selling new notebooks in Microsoft retail stores starting in October and CEO Yoshimi Ota also noted that the company will attempt a move into Brazil using Positivo Informatica as a partner.

The brand will likely have a hard time making a comeback. Even in Sony's home of Japan, Vaio only has 1 percent market share. The global PC market in general continues to contract and Vaio will have to compete against giants like Dell, HP and Lenovo with just one factory and 250 employees.

However, Ota says the company will be profitable by attacking the super high-end niche market, rather than trying to take market share like Sony did. "At the new Vaio, I ask every project team to make realistic goals and be accountable," Mr. Ota said.

The new designs will sell for about $2,199 in the U.S., and the first model - VAIO Canvas Z - is really more of a "giant tablet" that has an i7 processor, 256GB SSD, 16GB RAM and a detachable keyboard. The device is being aimed at graphic designers, photographers and high-end Mac users.

Valued at $15 billion by venture capitalists, it appears that Snapchat has a long way to go before it is even remotely profitable.

According to a new report, Snapchat lost $128 million between January and November 2014 while only bringing in $3 million in revenue. That being said, the company only started ads last October, so the revenue could be much higher this year but there is evidence to the contrary.

Snapchat's new killer feature, 'Discover,' which allows media properties to offer micro-broadcasts saw a huge surge in popularity when it launched, but traffic (and ad revenue) have both fallen off a cliff since then, says the report. Snapchat was allegedly asking for $750,000 per day from advertisers but has since dropped their rates to just $20 per 1000 views.

Only in a tech bubble could a company with no chance of ever being profitable be valued at $15 billion.

Microsoft is clearly not being subtle in codenaming their upcoming Surface Phone.

According to sources, the device is code named 'Project Juggernaut Alpha.' Of course, a juggernaut is a large, overpowering and unstoppable force which Microsoft certainly hopes its flagship device will be.

Now, we have a look at the alleged specs, which are (true to the name) very powerful:

Display: 1440×2560 16:9 AMOLED 5.5″ ClearBlack with Gorilla Glass 4
Processor: Intel Atom x3 (SoFIA) 64-bit
Camera: Back: 21MP PureView Zeiss 6-lens, and the selfie camera will be a 8MP Zeiss Wide-Angle
RAM: up to 4GB RAM (base model will have 3GB and top model will have 4GB)
Operating System: Windows 10 Mobile
Storage: Internal storage of 64GB or 128GB expandable to 256GB with microSD.
Surface Pen
USB Type-C
Wireless Charging
Aluminium & Magnesium unibody

Now, whether the smartphone will remain a rumor or actually launch remains to be seen but Microsoft will be aiming high if it does.

Android fans rejoiced last week when Bethesda announced that Fallout Shelter was finally headed to the platform.

The game, first announced at E3, should excite fans of the classic Sims games as it takes features of Sims, Sim City and Sim Tower.

In Fallout Shelter - a dystopian future - you create a "vault" underground to survive, basically building homes and trying to find a mate while protecting your vault from thieves.

Check it out on Google Play here.

First teased in 2011, music streaming service Baboom has finally launched.

The service is inviting consumers to sign up and begin creating collections either through the Web app or via its Android and iOS mobile apps.

Despite offering features that are similar to Spotify and others, Baboom is fundamentally different. Its entire platform is "direct-to-fan." Musicians who use the service will receive 90 percent of the revenue from their music and gain full transparency of the platform's 'Fair Trade Streaming' initiative, which promises to make sure fees are distributed properly to artists.

As with most streaming services, you can register as a standard (free) user or a premium ($9.99 per month) user. Free users get unlimited streaming, with ads, and the option to create collections of up to 100 songs. Premium users get unlimited collections, no ads, mobile streaming and "exclusive experiences," although it is unclear what that may entail.

Kim Dotcom, of MEGA infamy, first announced the service in 2011, and then named it and teased it again in 2013. Last year, Dotcom "stepped down" from the service as he claimed the music industry's hatred of him was delaying the service from launching.

After a week of teasing, Google has confirmed that its upcoming Android M mobile operating system will take the name Marshmallow and will take version number 6.0.

The early confirmation came when Google added the giant Android statue to its building, with the statue holding a giant marshmallow.

Later in the day, the company released Android 6.0 Preview 3 images to load to your Nexus devices, confirming the operating system would not be version 5.2 as previously expected.

If you'd like the update, you can get it here: Android Devs Blog

According to a new report, the use of ad blockers will cost the ad industry $21.8 billion this year, and could potentially spell the end of free content in the future.

The new report comes via PageFair and Adobe, which says that 200 million monthly Internet users are now using ad blockers via their browsers, up 41 percent year-over-year.

Over 77 million users in Europe use ad blockers, followed by 45 million in the U.S. Interestingly, Greece had the highest percentage of users of ad blocking services, at 36.7 percent of all Internet users.

"It is tragic that ad block users are inadvertently inflicting multi-billion dollar losses on the very websites they most enjoy. With ad blocking going mobile, there's an eminent threat that the business model that has supported the open web for two decades is going to collapse," says PageFair in the report.

The figure is expected to jump even higher later this year after Apple introduces ad blocking software for its Safari browser.

Earlier this year, the backers of the critical hit Dallas Buyers Club won the right to obtain the names and addresses of 4700 John/Jane Does that they believe had downloaded and shared unauthorized copies of the film.

The individuals were all users of Australian ISPs iiNet, Dodo, Internode, Amnet Broadband, Adam Internet and Wideband Networks.

Justice Nye Perram has denied the claim from Dallas Buyers Club LLC (DBC LLC), and will not lift the temporary stay without the company changing its demands. DBC LLC is trying to charge thousands of dollars in licensing fees to everyone who allegedly shared the film, but the Judge said that demand is "so surreal as not to be taken seriously. If such a claim were made in a proceeding for copyright infringement in this Court I am satisfied that it would be dismissed summarily without trial ... as a case having no reasonable prospects of success."

Smartly, Justice Jerram also said that pirates should only be required to pay back the "equivalent cost of renting the film on iTunes and the costs DBC incurred in finding the name" of each pirate.

In under three weeks, Microsoft's new Windows 10 operating system has quickly taken significant market share.

The OS has been well received, and is free for legitimate Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 owners.

According to StatCounter, Windows 10 has reached 53 million installs, good for 4.95 percent of a massive market.

By comparison, Windows 8.1 had 13.09 percent market share before Windows 10 was released, following nearly two years on the market. OS X 10.10 only had 4.74 percent share, meaning in three weeks Windows 10 has surpassed Apple's year-old OS.

Windows 7 remains with the lion share at 60.75 percent, but that number is expected to continue falling.

CurrentC, the mobile payments app backed by major retailers, may be delayed until next year.

The app is backed by the consortium known as MCX, a group that includes 7-Eleven, Alon Brands, Best Buy, CVS Health, Darden Restaurants; HMSHost, Hy-Vee, Lowe's, Michaels, Publix, Sears Holdings, Shell Oil Products US, Sunoco, Target Corporation and Walmart.

MCX CEO Brian Mooney says an initial pilot will launch in Columbus, Ohio next month, but the group will not rush the global rollout. "This is a long game," Mooney said. "Certainly going faster is always better -- that's not necessarily a debatable point. But we're going to do it right."

CurrentC is very different than apps like Apple Pay (and soon, Samsung Pay and Android Pay) as the app does not allow you to link your credit/debit cards. You can either hook up your checking account, use a store gift card, or attach the retailer's private-label payment cards.

Unfortunately for the group, CurrentC might already be dead on arrival. Two key members, Best Buy and Rite Aid, will begin accepting Apple Pay later this year after an exclusivity period ends with CurrentC.

Source:
Re/code

Dropbox has announced this week that it has enabled USB (U2F) keys as part of their two-factor authentication security.

The keys, which are actual physical pieces of hardware, can be placed on your keychain and can be used as the second piece of a two-factor login, rather than needing to receive a code via text, email or authentication app.

Google made a similar announcement last year, allowing for Gmail login with the keys.

U2F keys are the most secure form of two factor authentication, since there is no code to be stolen or intercepted by attackers. That being said, the keys could still be stolen the old fashioned way: off your person.

Microsoft has announced that its Windows 10 IoT (Internet of Things) Core operating system is now available for Raspberry Pi.

The OS, built specifically for embedded devices, will rival Linux-based portable operating systems such as Raspbian, Arch Linux and OpenELEC.

Microsoft's latest strips the UI from Windows 10 and allows you to program C++, C#, JS, VB, Python and node.js.

The Electronic Sports League has implemented a drug testing policy, killing off hard drugs and "performance enhancing" drugs for the e-sports players.

ESL has worked with the World Anti-Doping Agency to create the policy, which will include saliva tests.

"Tests will be performed at our discretion at any time during tournament days, and will take place in a designated testing area," the league said on Reddit. "Naturally, player's privacy comes first."

Notably added to the list is Adderall, the attention deficit disorder drug that can enhance reaction times and focus significantly, especially if used by someone who does not have it prescribed. Of course, valid prescriptions are still allowed but voluntary notification by the players must be made to the ESL including a physician's note. Marijuana is also banned on competition days, but is fine for recreation (if it is legal in your state or country to do so).

Each penalty for breaking the rules will be made on a per-case basis and can "range from getting prize money / tournament points deducted, to disqualification and up to a two year ban from ESL events."

As previously announced, struggling smartphone maker HTC has announced more layoffs as the company tries to reduce costs.

The company will let go 15 percent of its global workforce (the company has over 16,000 employees).

Says new CEO Cher Wang: HTC is an inspirational company driven by innovative people, with a unique blend of expertise in hardware and software integration,
advanced technology and world-class design. Now, as we diversify beyond smartphones, we need a flexible and dynamic organization to ensure we can take advantage of all of the exciting opportunities in the connected lifestyle space. This strategic realignment of our business will ensure that each product group has the right focus, the right resources and the right expertise."

HTC said last month that it will be focusing on less smartphones and also in "profitable key areas of premium smartphones, virtual reality and connected lifestyle products."

The American Federation of Musicians (AFM) has sued Warner Bros, Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Atlantic Records and Hollywood Records over alleged non-payments of streaming royalties.

According to the AFM, the majors signed a collective bargaining agreement in 1994 which was then amended later in which they committed to AFM members 0.5 percent of "all receipts from digital statutory and non-statutory music licenses – including audio streams, 'non-permanent downloads' and ringback tones – both in North America and abroad."

The suit alleges that they have discovered the majors underpaid or did not pay promised contributions from streaming outside the U.S., "non-permanent" downloads outside the U.S. and sales of ringback tones everywhere. The AFM used independent auditors. "Although these audits have not yet been completed, it appears that each Defendant record company has not reported on and paid to the Fund contractually required contributions based on revenues derived by the record companies from foreign audio streams," reads the suit. "The Pension Fund has demanded that each Defendant record company report on and pay these contractually required contributions to the Fund. Each of the Defendant record companies has wrongly refused to report or make payments to the Fund with respect to its revenues from foreign audio streams."

According to a new report, Comcast is prepared to launch a new video platform that will launch with content from big-name partners.

"Watchable," as the service is called, could launch as early as September.

Comcast will partner with Vox, Buzzfeed, AwesomenessTV, Refinery29, The Onion, Mic, Vice and NBC Sports among other lifestyle, comedy and news sites as it tries to take on YouTube, the undisputed leader in the industry.

The report says the publishers of the content will commit to Comcast for a few years, and will upload all their original video to Watchable. The content will then be bundled and curated for Comcast's own Xfinity X1 box owners. Eventually, Comcast plans to switch all their subscribers to X1 boxes, meaning 22 million TV viewers will be able to stream Watchable.

Reportedly, Watchable partners will not be paid any licensing revenue but will get a large piece of advertising revenue.

OnePlus has quickly released an update to their OxygenOS operating system patching the headline grabbing Stagefright vulnerability.

The update takes the OS to 1.0.2 and was released specifically to patch the exploit. Stagefright, which puts millions of Android users at risk, allowed attackers to send malicious MMS messages and then take remote access of your device.

OnePlus owners will need to flash the update via recovery, and the company says you do not need to wipe your device.

You can learn how to flash the update here: OnePlus Forums

This week at the Flash Memory Summit in California, Samsung has unveiled the "world's largest hard drive," a 16TB 2.5-inch SSD.

The Samsung PM1633a almost doubles the capacity of current hard drives, which max out at 8 to 10TB. The company says its new 256Gbit NAND flash die allows for the massive drive, with Samsung using 48 layers of 3-bits-per-cell (TLC) 3D V-NAND in a single die. By comparison, they were only able to manufacture 36 layers last year.

Ars explains how 3D NAND works and how revolutionary it is: "The simplest way of describing 3D NAND is that everything is turned on its side: so instead of having just one layer of memory cells on a single plane, you can now have dozens of layers of cells, all standing up next to each other. (The "V" in Samsung's V-NAND refers to the vertical nature of these cells.) Process-wise, 3D NAND is very complex, but the massive potential density increase makes it worthwhile."

Samsung has not revealed availability or price but you can expect to pay $7500 or so to own the world's largest drive.

Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi has released another powerhouse device at a rock bottom price.

The company has unveiled the Redmi Note 2 featuring a 1080p 5.5-inch display, a 64-bit octa-core Helio processor, 2GB RAM, dual cameras (5MP/13MP), dual SIM LTE support, a 3060mAh battery and 16GB or 32GB internal storage.

Furthermore, the device has Quick Charge 2.0 support, supports 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Android 5.0 Lollipop with the MIUI 7 UI overlay.

Xiaomi has called the device "the new monster" and while the specs are monstrous the price is what really stands out. The base model sells for RMB 799 ($125 USD) and the higher end Redmi Note 2 Prime with 32GB and a higher clocked processor sells for RMB 999 (about $155 USD).

As usual, the devices are only available in Asia for the time being, with the hopes for expansion to the U.S. and Europe in the future.

Apple has confirmed it will be updating its Boot Camp dual-boot tool this week to support Windows 10 on 64-bit Mac computers.

Reads the support page:

"You need support software (drivers) installed with Boot Camp to use Windows 10. This software is automatically downloaded when you use Boot Camp Assistant. Boot Camp supports 64-bit versions of Windows 10 when used with a supported Mac.
Windows 10 is available from Microsoft as an ISO file, an installation DVD, and a USB flash drive. You need an ISO file of the 64-bit version of the Windows 10 installer to install Windows on your Mac. If you don't have an ISO file, you can use Disk Utility to make one from your Windows installation DVD or USB flash drive. If you're installing Windows for the first time, make sure the Windows installer you're using is for a full installation (not an upgrade installer)."

In addition, the Windows 10 support and drivers extend to USB 3 and USB Type-C for newer Mac devices. Apple says most Macs released 2012 or later are supported but the full support list as well as instructions if you are interested are available here.

HBO has signed a 5-year deal with Sesame Workshop that will bring 'Sesame Street' to the network as part of a core of new kids programming.

The network says Sesame Street will be available on HBO, its multiplex channels and its streaming Now and Go services. In addition, non-HBO subscribers will also be able to see the show, as they have for decades, on PBS, albeit nine months after they debut on HBO.

"Our new partnership with HBO represents a true winning public-private partnership model," said Sesame Workshop CEO, Jeffrey D. Dunn, in a statement, "It provides Sesame Workshop with the critical funding it needs to be able to continue production of 'Sesame Street' and secure its nonprofit mission of helping kids grow smarter, stronger and kinder."

Besides Sesame Street, Sesame Workshop will also license out episodes of "Pinky Dinky Doo" and the new reboot of "Electric Company."

HBO has licensed 150 previously aired episodes and new episodes will begin later this year.

Even though the hardware keyboard mostly died when BlackBerry did, it appears that Samsung is feeling nostalgic.

Announced today alongside their new flagship Galaxy S6 Edge+ and Galaxy Note 5 smartphones is a new kind of smartphone hardware keyboard, one that might make Ryan Seacrest and his 'Typo' keyboard blush.

The keyboard does not require Bluetooth or a battery and does not extend to the bottom of your phone. Rather, the keyboard snaps on top of your display, effectively cutting off about 40 percent of the visible display and the phone will auto-recognize the device and adjust the phone's interface. The screen actually reads the keypresses, and the keyboard can be snapped onto the backside of the phone for storage.

There was no word on price or availability.

When Windows 8 came out sans Start Menu, there was general outrage from consumers but little fixes until Stardock released their Start8 software to bring back the Windows 7 menu you knew and loved.

However, when Windows 10 was released, Start8 still worked, kinda, although it killed some Windows 10 features including basic pinning to the taskbar.

This week, Stardock has released Start10, built specifically for Windows 10 and consumers that want the Windows 7 start menu back.

As with previous offerings, the software will not break the bank, but it does cost $4.99 for a lifetime license.

If you were looking to communicate with friends or followers on Twitter, it just got a whole lot easier.

Twitter has removed the 140 character limit from its DM feature, expanding the limitation to 10,000, more than you would likely need for some chatting.

"Our users will now have the flexibility to write longer and express themselves in a more natural and comfortable way," said Sachin Agarwal, Twitter's product manager for direct messages.

Twitter continues to fight to keep its features in line with other social behemoths, namely Facebook, but the company has struggled to monetize its 315 million users. In addition, the company is looking for a new CEO after longtime executive Dick Costolo resigned last month following a sharp downturn in the company's shares.

Even though the original Popcorn Time team shut down a year ago, most of the founding members have now come out to support one of the variants of the software.

The original site previously had a "goodbye" message, but now links to popcorntime.io.

Now infamous for being "the Netflix of piracy," Popcorn Time has millions of users streaming thousands of unauthorized films and TV shows through software that has a Netflix-esque interface and is powered by BitTorrent.

Popcorntime.io has always been the most popular of the "forks," but now the open-source software can be considered the "official" Popcorn Time client.

After less than a year of availability, the Lumia 830 has reached the end of its life.

The device still bears the Nokia logo, and was released in September 2014, just after the company's acquisition of Nokia's handset division was completed.

Unsurprisingly, the Lumia 830 is now being phased out as it was first touted as an "affordable flagship" but its specs were lacking and its price was higher than other "affordable" devices.

Retailers are being told this is "end of life" for the device, and to begin taking down any marketing. Microsoft's own recently launched Lumia 640 and Lumia 640 XL have similar specs and will remain available although without Nokia's patented PureView camera.

Check the leaked Microsoft doc here:

According to a report from security firm FireEye, the HTC One Max left your fingerprints exposed to any and all apps.

The firm says the phone kept all scanned fingerprints as unencrypted files that any app could read if it knew where to look.

HTC has fixed the bug, "in all regions," following the report. The One Max had been storing the fingerprint data as a specialized bitmap image file, but FireEye was able to easily reconstruct the images to have full scans of the print.

There were worries that other phones may have been affected, but FireEye only named the One Max. Samsung, for their part, says they have spoken with FireEye and reviewed their devices with fingerprint readers, which have all been cleared.

Thanks to a new leak of internal documents, it appears that Samsung is at least testing going back to Qualcomm for its next flagship, next year's Galaxy S7.

The company used its own Exynos chipset for the Galaxy S6, following overheating issues with Qualcomm's Snapdragon 810 chipset. According to the leaked docs, Samsung is testing the Snapdragon 820 for its upcoming phones.

Codenamed "Jungfrau," the Galaxy S7 will run on Android M (with Samsung's own bloat, of course), and notably the phone could launch a month or two faster than expected thanks to Samsung's "Agile" process which promised to improve their internal management process.

If accurate, Jungfrau could launch well before next year's Mobile World Congress, and even in time for the holidays this year.

In a massive restructuring, Google has spun off its core Google businesses and created a new holding company for everything else.

The new company, Alphabet, will allow Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page to separate the incredibly profitable search and ad businesses from the more world-changing (but not profitable) ones such as self-driving cars and Internet-carrying balloons.

Current Android and Chrome boss Sundar Pichai will become the new CEO of Google, while Page will become CEO of Alphabet. Brin is the president of Alphabet, and former Google CEO and chairman Eric Schmidt will become the executive chairman of Alphabet.

Breaking down the new structure, Google will include search, ads, maps, apps, YouTube and Android while Alphabet will hold Calico, Nest, Fiber, Google Ventures, Google X and Google Capital as "managed separately from the Google business."

"We've long believed that over time companies tend to get comfortable doing the same thing, just making incremental changes. But in the technology industry, where revolutionary ideas drive the next big growth areas, you need to be a bit uncomfortable to stay relevant. Our company is operating well today, but we think we can make it cleaner and more accountable," added Page.

Google has updated their Hangouts application for Material Design and included speed and performance updates.

Now in version 4.0 for Android, you should be able to chat with improved speed and simpler menus.

Full list of what's new:

Microsoft has updated their Windows 10 FAQ page to reveal info on the upcoming update for Windows RT.

Windows RT launched in 2012 for ARM-based tablets but support was quickly dropped after consumer outrage on how little apps actually worked for the platform. Despite killing off the operating system (which hasn't been updated since 2013), it appears there is one more update in the works, the oft-rumored Windows 8.1 RT Update 3.

The update will hit your OS in September and will be unremarkable. Microsoft says the lock screen is being updated, and the Start Menu is being updated, as well.

Microsoft says to expect the update in September and that it is the end of the line for the OS. If you still have a Surface RT, it might be time to upgrade.

Smartphone OEM BQ has announced this week that their Ubuntu Touch-powered Aquaris phone will now be available "wherever you live" meaning the company is expanding outside of Europe to the Americas, Australia, Africa and Asia.

Unfortunately for U.S. would-be buyers, the Aquaris does not have the proper band support for 4G in the U.S., and on some carriers you may not even get 3G. For those interested, please check the bands for the device and then what your carrier offer.

Currently, the Aquaris sells for under 200 euro, depending on the model.

The only other Ubuntu phone to be launched so far this year is the Meizu MX4, which sells in Europe and China and also does not support LTE in the States.

Speaking at Seattle Code Rush, mobile operating system startup Cyanogen has made some bold claims.

The company said its operating system now has "more users than Windows Mobile and Blackberry combined," a nice subtle slight of hand since Windows Mobile died in 2010 and was replaced by Windows Phone.

Cyanogen now claims over 50 million users, compared to under 40 million for BlackBerry and Windows Mobile. Windows Phone on the other hand, has near 80 million users and is the third largest mobile OS on the planet.

Regardless, the milestone is huge for Cyanogen as the company looks to disrupt the Apple/Google monopoly that has become the smartphone industry.

Last year, Google launched its Android One platform to bring affordable handsets to the developing world but the program quickly disappeared.

Even Google admitted that Android One had "not delivered to expectations" with Google's own Rajan Anandan also confirming that "we had a few hiccups."

Android One had quite a few partners in the developing world, all of which were aiming to create higher volume devices with standardized specs and all running on a stock or near stock Android.

In the coming weeks, Google will 'reboot' the program, starting in India. Google's ultimate goal is to sell handsets for well under $100 in most areas, and in India the "sweet spot" is 'between Rs.2,000 ($31) and Rs.3,000 ($47).'

Browser maker and online advertising firm Opera Software has said this weekend it may be seeking a sale of the company after another quarter of less than expected earnings.

Opera says the search for a partner or a sale is "in response to strategic interest in the company from a number of parties."

The company said its Q2 revenue grew 45 percent to $146 million, below all analyst predictions and profits were $29 million compared to the expected $30.6 million.

Worst of all, due to a drop in revenue from their advertising business, the company is now expecting revenues of $600-$618 million for the fiscal year, compared to their previously forecasted $630-$650 million.

T-Mobile, long the smallest of the major mobile carriers, has now surpassed Sprint to take sole control of third place.

According to their recent earnings reports, T-Mobile USA now has 58.9 million customers, ahead of Sprint at 57 million. For the quarter, T-Mobile added 2 million new customers, crushing Sprint who managed to gain, but only 675,000.

Despite the title loss, Sprint has actually been doing a good job in turning around its struggling business.

"Over the past year, Sprint has made meaningful progress in our turnaround by improving our network performance and enhancing our overall value proposition," new CEO Marcelo Claure noted.

Regardless, we should expect some gloating from boisterous T-Mobile CEO John Legere.

Following the terrifying, headline grabbing Stagefright bug, manufacturers are quickly moving to secure their devices.

Google, Samsung and LG have all announced that there will now be monthly OTA security updates for all of their devices moving forward.

"LG will be providing security updates on a monthly basis which carriers will then be able to make available to customers immediately. We believe these important steps will demonstrate to LG customers that security is our highest priority," noted LG.

Samsung said essentially the same thing: "Samsung Electronics will implement a new Android security update process that fast tracks the security patches over the air when security vulnerabilities are uncovered. These security updates will take place regularly about once per month."

A few days ago, Google announced their updates. "The first security update of this kind began rolling out today, Wednesday August 5th, to Nexus 4, Nexus 5, Nexus 6, Nexus 7, Nexus 9, Nexus 10, and Nexus Player."

Motorola and Alcatel have also promised StageFright patches but did not promise monthly updates.

Stagefright, which is being called the worst Android vulnerability ever, would have allowed attackers to take over a device just by sending an MMS message. It would not have mattered if you opened the message or not, as most phones are set to auto-retrieve MMS. Google says anyone with Android 4.0 or newer is protected, but there are apparently still 100 million devices out there running Android 2.2, 2.3 or earlier. Yikes.

According to NPD data, U.S. watch sales plummeted in June, as smartwatches finally took a little bite of the industry.

Retailers sold $375 million in watches during the month, a huge 11 percent drop year-over-year, the largest such decline since 2008.

Splitting the industry up, NPD says watches that cost under $1000 are most at risk of losing share, and the $100 to $149 range saw a huge 24 YoY decline in June. The average Android smartwatch costs $150-$300 and the Apple Watch starts at $349.

"In the short term, brands at accessible price points are going to have to think very seriously," said NPD's Fred Levin.

For Apple, the Apple Watch still appears to be an experiment and sales are nowhere near its core device sales. For the last quarter, the company is expected to have sold about 2.1 million watches. By comparison, it has sold over 60 million iPhones (at higher prices) for the last couple of quarters. However, that figure is large compared to traditional watch sales, which were under 1 million for June.

Opera has announced the acquisition of Bemobi, a subscription-based mobile app discovery platform that specializes in Spanish speaking markets.

Bemobi offers users unlimited access to paid mobile apps for a weekly fee, and the charge is added to their carrier bill. The carrier part is important in many Latin American nations since credit cards and even bank accounts are relatively hard to come by.

The company says it has 6 million active subscribers.

How will Opera, a browser developer, use the service? Good question. According to Opera, thanks to their existing connections with carriers (some of which pre-install mobile Opera on their phones), Opera will look to leverage such relationships and combine the services to "bring innovative app-discovery and monetization services across the globe and position Opera as the global leader in this space."

Rovio's latest franchise game, 'Angry Birds 2,' has seen over 25 million free downloads in its first week of availability.

Comparing the figure to the original Angry Birds, Rovio creative director Patrick Liu says it took 9 months for the original game to reach the milestone.

Of note, downloaders seem to be actually playing the game as well. 1.4 billion birds have been launched and 300 million levels have been completed since launch, added Liu.

Unlike the original, however, Angry Birds 2's freemium model is a bit aggressive. You can buy gems (basically extra lives and birds) for as cheap as $0.99 or you may not be playing for too long in one sitting.

The European Commission has concluded their investigation into Apple Music and claims of anti-competitive behavior.

Rivals services such as Spotify have asked authorities across multiple countries to investigate Apple and its launch of Music. The main issue at hand is the fact that Apple takes a 30 percent cut of all paid apps and all in-app purchases from apps purchased through the app store. Spotify, for example, is $9.99 a month for a premium subscription but the company has to charge $12.99 through the App Store to ensure they get the same margin for their service.

While the investigation found no wrongdoings or illegal activity, the EU will continue to monitor the entire industry, says the report. Additionally, the regulators will continue to seek information from rival streaming services.

U.S. regulators continue to look into the claims.

If you were in the market for an Xbox One, and potentially for a new TV, Best Buy has a great deal for you.

Starting tomorrow, and through Saturday, August 15th, Best Buy is offering the popular Xbox One (with Halo: The Master Chief Collection or Assassin's Creed Unity and Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag) and a 1080p 40-inch Samsung Smart TV for just $500.

The deal is pretty great given the MSRP for the Xbox bundle is $350 and the TV normally sells for $429.

Here is the TV set in question, but you will have to wait until tomorrow to get in on the deal.

One-time Taiwanese smartphone giant HTC has said this weekend that there will be job cuts in the future for the company as it tries to stymie falling profits.

In addition, the smartphone maker will release less models in the future, instead returning to just high-end models that it hopes can compete against Apple and Samsung. High-end models also come with much higher margins.

"The cuts will be across the board," Chief Financial Officer Chialin Chang said. "They will be significant." The cuts are expected to be made in the Q3, Q4 2015 and Q1 2016.

As recently as 2011, HTC had over 10 percent of global smartphone shipments but has since fallen out of favor as Samsung and Apple control the high-end and Chinese OEMs control the low end. The company now has less than 3 percent of global shipments.

At the end of July, Chinese startup OEM OnePlus announced their next flagship device, the OnePlus 2.

With high-end specs and a low price, the device immediately gained the attention of the tech world and it appears there is certainly some interest in the smartphone.

The company revealed yesterday that 2 million people had signed up for the company's invitation reservation list, and as of writing that number has just about hit 3 million.

If you buy a OnePlus 2 you will get a 5.5-inch 1080p display powered by a custom Snapdragon 810 v2.1 processor and 3 or 4GB or RAM depending on the model you choose. The selfie cam clocks in at 5MP while the standard camera is 13MP with OIS and two-tone flash. The phone is also the first device to launch with the USB-C connector, will include a fingerprint scanner and runs on Android 5.1 with the OxygenOS user interface overlay on top.

Most importantly, OnePlus has managed to keep their margins razor thin and keep the price low, as well, with the 16GB storage/3GB RAM model selling for just $329 and the 64GB/4GB RAM model selling for just $389.

The phone is available on August 11th.

Chinese startup OnePlus will introduce a second smartphone this year before Christmas.

Co-founder Carl Pei made the announcement during an interview, but did not elaborate much more except to say that it "may or may not" be more powerful than their recently announced flagship OnePlus 2.

"When I saw the prototype for [the new] phone I was like 'Holy sh*t, that's going to be my daily driver,' but then when the OnePlus 2 production version came out it's also super nice, so it's really hard to decide now what to use," Pei said. "It's going to be amazing, but today I'm not going to talk about it."

The OnePlus 2 will begin shipping this month.

Two days after the Indian government blocked access to 857 popular porn sites, the sites have returned following major public outrage.

The government's department of telecom has told ISP to unblock sites that "do not have child pornographic content." The government also denied that they were morally policing their people, but instead trying to prevent minors from accessing pornographic sites.

"I reject with contempt the charge that it is a Talibani government, as being said by some of the critics. Our government supports free media, respects communication on social media and has respected freedom of communication always," said Communications and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.

ISPs were not happy with either decision, concluding that the latter is also unreasonable. "How can the government put the responsibility on us to see whether a website carries child pornography or not?," the head of the India Internet Service Providers Association noted.

A few months after announcing its redesigned Xbox One dashboard, the company has confirmed a release time frame.

Microsoft says Windows 10 will launch for the console in November, powering the dashboard.

Most of the updates around the dashboard are simplifying the design, but there will be speed and performance upgrades, as well along with the integration of Cortana, Microsoft's voice activated digital personal assistant.

For example, you can ask Cortana to record your gaming and then publish it, or start or a party, or plenty of other things without needing to actually move (if you have Kinect, of course).