Black HTC One leaks ahead of Tuesday's launch

Another day, another HTC One leak. This time we get a look at the handset in black, courtesy of Unwired View.

Design-wise, it looks identical to the silver model we already spied. The images on the screen are different too, with this one listing New York as the home city, whereas the silver one had London. HTC will hold events in both London and New York on Tuesday, so expect to see the phone launched then.

HTC has opted for a two-button layout below the screen, while most handsets that runAndroid 4.1 Jelly Bean -- like the Nexus 4 -- have three. Or maybe the HTC logo could double as a button.

HTC has punted out numerous teasers concerning the One. Here are the videos spliced together in a 20-second clip, viaPhone Arena.

[Source: CNET- Read the full story here]

Surface Pro Bombs iFixIt’s Teardown Analysis

Our diabolical friends at iFixIt gave Microsoft’s Surface Pro notebook/tablet the teardown treatment, and as always, they documented the surgery with plenty of pics every step of the way. It’s a given that you need nerves of steel to tear into some of the devices that end up on iFixIt’s operating table, and that’s especially true of the Surface Pro, which scored a measly 1 out of 10 on iFixIt’s Repairabilty scale (the higher the score, the easier it is to service).

That’s worse than Apple’s fourth generation iPad tablet, which scored a 2 out of 10, though woe is the user who attempts to service either device on their own. It can be done, though there’s a high amount of risk involved.

On the bright side, the battery in the Surface Pro is not soldered to the motherboard, and the solid state drive is removable, though you risk killing the tablet by trying to open it. Those who brave opening the Surface Pro will find 90 screws inside the device.

“We’re proponents of mechanical fasteners, but this number is a tad crazy,” iFixIt says.

The real challenge, however, is removing the display assembly, which is comprised of a fused glass and LCD. iFixIt says it’s “extremely difficult to remove/replace” because of the amount of adhesive holding everything together.

“Unless you perform the opening procedure 100 percent correctly, chances are you’ll shear one of the four cables surrounding the display perimeter,” iFixIt warns.

Lest anyone make a mountain out of a mole hill on this one, tablets aren’t exactly known for being easy to repair at home. At the same time, it’s something to consider with the Surface Pro, which is positioned as a full fledged notebook that pulls double duty as a tablet. If you’re concerned about component failure, you may want to think about an extended warranty.

Original Post by Paul Lilly, Reposted Courtesy of Maximum PC – Covering everything from hi-end gaming PCs to tablets, peripherals and home theater rigs, Maximum PC’s print and Web editions stay one step ahead of the fast-changing world of everything computer and computing related. Whether its the latest on building your own desktop system, reviews of the latest laptops and accessories, orroundups of the games and software that make your machine go, Maximum PC brings it to you with news, reviews, and years of expertise. TechnoBuffalo is thrilled to bring you the best of Maximum PC right here on our own pages to keep you immersed in all things digital.

[Source: TechnoBuffalo]

Skype testing video messaging service in iOS and Mac apps

Hot on the heels of recent additions to its apps including automatic reconnects for dropped calls and e-gifting, Microsoft-owned Skype is rolling out a short-form video messaging service within its iOS and Mac clients. The new feature allows users to send each other video messages up to three minutes in length, which can be sent to other users even when they aren't online.

Since this is a beta of the feature, it's not available to all users. If you're one of the lucky few, the video messaging option will appear in your app without requiring an update. You just need to make sure you're running the most recent version of the iPhone, iPad or Mac app in order to receive it. Skype says it'll be rolling the feature out to more users soon, so if you don't see it yet, sit tight.

[Source: TUAW]

Bump Update for iOS and Android Lets Users Share Files Between Their Phone and Computer

Bump on Thursday introduced an update to its iOS and Android apps, allowing users to easily send content from their phone to a computer. Everything on Bump’s end seems good to go—you’ll need to go to the company’s website for this to work, where you’ll be able to send just about any file imaginable up to 20MB in size.

Bump previously allowed users to hock files from phone to phone, and this is obviously a natural extension in functionality. Additionally, files from a computer can also be shared to a phone, meaning it’s a two-way highway; files you do wind up sending from your computer to Bump are stored in the app itself.

If you’ve been frustrated with getting files from your device to your computer, Bump might be a nice option. Of course, you can always just use something like Dropbox, which is just as easy.

[Source: TechnoBuffalo]

Blockbuster to close 164 stores, 800 jobs under threat

Another 164 Blockbuster stores are to close, threatening 800 jobs and leaving the DVD and game rental chain with less than half its stores surviving.

The latest round of closures is on top of 160 closures already announced. That takes the number of doomed Blockbuster stores to 324, leaving just 204 branches remaining of the 528 open when Blockbuster first went into administration.

The branches earmarked for closure will stay open for the time being, but there's no word on how long for. Fear not though -- stores will inform customers ahead of time to give you opportunity to return rented items. Returning items to a company that's about to go under, that'll definitely be at the top of the to-do list.

In the meantime, the Blockbuster website has a clearance sale, including a deal to get you 6 pre-owned DVDs for £10 -- and we're talking proper recent movies like True Grit, Star Trek andBridesmaids.

The administrators were called in in mid-January and are currently searching for a buyer to see if Blockbuster can continue trading.  

Blockbuster's administration is handled by Deloitte, which ushered Comet to the great high street in the sky last year and is also currently administering to ailing music and movie shop HMV. HMV is closing 66 stores in the UK, threatening nearly 1,000 jobs, and abandoning Ireland completely at the cost of 300 jobs.

Meanwhile camera emporium Jessops, which has disappeared from the high street, is to reopen online after buyers -- including Dragons' Den tellypreneur Peter Jones -- snapped up bits of the brand.

[Source: CNET]

NVIDIA GeForce GTX Titan leaks, could cost a grand

NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 690 currently wears the world's-fastest-graphics crown, unless you count the limited edition Ares II, by cramming two Kepler GPUs onto one mainstream board. When it comes to improving on that, some leaked European retailer listings suggest NVIDIA might not wait on a completely next-gen architecture, but may instead try to deliver similar performance through a less power-hungry single GPU design. The listings, gathered together by TechPowerUpand VideoCardz, point towards a pricey new flagship, the GeForce GTX Titan, that would be a graphics-focused adaptation of the beefy Tesla K20 computing card. It'd pack 2,688 shader units, a 384-bit memory bus and 6GB of RAM, all with one chip -- for reference, the GTX 690 needs two GPUs to offer 3,072 shader units and has 4GB of RAM. There's no confirmed unveiling date, and the primary leak on a Danish site has actually been pulled, but ASUS and EVGA are rumored to be launching their own GTX Titan variants as soon as next week, possibly in the $1,000 to $1,200 ball park. That's a short wait for what could deliver a serious boost to game performance, not to mention bragging rights.

[Source: Engadget]

Apple Has Team of 100 Product Designers Working on a Smart Watch

Bloomberg is reporting that Apple has a team of about 100 product designers working on a wristwatch computer, according to "two people familiar with the company's plans." The New York Times previously reported that Apple had been "experimenting" with a curved glass smart watch, but Bloomberg believes that Apple's smart watch plans have moved beyond the experimental phase.

The team, which has grown in the past year, includes managers, members of the marketing group and software and hardware engineers who previously worked on the iPhone and iPad, said the people, who asked not to be named because the plans are private. The team’s size suggests Apple is beyond the experimentation phase in its development, said the people.

Apple's senior director of engineering, James Foster, is said to be one of the managers working on the project, which happens to involve challenges like creating a smart watch that doesn't have to be charged every day. The smart watch, known colloquially by some as the "iWatch," would be able to do some of the same tasks as the iPad and iPhone. 

Bloomberg also mentions that Apple had been planning a wearable fitness tracking device, much like Nike FuelBand or Jawbone Up, but that Apple had decided not to bring them to market. Apple CEO Tim Cook is a Nike board member and spoke about his own Nike FuelBand at the D10 Conference last year, also saying that wearable devices were an "interesting area" but that "the book hasn't been written on that one yet."

[Source: MacRumors]

Motorola RAZR HD now in stock SIM-free in the UK from Expansys

The Motorola RAZR HD may of been rocking the U.S. for some time now, but it's only today that the Android device has become available SIM-free in the UK.

If you are after a high-end Android handset with a meaty battery then the RAZR HD is well worth considering. The 4G (pentaband) ready device sports a glorious 4.7 inch Super AMOLED HD display,1.5 GHz Dual-core chip and 1GB of RAM, and ships with Android Ice Cream Sandwich (v4.0.4) although upgradeable to Jelly Bean (4.1).

In addition, Expansys are offering the chance to win a Virgin Experiance Day if you order in February. They have five pairs of tickets to give away each worth £125 - not to be sniffed at.

The Motorola RAZR HD will set you back £419.99 SIM free. You can order it here.

[Source: AndroidCentral]

Apple releases MacBook Pro firmware update to fix battery issues

Apple has released the MacBook Pro SMC Firmware Update 1.7. The update addresses a very specific issue owners of the MacBook Pro (15- and 17-inch models, Early 2011) and MacBook Pro (15- and 17-inch models, Mid 2010) were having. Though rare, the issue would cause the laptops to unexpectedly shut down or stop functioning after more than 1,000 battery charge cycles.

The firmware update can be downloaded through Software Update on the select models, or users can download it directly here. Last month Apple released the MacBook Pro SMC Firmware Update 1.6, which addressed asimilar issue on other models.

[Source: TUAW]

LEGO Lord of the Rings brings Middle-earth to Mac on Feb. 21

There's a new Lord of the Rings game on the block and it's coming to Mac later this month. Oh, and it features characters and a world that are literallymade out of blocks. Feral Interactive is preparing a port of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment's LEGO Lord of the Rings, released last fall on other platforms, and will be launching it on the Mac App Store and via its own site on February 21 for US$29.99.

The game adheres to the formula employed by

[other LEGO titles from developer Traveler's Tales, such as LEGO Batman and Star Wars, and sees the Fellowship of the Ring battling orcs and other baddies from Tolkien's tomes while assembling things out of LEGO bricks to help them on their quest. Two players will be able to collaborate on the adventure which will offer the opportunity to unlock more than 80 playable characters. (Let us just suggest that you keep plastic Frodo and the gang away from the fires of Mt. Doom.)

If this sounds like the sort of adventure you'd like to embark on, you'll need a Mac running OS X 10.7.5 with 4 GB of RAM and 256 MB of video memory to play.

[Source: TUAW]

Skype introduces eGifting for Mac and PC with version 6.2

On the mobile front, BlackBerry 10 is still waiting to get in on the Skype action, but the same can definitely not be said about the calling / messaging services on the more desktop-oriented platforms that are OS X and Windows. On this occasion, the application's new revision brings, most notably, an eGifting feature that's set to allow Mac and PC users to send Skype credits to anyone they deem worthy of receiving them -- so long as they have an account set up, of course. Skype's also slightly redesigned the top toolbar on the Windows edition to make it more of an all-around hub for accessing "Home," "Creating Groups," and "Adding Contacts," while, in version 6.2, the OS X app gets the ability to send one-way SMS without the need for number verification. Both updates are available now, so hit that source link if you're interested in checking out the novel features.

[Source: Engadget]

Apple Updates Retina MacBook Pro, Lowers Price – Drops Price of MacBook Air, Too

Apple announced on Wednesday that it has dropped the price of its 13-inch MacBook Pro with a Retina display to $1,499 for the 128GB model and $1,699 for a newer model with 256GB of storage and a faster 2.6GHz processor.

Meanwhile, it also updated its entry-level MacBook Pro with a Retina display with a faster 2.4GHz quad-core processor and updated its high-end version with a 2.7GHz processor and 16GB of RAM.

The company also dropped the price of its 13-inch MacBook Air with 256GB of storage to $1,399, which by our calculations should be a savings of about $100.

The new devices and prices don’t seem to be appearing in Apple’s online store at the time of publication, although we imagine they will be added very soon.

[Source: TechnoBuffalo]