Phone Arena: July 2014

Thursday, 31 July 2014

Video shows you how to make your own Apple iPad from scratch

How would you like to make your very own Apple iPad from scratch? And the best part is, you probably already have all of the necessary equipment in your home. Have some wires left over from some old speakers that you don't even own anymore? Great. How about some old Christmas lights? Check. And for the screen, surely you can find an old Etch-A-Sketch that was once owned by your kids. You will also need some duct tape and jar of peanut butter.

Now, you will need to watch the video below to make sure that you have completed the assembly in the right order. And if it turns out that your iPad ...

Verizon and T-Mobile versions of the Samsung Galaxy S5 each receive update

If you own the Samsung Galaxy S5 and you're on Verizon or T-Mobile, you might have received an OTA update on Thursday that took care of some housekeeping chores. The Verizon update, to software version KOT49H.G900VVRU1ANE9, updated the Caller Name ID, Message +, and cloud apps. It also took care of a large number of issues, such as improving connectivity while streaming music, enabling Visual Voicemail when the S-View cover is closed, making the "Favorite" contacts list more readable, and removing the 'Search' icon on Memo when there is no memo. You can check out the rest of the changelist on the ...

In case you missed it, Apple is a completely new company

For all intents and purposes, Tim Cook has been in charge of Apple since January 2011, although he didn't officially take over as CEO until August of 2011. In March of 2012, Cook put his brand on Apple by changing the iconic logo to the one seen above that both separated the company from the Steve Jobs era, while still paying homage to its roots. Later in 2012, Cook stepped away from Jobs' comments that "7-Inch tablets are dead on arrival" by releasing the iPad mini. 2013 brought a completely new UI with iOS 7, and a range of colors for both the iPhone 5c and 5s. At WWDC this year, Cook announced ...

Samsung Galaxy S5 LTE-A's European version (SM-G901) may not feature a Quad HD display

Last we heard, Samsung had no plans of releasing its Galaxy S5 LTE-A (pictured on the left) outside of South Korea. However, it looks like a variant of the handset may reach Europe eventually.

SamMobile can reportedly confirm that the European Galaxy S5 LTE-A carries the model number SM-G901. This SM-G901 was recently benchmarked with GFXBench, and it looks like there’s one major difference between it and the S5 LTE-A that can be purchased in Korea. While the Korean model sports a display with 1440 x 2560 pixels (Quad HD), the SM-G901 seemingly features a 1080 x 1920 pixels (Full HD) screen. ...

Samsung Galaxy S5 LTE-A's European version (SM-G901) may not feature a Quad HD dispaly

Kwikset Kevo Review

Introduction

Our digital world is constantly expanding in many ways we can imagine. It seems as though every conceivable consumer electronics product is becoming “smart,” where they become a part of our never-ending digital world. From refrigerators to security cameras, there’s nothing out of question from becoming transformed into a “smart” product – even the stuff that some people would think to be unlikely. Interestingly, the Kwikset Kevo is undoubtedly one of those particular things that come to mind, since it’s an evolutionary step for the timeless deadbolt lock.

The package ...

App store BlackBerry World receives update to prepare for BlackBerry Passport and Classic

BlackBerry World is getting an update that is appearing on devices running on BlackBerry 10.2 or higher. Even those running a leaked version, or a developer version, of 10.3, will see the update. This will probably be the version of BlackBerry World that will come out of the box on the BlackBerry Passport or BlackBerry Classic, as both of those models are expected to ship with the latest version of the BlackBerry OS.

The update offers enhanced displays for higher resolution models. Under search, you will be able to view your recently viewed and bookmarked apps. And the update brings support ...

Sony lets you win an Xperia C3 selfie phone

Officially announced in the first half of July, the Xperia C3 is - in Sony’s words - “the world’s best selfie phone.” The handset is presented this way because it features a 5 MP front-facing camera with an 80-degree field of view and a “soft” LED flash.

If the Xperia C3 is your dream phone, or at least a device that you wouldn’t mind having, you can now win it thanks to a new competition hosted by Sony on Instagram and Facebook. To enter for a chance to win, you have to connect to your Instagram account, leave your email address, and tag some of your selfies (or just one of them) with #PROselfie. ...

BBM beta now available to Windows Phone users

After being available only to invitees earlier this month as a private beta, BlackBerry has now made the BBM beta available to all Windows Phone users. It is part of a grand plan by BlackBerry CEO John Chen to increase the value of the messaging app, by opening it up to Android, iOS and now Windows Phone users. BlackBerry has made BBM visually appealing to those using Microsoft's mobile OS, by using the same UI for the app.

According to BlackBerry, BBM beta for Windows Phone allows you to chat with friends on Android, iOS, Windows Phone and BlackBerry. You will know when you message has ...

Xiaomi's claims of fast sellouts being investigated by the Taiwan FTC

We've told you about some of those "hunger marketing" claims by Xiaomi. The most recent one was reported Tuesday, when an undisclosed number of Xiaomi Mi3 units were sold out in India after just five seconds. Another batch will be sold on August 5th. But it turns out that the Taiwan Fair Trade Commission has been receiving complaints, and is investigating these claims. One of the cases being looked at involved the Xiaomi Red Rice, which was involved in a "hunger marketing" campaign last December.

The Taiwan FTC is concerned about how the "hunger marketing" process hypes up a phone, making ...

Samsung Galaxy Note 4 rumor round-up: specs, features, price, release date, and all we know so far

Note: Image above is of a Samsung Galaxy Note 3

It has been about two and a half years since the very first Samsung Galaxy Note came out and single-handedly defined the phablet category. Since then, we've witnessed the launch of two highly-acclaimed successors, the Galaxy Note II and the Galaxy Note 3, and the attempts on Samsung competitors' side to deliver a worthy alternative appear to have had little impact on the momentum that Galaxy Note handsets have built up. In fact, we're only weeks away from greeting the Samsung Galaxy ...

Did you know what was the first smartphone ever?

Smartphones are on their way to becoming ubiquitous – everyone seems to have one already. What's more, there are no signs indicating that their popularity is to decline anytime soon. It wasn't always like this, of course. In fact, the term "smartphone" didn't even exist until the late '90s. That was a time when smartphones could only do a small fraction of the things that their modern counterparts are capable of. Still, as primitive (by today's standards) as they were, they paved the way for a number of influential, game-changing mobile devices to follow. Curious to learn more about the very first ...

Amazon Appstore launches in new countries, it's now available in 236 markets

Amazon today announced that its Appstore is now available in 41 additional territories across Asia, Africa and Oceania, bringing the total number of markets where the company is offering apps to 236.

While lots of the additional territories may not be that important (revenue-wise) to Amazon, some of them are pretty big mobile markets - like Indonesia, Turkey, and Singapore. The full list also includes the following markets: Algeria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brunei, Burkina Faso, Chad, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Gambia, Guinea, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Malaysia, ...

Deutsche Telekom rejects $15 billion offer from Iliad for T-Mobile

German telecommunications giant Deutsche Telekom has turned down a $15 billion bid from French telecom Iliad, for 56.6% of T-Mobile. The former owns a controlling 67% interest in the fourth largest carrier in the states. Iliad valued its bid at $36.20, a 17% premium over Wednesday's closing price. T-Mobile closed Thursday at $32.91, a gain of 6.4% for the day.

Sprint and T-Mobile are believed to have shaken hands and agreed on the broad strokes of a deal that values the upstart carrier at $32 billion for the entire company. U.S. regulators are not as keen on dropping the number of major ...

Typo 2 ready for pre-orders; physical QWERTY for Apple iPhone to ship in September

The problem with Ryan Seacrest's Typo physical keyboard accessory for the Apple iPhone, never had to do with the product itself. The problem, at least as far as BlackBerry saw it, was that the keyboard itself looked like it was copied from the BlackBerry Q10, or even the BlackBerry Bold 9930. That led BlackBerry to take Typo to court where it was given a preliminary injunction against the keyboard manufacturer.

Facing a legal ban, Typo had two choices. It could give up and quit, or it could re-design the keyboard so that it wouldn't resemble a BlackBerry QWERTY. Typo decided to go for the ...

Nokia Lumia Tesla allegedly photographed running Windows Phone 8.1 Update 1 (or not?)

What we’re seeing on the left is allegedly the Nokia Lumia "Tesla", a brand new Window Phone handset that might be launched in the near future. According to Tom Warren (of The Verge and WinRumors), the device could be officially called Lumia 730, or Lumia 830.

Apparently spotted somewhere in China, the new smartphone seems to be running Windows Phone 8.1 Update 1. As we told you yesterday, this update should bring various enhancements to WP, including the ability to organize apps into folders (called Live Folders).

The Lumia Tesla supposedly has a PureView camera on the back. Its ...

Nokia Lumia Tesla (730 or 830) allegedly photographed running Windows Phone 8.1 Update 1

Meet the world's first smartphone with Sapphire Shield display (no, it's not an iPhone)

Apple’s iPhone 6 is expected to sport a sapphire display, likely being the first widely available smartphone to offer such a screen - which, as we saw not long ago, is extremely durable (though not indestructible). But Apple won’t be the first to officially launch a smartphone with a sapphire screen in the US, because Kyocera and Verizon today released the Brigadier, an Android handset that features a Sapphire Shield display.

According to Verizon and Kyocera, sapphire “is virtually scratchproof and protects from a screen-first drop onto rocks, where tests show it less likely to break than ...

CNBC: T-Mobile receives $15 billion bid for 56.6% of the company from French telecom Iliad

Shares of T-Mobile and Sprint were halted briefly on Thursday, amid speculation that Sprint was announcing its long-awaited bid for its rival. Instead, a surprise bid was made by French telecommunications giant Iliad. The company offered to buy 56.6% of T-Mobile for $15 billion. That works out to $33 a share.

Sprint reportedly has agreed with T-Mobile on a transaction that would value the entire company at $32 billion. That deal would come with a $2 billion break-up fee, and would require $45 billion in financing. Most importantly, it would keep John Legere as CEO of the upstart carrier.

Earlier ...

Android 4.4.4 rolls out for Verizon's Motorola Moto X

Android 4.4.4 is being pushed out by Verizon, for the Motorola Moto X. Now that you've stopped celebrating, check out the changelist. You will see an improvement in the quality of pictures taken with the camera. Pictures snapped under fluorescent lighting will also have better quality. Filming a video? You can now stop filming and resume shooting later from where you left off. A pause/resume button will be found on the "viewfinder". The photos will also show an enhanced dynamic range. And of course, the dialer will feature new colors and layout to improve consistency and usability.

Since ...

LG G Vista for Verizon is announced: a mid-ranger with a large screen

Verizon has unveiled the LG G Vista today. It is a mid-range smartphone, running Android 4.4.2 KitKat, with a large 5.7" display touting a 720 x 1280 resolution, a 1.2 GHz quad-core processor, and 1.5 GB of RAM. It has a 1.3 MP front-facing and an 8 MP rear-facing camera that can snap pictures with resolutions up to 3264 x 2448 pixels and videos up to 1920 x 1080. The handset is powered by a hefty 3200 mAh battery. It comes with 8 GB of internal storage and supports microSD cards for up to 64 GB additional storage. The device is offered for $99 on a 2-year contract.

If you find the camera ...

LG G Vista out

Best new Android, iPhone and Windows Phone apps for July 2014

Feeling lost in the woods of millions of applications out there? Every month, we select the best new apps that have arrived for each of the three biggest platforms. In this round-up, we have selected the finest new titles released in July for Android’s Google Play Store, the Apple App Store, and the Windows Phone Marketplace.

We kick off our selection with iPhone apps, and our top pick for the month is Kinomatic, the most advanced video recording and editing app on the App Store. It boasts a simple user interface, and powerful manual controls.

On the Android side of things, Bamboo ...

Apple expected to give pink slips to 200 at Beats

Once Apple closes on its acquisition of Beats, it plans on laying off 200 workers at the company. According to a source familiar with Apple's intentions, the job cuts will take place in areas where there will be overlap between the two firms. That would appear to include human resources, and finance. The $3 billion purchase is the largest in the history of Apple.

As part of the transaction, Apple acquired Beats Music, a service that streams tunes, and also picked up Beats' line of high-end headphones. Neither Apple nor Beats would comment on the story. The layoffs would represent 40% of ...

Verizon clarifies why it is throttling down LTE users' unlimited data speeds

Several days ago, we told you that last week Verizon has been throttling down the speed of some of its users, who were subscribed for unlimited LTE data. The carrier has already been approached by the FCC and now Big Red came out with an official explanation about its actions. Just as expected, Big Red claimed that it is limiting the maximum download speed of its “high users”, which use large amounts of data on a daily basis, creating data “congestions”. Fortunately, only a small amount of users were affected.

Apparently, these congestions caused a lot of issues for the lighter users, who ...

Report: Samsung Galaxy Note 4 coming Sept. 4, to have "far better" specs than the Galaxy S5

A report out of the Korean Times claims that the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 will be announced in a little over two months from now -- on September 3rd, just days before IFA 2014. Apparently, Samsung partners and the media should receive an official invitation soon.

According to "top-tier" parts supplier, the widely-expected Note 4 has been put in the fast lane, as Samsung is reportedly trying to get it out of the door before its biggest rival, Apple, does so with its upcoming iPhone 6, of which we expect two versions -- one with a 4.7'' screen, and another ...

Samsung Galaxy Alpha to be announced on August 13, Exynos 5433 Octa processor and 12MP camera expected

Earlier today, we told you that a Samsung executive confirmed the upcoming release of two new handsets: one sporting a large display, and another one manufactured with “new materials.” The former is probably the Galaxy Note 4, and the latter should be the Samsung Galaxy Alpha. While the Note 4 is expected to be unveiled in September at IFA 2014, the Galaxy Alpha is supposed to arrive a bit earlier.

Yesterday, we heard that Samsung may want to announce the Alpha on August 4. However, according to a new report from German website AllAboutSamsung, that date isn’t accurate. Instead, it’s said ...

T-Mobile reaps the benefits of the Un-carrier program, earnings shoot up

T-Mobile's pro-consimer initiative – Un-carrier – seems to be working out quite well for the company. After last year's launch of No Annual Service Contracts, JUMP! Upgrade program, and free data packets for tablets, the effort was further upgraded this year with "Contract Freedom" – a program that reimburses customers who terminate their contracts with other providers and switch to T-Mobile. To top it off, the operator has worked to rapidly grow its Wideband LTE and VoLTE services, with the latter now reaching nationwide coverage.

It seems all of these strides are paying off, as T-Mo's ...

Better late than never: BBM finally lands on the Windows Phone Store

BlackBerry's BBM, one of the more popular messengers out there, has finally made its way to the Windows Phone Store and is now available for all devices that run Windows phone 8.1 or newer. It is currently available as BBM Beta, but don't let the latter scare you away, as it totes most of the features that are already present on its iOS and Android versions - we are talking about BBM Chats, BBM Groups, Find Friends, BBM Feeds, and Pin to Start, which should come in more than handy to those WP users who have been anticipating the release of the messenger. However, if BBM Beta is devoid of a feature ...

Snapdragon 805-equipped LG G3 LTE Cat. 6 benchmarked, shows only marginal performance gains

For the LG G3, it's no secret that its Snapdragon 801 SoC has enough power to make the phone perform very admirably, but not race car-like. So naturally, many are curious to see how the QHD flagship will perform on the significantly more powerful Snapdragon 805 platform. After all, its Adreno 420 GPU is rated as 40% more powerful than the Snapdragon 801's Adreno 330. And that sounds quite promising, right?

Well, it's time our curiosity got partially resolved. Hong Kong retailer ePrice got its hands on the Snapdragon 805-equipped LG G3 LTE Cat. 6 and put it through the usual benchmarks. The ...

6 adrenaline-inducing Android horror games

With a few and far-between exceptions, you're unlikely to ever come across a horror game in any of the Play Store's top game charts. The truth is that the genre just isn't for everybody, and certainly appeals to a smaller audience than, say, Candy Crush.

But it's not like the genre doesn't have its faithful. Indeed, if you're interested in horrors, you'll know that it has a compact, but active community of supporters, and that has given developers the confidence to create horror games for mobile platforms, and these are getting better each year. Itching to try some of those out? ...

Roamer is a low-cost roaming app for your summer travels that keeps your number

We all know how exorbitant those Verizon, AT&T, or other carrier roaming charges can get while traveling abroad. If you aren't careful, your short and innocent phone calls back home, or quick map data downloads, can get into the hundreds and even thousands on your phone bill at the end of the month. That's why we are shining a spotlight on Roamer - an app whose sole purpose is to let you make calls on the cheap while roaming beyond the border, yet still use your current phone number at that.

As most such apps work, Roamer requires that you set up call forwarding to the set ...

uNu to release the Ultrapak – portable batteries that charge very fast

Smartphone accessory maker uNu Electronics, known for its portable batteries and charging cases, is about to release a new line of products, called the Ultrapak. The new solutions will have the same qualities of durability and portability as the manufacturer's older models, with the added benefit of charging up their rather large batteries for very short amounts of time.

Employing the company's ULTRA-X technology, which combines a premium battery that can take a beating and an IC chip, which manages the process so that cells charge in parallel, instead of in series, the Ultrapak is able ...

Android held record-breaking 84.6% of the market in Q2 2014, Windows Phone drops down to 2.7%

Earlier today, Strategy Analytics released its quarter report about the current state of the smartphone market – the big surprise was the 5th spot for Xiaomi, as its products are not even available worldwide. The report clearly reveals that Apple is the only major manufacturer which does not make use of Google's Android operating system. That said, Strategy Analytics released a second report, which treats us to a brief breakdown of the current distribution of mobile operating systems.

Unsurprisingly, Android is still king with a record-breaking 84.6% of the market, a steady year-over-year ...

Which quality are you looking for most in a mobile display?

There are undoubtedly many aspects of what constitutes a decent mobile display, and even more of what actually makes a great one. Starting with the obvious, like outdoor visibility and color reproduction, we can also list more obscure qualities like power draw efficiency and good vertical viewing angles amongst the sought-after characteristics of a mobile screen.

When it comes to personal preferences, however, we arrive at murkier waters. While manufacturers keep racing the pixel density clock, the average user might be well-off with a 720p ...

Samsung executive confirms the existence of a device made from “new materials”, Galaxy Alpha comes to mind

Samsung might be experiencing a plummet of its market share at the moment, but the still-largest smartphone manufacturer will stand its ground pretty seriously. The upcoming Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and the much-rumored Galaxy Alpha might be the company's weapons for H2 2014, which will aid it in the battle against Apple and its iPhone 6. The company is said to go all-in for the Galaxy Note 4, but what about the Galaxy Alpha, a.k.a. Galaxy F and Galaxy S5 Prime?

Well, Kim Hyun-joon confirmed that Samsung will release a duo of top-end devices in the upcoming months, one with a big screen (which ...

Poll results: Android L vs iOS 8 vs Windows Phone 8.1 - which of the three will be the most consequential update?

On Monday we asked you to give a preliminary opinion on what is shaping up to be quite an interesting topic: the last version of which of the three most popular mobile platforms (Android, iOS, and Windows Phone) is on path to becoming the most consequential? Or, in simpler words, which of the three updates will mean the most for its respective ecosystem? As we expected, there was some clash of steel between fans, though some people did raise valid points in the comment section.

We received almost 7,000 votes, and that's not a small number at all. An overwhelming majority, or ...

HTC forecasts that its sales and revenue will continue to plummet during Q3 2014

The hard times for HTC might continue for yet another quarter – the troubled manufacturer, which is lately spilling red ink from each of its financial reports, forecast that it will continue to experience diminishing smartphone sales in Q3 2014. One of the reasons behind this alarming prediction is the upcoming arms race that the likes of Apple and Samsung will engage in this September. The Apple iPhone 6, the rumored Samsung Galaxy Alpha (a.k.a. Galaxy S5 Prime) and the Galaxy Note 4 will surely eat even more of HTC's market share.

The HTC One (M8) flagship, which is the top performer in ...

Here's how to get e-mail pop-up notifications on Android

Consider the built-in Android e-mail client. You get a new mail, and you're served a notification in the status bar. To reply, you have to expand your notifications (not so easy these days, with them 5'' flagships), click the message, read it, and then answer. That's a lot of steps, and it's definitely easier for you to miss an important e-mail, specifically if you receive a lot of notifications. There's a better way.

Enter Email Popup: Poppy -- a new and free app off the Play Store that does not require root. After configuring Email Popup, the app will, as promised, serve you ...

Movie Creator for Xperia Z2 makes mini-movies from your pictures and videos

Sony has released a new Movie Creator app for the Xperia Z2. It's a sort of an automatic movie editor, which will pick a number of photos and videos from your library and stitch them together in a 30 second video, transitions and music included. It does its work in the background – without being specifically activated – and notifies you whenever a new movie has been created. The time period, from which media is taken and glued together, is also chosen automatically – it can all be from a single day, or from the span of a week. We are uncertain, whether the app tries to guess the type of activity ...

Japan-exclusive HTC J Butterfly is a less-stylish One M8 with a waterproofed body and a 13MP Duo Camera

Japanese carrier KDDI has just announced that it will be carrying a new HTC flagship model, dubbed J Butterfly. The new device basically builds on top of the One M8, but there are a few key differences between the two, both good and bad.

Perhaps most importantly, the J Butterfly appears to have a plastic body, not aluminum. Keep in mind that this information isn't confirmed, however, at least at this point, so we could be mislead by the available renders. On the bright side, the new body is, in typical Japanese fashion, IPX7 rated, meaning that it's waterproof. What's even more, ...

Xiaomi surpasses LG as fifth largest smartphone maker, breathes down Lenovo and Huawei's necks

According to a report from Strategy Analytics, Xiaomi has been one of the fastest growing smartphone manufacturers in Q2 2014. The so-called “Apple of China” is now the fifth largest maker in terms of shipments, as it had a downright impressive 5.1% of the smartphone market in Q2, leaving the 6th spot for LG, which also performed fruitfully in Q2. During the previous quarter, Xiaomi accounted for just 1.8% of the market.

The total amount of device that the startup's shipped during the last quarter were around 15.1 million devices, which is no more or less than 11 million units more than ...

Japan-exclusive HTC J Butterfly is everything that the One M8 isn't, but with a few exceptions

GIF Watch Face will have you checking the time on your Android Wear smartwatch more often

A fun little Watch Face app is out to help you drain your battery faster! It's called GIF Watch Face and what sets it apart is – you guessed it – GIF wallpapers. What makes it more special is the fact that it gives you a brand new image each time you wake the screen.

The app downloads 100 GIFs from Giphy.com, when first launched. Then, it picks a random image to show from that pool, each time the display lights up. The developers say it refreshes with popular GIFs every hour, however whether it refreshes all 100 images in its storage is unclear, but we doubt that, since it would be a complete ...

Alleged Xperia Z3 Compact pics leak out, reveal rugged beauty in a scaled chassis

We've barely had the Z2 out of the door, and it's not that we've had many hints on an Xperia Z2 Compact just yet, but Sony is apparently already mulling the reveal of both a Z3 and a Z3 Compact sidekicks. We just got the invitation from Sony about its scheduled September 3 event at the IFA expo in Berlin, where the Z3 will allegedly make a splash, and now a few pretty convincing pics are trickling down the rumor pipe, claiming they represent the Z3 Compact.

What we are seeing is a rectangular chassis styling in the general Xperia Z line tradition of late, with comparatively wide ...

Wednesday, 30 July 2014

Japan-exclusive HTC Butterfly J is everything that the One M8 isn't, but with a few exceptions

Japanese carrier KDDI has just announced that it will be carrying a new HTC flagship model, dubbed Butterfly J. The new device basically builds on top of the One M8, but there are a few key differences between the two, both good and bad.

Perhaps most importantly, the Butterfly J appears to have a plastic body, not aluminum. Keep in mind that this information isn't confirmed, however, at least at this point, so we could be mislead by the available renders. On the bright side, the new body is, in typical Japanese fashion, IPX7 rated, meaning that it's waterproof. What's even more, ...

Lower smartphone shipments lead to decline in Samsung's Q2 earnings

Samsung on Thursday, reported second quarter operating profit of 7.9 trillion won ($7 billion USD). That is a 17.1% decline from the 9.53 trillion won in operating profit ($9.3 billion USD) that Samsung reported in last year's second quarter. Revenue was 52.35 trillion won ($51 billion USD), off 8.9% from the 57.46 trillion in revenue ($52 billion USD) that Sammy scored in the 2013 period.

As IDC's latest stats reveal, Samsung had a tough period from April through June. With Chinese smartphone manufacturers like Huawei and Lenovo reporting tremendous year-over-year smartphone shipments for ...

Android likely going to be targeted by European regulators in antitrust action

Google has been under some measure of scrutiny by regulators since anyone can really remember. Like other tech-titans, Google has been examined for a variety of reasons, mostly due to antitrust issues due to the fact that pretty much everyone uses Google as a search engine.

Eyes are also the Android operating system, and again, it is also due to the fact that nearly everyone uses a smartphone with Android on it. The European Commission is upping the number of inquiries to companies that work with the OS, building on data collected over the past few years.

These inquiries are basically ...

Samsung's paid version of Milk Music adds unlimited skips, and more

Samsung has added a premium version to its streaming music feature, Milk Music. This should not be a shock, since back in April there was talk about a paid version of the app being prepped. While a free version of the app will still remain available, listeners who want to continue to use the service for free, will have to keep on listening to advertisements. For $3.99 a month, Milk Music subscribers can eliminate the ads, and also get to take advantage of some new features.

With the premium subscription of Milk Music, you can listen to stations without being hooked up to a network connection. ...

Poll results: Is the Galaxy Tab S Samsung's best tablet ever?

Earlier this month, Samsung presented the Galaxy Tab S as its “best tablet yet” - a good occasion for us to run a poll asking you if the company’s right: is the Tab S the best slate that Samsung made until now?

73.21% of those who voted (1,306 users) agree with Samsung, believing that the Galaxy Tab S is indeed the best tablet the company released thus far. 478 voters (26.79%) disagree, apparently thinking that the presence of an Exynos 5 Octa 5420 processor, or the lack of a stylus (found on the Note series) are some of the reasons why the Tab S isn’t Samsung’s ...