LG 55-inch OLED TV launching in July, costs £10,000

I know we've heard about LG's 55-inch OLED TV set before, but it's so far failed to make it to shop shelves. Well now comes word it'll land here in the UK in July, exclusively for sale from Harrods. And the price? Glad you asked. It'll set you back a cool £10,000.

Recession? What recession?

We saw the LG OLED 55EM970V a while ago, and a limited number went up for pre-order last summer for £8,000. Converting the price from South Korean won, we were expecting to have to shell out £6,300 when it went on sale properly, so the £10,000 price tag is a bit of a kicker. Still, I'm sure you can find an extra four grand knocking around somewhere. Have you checked down the back of the sofa?

Us Brits will be second only to LG's native South Korea to be able to buy the set. Andrew Mackay, UK commercial director of home entertainment and home appliances, said in a statement: "Following the LG launch and supply to the Korean market earlier in the year, the UK is proud to be the next market to launch LG OLED TV, as this innovative and premium model launches first in Europe to UK consumers."

The set is certainly a looker. OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) TVs make for much truer black levels, because they don't have backlights. Each pixel makes its own light instead, meaning blacks look black, instead of grey, as on some sets. The TV is also ridiculously slim, at just 4mm. That's almost half the thickness of an iPhone 5, on a TV with a 55-inch screen. Madness.

The only catch is the price. OLED sets will come down eventually -- Sony's first effort was just 11-inches across, and was crazily expensive. If you do invest in LG's 55-incher, do us a favour and send us some snaps. Then we can all imagine what it must be like to have it in the lounge.

[Source: CNET]

Philips Releases Open APIs and SDK for iOS Controlled Hue Lighting System

TechCrunch reports that Philips has created an official developer program for its Wi-Fi connected Hue home lighting system, which includes an SDK for iOS and APIs to allow hardware and software developers to integrate Hue into their products. 

Hue, which is exclusive to iOS, allows users to control LED lightbulbs via the iPhone and an accompanying bridge that uses the ZigBee communication protocol. 

"We're now at a point where there are already about 10 applications that have been shared and built from the unofficial developer community for new applications around Hue," explained George Yianni, Hue System Architect in an interview. "Now what we want to do as Philips is we actually want to help and grow and encourage this community, and give them tools and proper documentation. Also, we want to give them commitment that this is the API and we’re going to support it and it won’t change overnight."

Though Hue-integr additional ated third party apps such as last week’s Ambify have been released, these solutions do not use official APIs. According to Yianni, the unavailability of official APIs is the main reason that the Hue has yet to be integrated into apps and connected home devices. 

The new Hue tools are freely available for all developers interested in creating a product or an app that connects to the system

Philips plans to add additional functionality to the Hue in the future, focusing on geofencing, scheduling, and other sensor capabilities. The company is also working on expanding the Hue line with new lightbulb types.

[Source: MacRumors]

Facebook buys Storylane blog, to go with new News Feed

Facebook has snapped up Storylane, a blogging site with a community feel that lets people share stories. The social networking behemoth has acquired the team behind the site, rather than the site itself, so if you've posted anything, rest assured, Zuckerberg won't get his mitts on it.

Jonathan Gheller, founder of Storylane, posted the news on the site, reassuring users that anything they'd shared wouldn't fall into Facebook's hands.

"The beautiful stories you have decided to share with us are yours to keep and share in however way you want," Gheller wrote. "We are building tools that will help you migrate the content to other services if you so desire. I will be in touch with you about those specific tools later, but I can confirm that Facebook is not acquiring any of your data; and we're working to make sure you can migrate your content in a manageable way."

Facebook just unveiled its new News Feed, which Mark Zuckerberg said should be like a "personalised newspaper" for each person. Obviously it's a bit late to integrate some of Storylane's features into it, but we could well see some built in at some point in the future. The new News Feed has bigger images -- a staple of Storylane -- and lets you customise it as you see fit. It's also designed to be more consistent across mobile devices and desktop browsers.

It's more of a mix too, with news articles, images, maps, photos, and the rest, much like Storylane, or a Pinterest board.

Storylane only launched last October. Yahoo was also reported to be interested in snapping it up. That seems the way to get rick quick, come up with a killer idea and sell it to Facebook or Apple.

[Source: CNET]

Apple Lawsuit Over Siri With Samsung to Move Forward

A California judge has ordered that Apple’s case against Samsung over search patents used in the Siri voice assistant can move forward.

Judge Lucy Koh is once again presiding over a lawsuit between Apple and Samsung. This is the same judge who has been presiding over the case where Apple won a billion dollar settlement, but it’s doubtful she is happy to see the two companies in her courtroom yet again as in Dec. of last year she told them she was not “joking” and it was time for “peace” between the two firms.

The latest case is a separate matter from the other trial and deal with Apple suing Samsung over violation of patents in regards to search functionality in Siri. According to Reuters, Judge Koh tried to convince the two companies to delay the case until the appeal in the other one is settled, but neither was interested in that course of action. Koh has now ruled the case can move forward with a March 2014 trial date, but she has asked both companies to cut down on the number of issues and expert witnesses both want to address in an attempt to ”significantly” streamline the case. If that sounds familiar, it’s because she asked them to do the same in the other case in Feb.

It is doubtful either company is going to want to cut the case very much, but this is the same Judge that last year told Apple’s lawyers that they were “smoking crack,” so we’re pretty sure she will be telling them again how she expects this to move forward.

[Source: TechnoBuffalo]

Microsoft could be making a Surface phone, Nokia says

Microsoft surprised everyone by launching its Surface tablet, taking on its hardware partners at their own game. Since then, there have been plenty of rumours about a possible Surface phone, with the device apparently entering the testing phase at the end of last year. And now it seems Nokia is getting a little antsy, suspecting Microsoft will step on its toes.

ZDNet reports that in a filing with the SEC (US Securities and Exchange Commission -- a federal regulator), Nokia wrote not only did it suspect Microsoft of making a mobile, but that it could be "detrimental" to the Finnish phone firm's business interests. Sounds like a storm brewing.

"Microsoft may make strategic decisions or changes that may be detrimental to us," Nokia wrote in the filing. "For example, in addition to the Surface tablet, Microsoft may broaden its strategy to sell other mobile devices under its own brand, including smart phones.

"This could lead Microsoft to focus more on their own devices and less on mobile devices of other manufacturers that operate on the Windows Phone platform, including Nokia."

This is a world away from Nokia CEO Stephen Elop's previous claims that he would welcome Microsoft as "a stimulant to the ecosystem". Nokia does sound a little paranoid, but then this is a security filing, so I suppose it's to be expected.

It's even considering what would happen if Microsoft put the kibosh on its mobile OS, Windows Phone 8. "If Microsoft reduces investment in that operating system, or discontinues it, our smart phone strategy would be directly negatively affected by such acts."

Come on Nokia, I'm sure it'll be alright.

While we have heard about Microsoft testing a phone, that doesn't mean it'll release the device. The company tests all sorts of products without putting them up for sale. Still, a Microsoft mobile would shake things up a bit. And this is business, I'm sure the Redmond company isn't here to make friends.

[Source: CNET]

Legal Website shows Great Design

Having an accident is one of the worst things that can happen to you. The amount of repercussions that can escalate from being in one is quite an eye opener. It's a good job that there are people out there that can help you.

 

Having somebody to fight for your side helps a lot, especially a good solicitor. Irwin Mitchell have been around since 1912 and they are one of the largest law firms in the UK with over 140 partners and over 900 associates, consultants, senior advisors and other fee earners. They have years of experience in whiplash claims so they can guide you through the process step-by-step using plain English. One are that they specialise in can help you get Road Accident Compensation.

Whiplash injuries often respond well to physiotherapy and medical treatment. Irwin Mitchell can help you get access to financial compensation, but they can also get you access to the medical help that you require.

 

Their website contains a lot of information that will certainly answer any questions that you have about them. You will be sure to find an answer easily due to the clean layout of the site. It is organised into Personal & Business service sections, along with details of the main specialist that work for them and of course their office locations. The top menu system used is equally impressive, giving you access to information on all of the services the offer. Each of the service categories contain a wealth of extra information, which goes a long way to give the potential client a good insight before even picking up the phone to make that call.

 

What do you think about this topic? Have you ever been in an accident? We would love to hear your thoughts. Leave them in the comments below!

BlackBerry CEO: We Won’t Sell $50 BlackBerry Devices

BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins recently said that his company does not have any interest in selling devices in the $50 range. We’re a bit shocked, mainly because the company already does sell handsets priced well below that mark. They are, admittedly, the company’s older BlackBerry 7 devices. Still — Heins has reiterated his intentions to compete aggressively in emerging markets, such as China, where competing handsets are often sold well below that price point.

“Understand where you are playing and resist being talked into segments that you know will not serve your purpose and will not result in shareholder value,” Chief Executive Officer Thorsten Heins explained to Bloomberg. “You will not see us getting into the 50-, 60-buck phone segment. This is not BlackBerry.”

Au contraire. Sprint has two BlackBerry devices selling at $19.99 and $0 with a contract, AT&T is selling three devices under $30, Verizon has one priced at $49.99 and T-Mobile is selling one under $50, too. I understand that those are with a contract, so perhaps Heins specifically means that he won’t be selling unlocked, contract-free devices at that price point.

I think, perhaps, Heins’ statements are a bit misleading. BlackBerry may not sell unsubsidized phones at the $50 price point. In fact, the company’s Z10 costs about $800 in India unlocked. But we’re wondering how BlackBerry plans to make its big emerging market push without selling low-cost devices.

[Source: TechnoBuffalo]

Chrome update improves stability, fixes text rendering issue

Chrome for Android (stable, not beta) has just received a small follow-up update to the large version 25 release from last week, with mostly behind the scenes performance enhancements. There are unexplained "stability improvements" as well as a fix for text that wasn't being clearly rendered. The big fixes came in the last version, which added some more forward-facing improvements, but each of these background improvements lead to an overall faster browsing experience as well.

[Source: AndroidCentral]

PayPal introducing new iOS SDK, APIs at SXSW

PayPal has announced that it's bringing a new iOS SDK and some new API tools to SXSW next week. As you might expect, the API will allow apps to use PayPal's tools to integrate payment information directly rather than having to go through a separate authorization page. As you can see on the official website, devs will be able to simply use a few method calls to set up PayPal payments, and get proof back that payment has taken place.

The API also includes credit card scanning software from Card.io, which PayPal acquired last year. And finally, PayPal's also released some code to work with other platforms and languages, including some Javascript buttons, as well as APIs for REST, OAuth and JSON.

So developers will have a lot of new tools to work with PayPal's payment system. It's unclear, however, what Apple thinks of this development -- it seems to me that paying through PayPal from an iOS app gets around Apple's requirement of taking a cut from everything sold on the App Store. But that's something that Apple and PayPal will need to work out. If you're a developer who wants to dive in to what's available here, you can download the PayPal iOS SDK for free right now.

Update: PayPal president David Marcus just contacted me via Twitter to say that this SDK is meant for service transactions, not digital sales, so it doesn't fall under Apple's rules. In other words, the tools here are to be used for selling things outside the iPhone with Apple's device, not selling iPhone content or other items directly.

[Source: TUAW]

Google I/O Website Filled With Easter Egg Goodies

Head on over to the Google I/O website, do some prodding, click on the ‘I’ or ‘O’ and see what happens. First you will hear “I” “O”, but if you code things just right, you can unlock a whole lot of easter egg fun. There’s an ASCII visualization of I/O, a dash of bowling, hot dogs, hamburgers, kitty cats, some bacon and eggs, and even a game of Simon. Not bad for a bunch of boring developers.

Quite frankly there are a lot of outputs. Some users have posted their discoveries:

01110101
01000101
01010011
10010000
10001000
00101010
11100111
01111111
00111001
11010011
11011011
10000001

Give it a shot and see what you get, post below if we’ve missed any.  Also if you dont like all the clicking action, your keyboard’s “i” “o”, or “1″ “0″ will suffice.

[Source: TechnoBuffalo]

Official Twitter app updated with new 'top tweets' feature, smoother animations

It might be all doom and gloom for popular third-party Twitter clients, but at least the official app is getting some love. Twitter's own Android app has been updated to version 3.8 today, with a trio of new features alongside the usual big fixes. First up there's a new "top tweets" feature, which is supposed to make significant tweets from the past pop up when searching for specific topics. (We tried searching for "Election 2012" and "Olympics" to no avail, but Twitter had plenty of tweets to highlight when searching for "grumpy cat," including news of the disgruntled feline's upcoming appearance at SXSW.)

Other additions include the ability to see all replies to tweets in details view, and smoother animations for pull-to-refresh in the "Discover" tab.

[Source: AndroidCentral]

Facebook Announces Newly Designed News Feeds

Facebook announced new design elements to engage users more effectively on Facebook on Thursday.  The new design rolls out today, facebook.com/newsfeed, for some users, but the roll-out will be gradual. The most notable changes include: larger images, videos, more prominent check-ins, more detailed information from publications (like TechnoBuffalo), a greater display of possible friends without having to click on the profile. You could even view highly trending content.

Facebook claims, this allows for “a richer, simpler, more beautiful feel” as well as more choices on what shows up on the news feed. You can determine what feed you want to view from choices such as photos, news content/likes, music and games.

Facebook’s new navigation menu is very mobile-inspired and allows a continuous look and feel across devices (desktop, tablet, phones).  The company claims you get the most out of “smaller screens” to gain a greater experience.  New notifications, that Facebook calls “new stories bubble,” show updates across your feeds, that float on the top of your screen.

While Facebook is excited about this new format, they are planning on rolling it out on a gradual basis to certain users and spreading the new format to a wider audience.  So far we’re excited to see what we can do with the new format of Facebook, from a visual design, it looks cleaner and thus far seems easier to navigate. Take a look for yourself at the video demo below.

[Source: TechnoBuffalo]