Blackberry App World store makes early switch to Blackberry World, but no music or video yet

We're still a few days away from BB10's genuine debut, but RIM's decided to press on early with its app store changes. Starting with the webstore front (which is rolling out in the next 24 hours, depending on your territory) then moving on to the PlayBook and existing BlackBerry phones, the renamed BlackBerry World store will also offer up access to videos and music -- RIM reckons it'll be your "one-stop shop" for mobile entertainment, but those channels aren't live just yet. Test out the store's new offerings at the source link to the right.

[Source: Engadget]

Sky Go Extra saves movies on your iPad to watch on the go

The latest blockbusters are coming to your phone or tablet, as Sky lets you save movies and TV and watch them wherever you are, without Wi-Fi.

Sky is launching Sky Go Extra, an expansion of the Sky Go catch-up and on-demand service for Sky customers, the Telegraph reports. That means you can save new episodes of Girls, blockbusters like Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, or classic James Bond films on your smart device to watch on the train, on holiday, or anywhere you haven't got Wi-Fi.

For £5 per month extra, up to four users can download stuff per account, and you can download as many movies and TV shows as you want. Each download sticks around for a month. So it's not so much of a download as it is a downloan.

Get it? Downloan! I done made up a word.

Previously, you needed a Wi-Fi connection to stream movies and TV to your computer or portable device. With movies cached on your phone or tablet, you can watch anywhere without having to pay for Wi-Fi or cut into your data allowance.

It's not clear if this will be a standalone app, or just an update to the Sky Go app, which has angered Android fans by only supporting a few Android devices.

Sky has the best line-up of new films and the pick of the latest TV shows, especially from the US on Sky Atlantic. Rivals Netflix and Lovefilm don't do downloads (although Lovefilm does do those old-school downloads you used to get, the ones that take ages to download. What were they called? Oh yeah, DVDs.)

Availability of new releases is a real sticking point for online streaming services: last week it was revealed that to watch a decent selection of recent films you need to pay for both Lovefilm and Netflix.

Sky Go Extra is coming in the next few weeks. If you want to watch the latest blockbusters, but don't want to fork out for a dish and a Sky subscription, you can get films from Sky Movies channels on a pay-as-you-go basis with Now TV, Sky's spin-off app and online streaming service.

[Source: CNET]

HMV gift cards to be accepted again from tomorrow

Attention, shoppers: HMV is accepting gift cards. Yes, the troubled music, video and games shop will this week once again let you use your vouchers to pay for stuff.

Branches of HMV will accept gift cards from tomorrow, Tuesday 22 February. Great news for anyone who got a gift card for Christmas or recently received vouchers as a refund.

More than 50 potential buyers have expressed interest in saving the ailing chain, with Hilco, the restructuring specialist that bought HMV Canada in 2011, currently reported to be the favourite. HMV's suppliers, including record labels and film studios, are reported to be willing to offer Hilco favourable credit terms. It seems HMV could weather this particular storm after all.

If HMV is sold to new owners in the coming months, they could then decide not to honour old vouchers. In that unlikely event, you could try and claim your money back from your credit or debit card provider -- check out our guide to your options.

The question of gift cards caused a right old kerfuffle when administrators Deloitte decreed vouchers had been suspended. One disgruntled customer in Dublin was so short of gruntlement he simply helped himself to games of an equivalent value to his useless gift card and marched from the shop. But as frustrating as it is to be out of pocket, it's not the staff's fault.

Also in trouble on the high street is Blockbuster, currently in administration, and in danger of following Jessops and Comet into oblivion.

[Source: CNET]

Samsung rumored to be launching enormous smartphone with ridiculous name in Europe

Leak season continues, and we're back with Samsung this time around. Sammobile, a usually reliable source of all things Samsung, claims to have received word of a 5.8 inch smartphone from the Korean OEM destined for Europe. The reported name is, ready for this? The Samsung Galaxy Fonblet. 

The device is said to be loosely based around the Samsung Galaxy Player 5.8 PMP that was launched in Korea, only with cellular capabilities. The Galaxy Player 5.8 has a qHD display, and a 3MP rear camera. The bad news is that Sammobile claims the Fonblet is supposed to have the same display. So we're not looking at a high-end, Note 2 beating device. Additionally, it's expected to have dual-sim capabilities -- suggesting emerging European markets might be the target here -- and will come in white. Feels a lot like parts recycling though, if we're honest.

[Source: AndroidCentral]

Stunning 0.8mm e-Ink Watch Is A Lean, Mean Kickstarted Machine

 

Sony announces the quad-core, 10-inch Tablet Z

Sony Mobile has announced the Android 4.1-powered Xperia Tablet Z, right as we expected them to do so. The specs also match last week's rumors, with a few extra surprises thrown in. The Tablet Z comes equipped with a 10.1-inch WUXGA (1920 x 1200) display complete with the Mobile Bravia Engine 2, 2 GB of RAM, 32 GB of on device storage, a microSD card slot, NFC, and an 8.1 MP Exmor R camera. Providing the juice for all this is the Qualcomm quad-core APQ8064 processor clocked at 1.5 GHz, with an LTE modem on board for the ride. As rumored, the Tablet Z is also extremely thin (6.9 mm) as well as water and dust proof like it's slightly smaller cousin the Xperia Z.

What we don't know is pricing and availability. Hopefully we get word at Mobile World Congress next month if not earlier. We'll keep an eye out and let you know when Sony has anything further to tell us all. We've got a picture of the rear after the break.

[Source: AndroidCentral]

Google proposes wearable password ring to stop hackers

Think your online accounts are safe? Google doesn't reckon so. In fact, it's come up with a whole new way to stop anyone hacking your profile: USB jewellery.

I'm not kidding. CNET reports Google is mulling over a finger ring that you plug into your PC to authenticate your identity, eliminating the need for a password. Intrigued? Read on.

Google reckons passwords are no longer safe, what with all the hacking going on nowadays. "We contend that security and usability problems are intractable," Google's Eric Grosse and Mayank Upadhyay write in an article due to be published later this month. "It's time to give up on elaborate password rules and look for something better."

And this'll most likely be hardware. Google already uses two-step verification -- whereby you're sent a unique code to enter along with your password -- but "not nearly enough" people use it, according to the two Googlers.

A ring, or some other piece of wearable tech, would plug into your PC, communicate its identity via a website, and let you access your accounts, with no entering passwords required. Which would be a blessing, considering how many passwords we're required to remember nowadays. And how tricky they're supposed to be, to ward off hackers.

So why a ring? Well the authors reckon it should be something that's always with you, so you can't forget it. "Some more appealing form factors might involve integration with smart phones or jewellery that users are more likely to carry anyway," they write. "We'd like your smart phone or smartcard-embedded finger ring to authorise a new computer via a tap on the computer, even in situations in which your phone might be without cellular connectivity."

So there you go. A password ring could be a new way to give hackers the finger.

[Source: CNET]

Samsung Rolling Out Update to Galaxy Camera, Brings New Smart Modes

The jury is still out on Samsung’s Galaxy Camera. It’s a very exciting concept that demonstrates—very well, I might add—where the point-and-shoot market could shift to. But it still needs a bit of work, some fine-tuning. This update is a step in the right direction.

The most significant part of the update to Android 4.1.2 is the elimination of any perceptible lag. Despite the device’s pedigree as an S III cousin, the Galaxy Camera still had frustrating moments of stutter. But according to AndroidCentral, lag has all but been exterminated after the update.

Additional improvements include four new smart shooting modes, including Dawn, Snow, Food, and Party/Indoor, and support for Samsung’s Remote Viewfinder app. As the first major update for the company’s camera experiment, Samsung is making the device even more irresistible. Now if only the price would come down.

[Source: TechnoBuffalo]

Microsoft hikes up price of Windows 8 by 500%

Bad news if you want to upgrade to Windows 8 but are yet to do so. Microsoft has announced its introductory offer will end on 1 February. From then on, in the US, instead of costing $40 to upgrade to Windows 8, it'll set you back $120, or $200 for Windows 8 Pro.

There's no word on what the new UK price will be, but I'm expecting a similar hike.

In fact, getting my calculator out, if Microsoft raises it by the same amount for us Brits, Windows 8 Pro will jump from £24.99 to about £125. Ouch.

So if you haven't upgraded yet but intend to do so, better get downloading.

Windows 8 brings with it a whole new interface that uses 'tiles', known as the Metro UI. It's a world away from previous versions of Windows, with quicker log-in and boot-up times, and the ability to sync between your PC and tablet. However, sales have so far failed to set the world alight, according to reports.

Sales of Windows 8 PCs are "well below Microsoft's internal projections" one report says. Fujitsu has suffered a slump in sales of computers running the operating system, too, andblames it on the fact Microsoft's OS is "weak". One study showed just 39 percent of people were planning on upgrading to the latest version.

Acer has also joined in the Microsoft-bashing, saying it doesn't stand a chance against Apple. So it's not really been a swinging start for Windows 8.

Still though, Microsoft says it's sold 4 million copies of the operating system, while sales of its Surface tablet -- which runs Windows RT -- have been "modest". I can't see a spike in sales after this price hike though.

[Source: CNET]

Bump adds support for sharing files via Dropbox

I remember Bump from its early days on the App Store, when it was one of the first "contact sharing" apps with a unique gimmick: where you simply "bumped" your iPhone to someone else's to share contact information. Since then, however, Bump has been steadily upgrading its app, adding lots of other sharing functionality.

And the app's latest update adds even more: In addition to sharing any files stored on your iOS device (functionality that was added in the 3.5 update), the latest update (3.5.3) adds the ability to share any files sitting on your Dropbox. All you need to do is hook up your Dropbox account, choose which files you'd like to share and bump away. Obviously, there are loads of ways to share Dropbox files already, but if you and a friend happen to both have Bump, that's one more thing you can do with it.

There's an impressive amount of functionality they're putting into that app. Bump is still a free download on the App Store.

[Source: TUAW]

Google Glass will have a laser keyboard, patent suggests

Thought you'd seen all Google Glass had to offer? Think again. The augmented reality specs could shoot out a laser keyboard, if the latest patent application is to be believed, CNET reports.

The keyboard would beam out of the arm of the glasses. And if there's no flat surface nearby to shoot onto, just project it onto your hand and start typing tweets or emails. This is some seriously next-generation stuff we're talking.

It's not even a problem if you've only got one hand free. As well as pressing the virtual buttons, you can input by just moving your hand, with the Google Glass' camera interpreting what you're doing.

This is only a patent application, so there's no certainty it'll ever make it into Google Glass, or any other products. But it shows Google has big plans for its cyber specs, and isn't going to limit them to just voice input. I mean, Google's voice search on Android Jelly Bean is ace, but what if you're in a crowded place? Or you want to write something the old fashioned way? A laser keyboard could be the answer.

Google unveiled its hi-tech spectacles back in April, though it wouldn't be drawn on when we can expect to actually don them ourselves. They let you stay connected to the Internet and bring up info from Google without having to ogle a screen, which is pretty great. Though some augmented reality experts aren't so sure.

They certainly caused a stir though, with Microsoft, Olympus, and Sony all planning rival specs. So they could be the next big thing once tablets have had their day.

Microsoft is also rumoured to be working on a pair that'll work with Xbox and Kinect, which could lead to some interesting possibilities.

[Source: CNET]

Sky Go Extra will let users download shows to their mobile devices for £5 a month

Being able to watch Sky TV on the go using, erm, Sky Go, is great, but streaming video away from your home router can often be costly, especially if you're on EE's basic LTE plan. Thankfully, the broadcaster is looking to launch Sky Go Extra, which, if The Telegraph is to believed, will allow up to four users to download anything from the Murdoch library straight to their mobile device. Adding such functionality to your family's viewing habits will set you back £5 a month (after a two month free trial) but that also includes unlimited access to the company's first-window movie catalog, a jewel it's paid heavily to keep out of the hands of rivals such as Netflix Lovefilm.

[Source: Engadget]