Microsoft lands design patents for the Surface tablet's Touch Cover keyboard

Microsoft would certainly argue that its Surface tablet design is iconic. The company is doing more than simply extolling the virtues of kickstands and VaporMg casings, however. It just obtained a trio of design patents that cover both the Touch Cover keyboard and the magnetic coupling on the tablet that so often gives Microsoft something to dance about. You won't find any deep insights into the technological workings here -- still, this might give some would-be SurfaceKIRF creators a reason to hesitate.

[Source: Engadget]

Nintendo 3DS update moves your saves from retail games to downloads

Let's say you bought a pair of cartridge-based games to go with your Nintendo 3DS, but you're embracing our all-digital future and want to replace them with downloadable copies. You won't have to toss all your game progress at the same time: a newly available 3DS firmware update includes a tool to move save files from a retail copy to its downloadable version. The transfer is strictly one-way, though, so there's no falling back for gaming Luddites. Nintendo offers a bonus if you're fully in step with the online world, though -- background downloads can now start just by closing the lid while the eShop is running. Both elements of the update are simple on the surface, but they could go a long way in helping us ditch a legacy of plastic game libraries.

[Source: Engadget]

'If I had Glass' winners selected by Google, invites due out in coming days

Even though they're still priced at a cool $1500 plus tax, it seems there's a whole lot of people who really want to get hold of Google Glass. The 'If I had Glass' competition offered 8,000 eager early adopters a chance to get in on the ground floor, and now those lucky thousands have been chosen. 

The Explorer Program is only for individuals, so companies such as JetBlue that came up with pretty awesome looking suggestions will have to wait it out for now. But, in the coming days the lucky individuals that have been chosen to hand over their money for Glass will be notified of their success. Google says that the response has been 'enthusiastic.' 

So, if you entered, and you win, be sure to let us know. We just hope that LeVar Burton was one of them.

[Source: AndroidCentral]

Samsung Galaxy S4 eight-core chip production delay reported

Only a handful of new Samsung Galaxy S4 smart phones could boast eight-core power when it goes on sale this month. And the UK's phones will be among a reported 70 per cent of the first S4s to be quad-core instead.

It was revealed this week that the S4 will be quad-core in the UK and not eight-core as anticipated. Korean source ETNews reports Samsung simply hasn't been able to make enough Exynos chips to fill the millions of S4 phones it's expecting to sell.

According to ETNews' unconfirmed sources, Samsung has enough of its new Exynos 5 Octa chips for just 30 per cent of phones in the first batch to go on sale, thanks to purported hitches in the production process.

The other 70 per cent are set to be powered by Qualcomm-built quad-core chips. The quad-core version contains a Snapdragon 600 CPU, still a muscular processor... but four ain't eight by anybody's maths, and it certainly isn't the promised next generation smart phone Samsung promised.

The eight-core Exynos processor contains a Cortex-A7 with four cores clocked at 1.2GHz, drawing less power for everyday tasks. Then when things get hectic with intensive tasks such as fast-paced 3D gaming or videos, the S4 rolls up its sleeves and seamlessly switches to a second Cortex-A15 chip with four cores clocked at a faster speed.

The S4 goes on sale on 26 April. What isn't clear is how Samsung will highlight whether each S4 is quad-core or octo-core, or indeed whether there'll be any demarcation at all. But for the moment it appears to be academic, as Samsung hasn't revealed when -- or, whisper it, if -- the UK will get all eight cores. If these reports are correct, it could be a while before we see an eight-core S4, if at all.

[Source: CNET]

Apple.com world's 8th most popular website in new ComScore ranking

For 2012, Apple's website was ranked as the world's 11th most popular. However, that ranking did not take mobile access into account -- just desktop access. Now web analytics firm ComScore has added mobile visitors and viewers to their count, pushing Apple up to the number 8 spot on the MMX Multi-Platform Top 50 Properties list.

The first five sites on the list are not surprising, with Google sites taking the lead followed by Yahoo!, Microsoft, Facebook and Amazon. Sites run by TUAW parent company AOL are in the 6th spot, followed by Glam Media and finally Apple. Rounding out the top 10 are Wikimedia sites and CBS Interactive.

Apple's total "digital population" on the ComScore list is counted as 115,920,000 unique visitors/viewers, about half that of list leader Google's count. Not surprisingly, Apple's mobile audience viewed as an incremental percentage to the desktop numbers was 54 percent, indicating a strong mobile presence on the web.

[Source: TUAW]

Google+ for iOS gets photo editing, filters in update

The new version of Google+ for iOS brings the sort of "retro" filters popularized by competing social networking apps like Instagram. Users can also rotate and crop their photos before sharing them to their Google+ accounts. 

The improved photo editing options are likely an outgrowth of Google's acquisition of Snapseed, an image editing application with iterations across both PC and mobile platforms.

The update also brings a new profile design, notifications tray, and the ability to control the volume of posts displayed in a user's stream from individual circles and communities. Users can also filter search results by the most relevant or most recent and send friends invitations to communities. 

Version 4.3.0 of Google+ for iOS is available as a free download in the App Store. The 28.6MB download is compatible with iPhones, iPads, and iPods running iOS 5.1 or later.

[Source: AppleInsider]

CyanogenMod Founder Leaves Gig at Samsung

CyanogenMod founder Steve Kondik recently decided to leave Samsung after just a few years at the South Korean company. The modding community was generally happy when Kondik left to work for the firm since it seemed like his input would add a lot of value to the phone maker’s software. Kondik didn’t say exactly why he decided to leave the company.

“Samsung was great,” he told AndroidPolice. “Just decided to do something new.”

Kondik also added that he’s a huge fan of Samsung’s Galaxy S III and that he’s “quite pleased with the S4.” As a man with software expertise, we were compelled to hear his thoughts on Samsung’s TouchWiz UI.

“TouchWiz has become a bit more consistent with the latest upgrade,” he noted on his Google+ page. “There are no more jarring mismatches in different parts of the OS, and it’s been lightened up a bit and has a clean “flat” feel. Unfortunately, it feels like it has been sent a few years back in time to the Froyo days. Say goodbye to all of the nice touch-friendly ViewPagers and say hello again to a fully tabbed UI. You’ll also enjoy the seemingly endless onslaught of popup windows and modal “Loading…” dialogs.”

We’re excited to hear where Kondik’s next gig lands him.

[Source: TechnoBuffalo]

Evernote 5 hits Android with revamped camera, shortcuts and tweaked UI

Evernote has finally brought its Android client up to par with its iOS counterpart, pushing it to version five. The update, which just hit the Play store, includes a mild face lift that offers more contrast between notes and other UI elements, as well as a few new icons with a bit more depth and detail. The visual tweaks aren't particularly exciting, though. What has us rushing for the update button are all the new features, like the completely revamped camera interface. You can now take several images and add them all to a note in one shot. While a dedicated "page" camera helps you get the best results when snapping photos of hand-written missives by boosting contrast and removing shadows. Of course, the company thinks that feature works particularly well when paired with its branded Moleskin notebooks, but those are purely optional. The results from the couple of quick snapshots we took were bright clear and as legible as could be expected. Unfortunately there are continued issues with Evernote's text recognition, which tends to be slow for non-premium users.

[Source: Engadget]

Google starts a TV white space trial in South Africa to wirelessly link schools

Google has been a strong advocate of white space wireless as democratizing broadband access: its long-range nature can bring people online when the local internet framework isn't always reliable, if it exists at all. The company is about to illustrate that potential through a new trial in South Africa. A trio of base stations at Stellenbosch University in Cape Town will supply ten nearby primary and secondary schools with internet access to prove that white space access can work without affecting TV signals. To make sure it won't, Google is picking the safest frequencies from a database and is measuring the results for the sake of both nervous broadcasters and the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa. If all goes well, it (and similar efforts from Microsoft) should make a case for full approval of white space use across the country and deliver internet access to remote areas that risk being left by the technological wayside.

[Source: Engadget]

Sony Xperia ZL officially priced in the U.S.

The Sony Xperia ZL has been listed for pre-order at Sony's U.S. store for some time, but today brings the first official word on pricing for the North American Sony flagship. According to Sony's store listing page, two models will be offered. The first, C6502, will come with pentaband HSPA+ connectivity, whereas the more expensive C6506 will pack those same radios in addition to LTE on Bands 2, 4, 5 and 17. That should get you up and running on AT&T's LTE, as well as T-Mobile's when it launches -- along with a bunch of Canadian carriers.

Unfortunately neither model will be cheap -- the HSPA+ version will sell for $720, while its LTE-capable sibling will cost a whopping $760. Nevertheless, with no carrier deals in sight, it appears this is the only way you'll be able to get your hands on an Xperia ZL in the U.S.

On the hardware side, the Xperia ZL mirrors its international cousin the Xperia Z. Inside there's a 1.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro CPU, 2GB of RAM and a 1080p display, as well as Sony's new 13-megapixel Exmor RS camera. However the ZL trades water resistance and an all-glass design for a smaller footprint, a more ergonomic fit and a physical camera button. For more on the Euro-centric Xperia Z, be sure to check out our full review.

[Source: AndroidCentral]

New 'in-app purchases' warning on iTunes, after furore

Remember that family whose son racked up £1,700 worth of in-app purchases in 10 minutes on his dad's iPad? Apple is taking steps to ensure that kind of thing doesn't happen again, by introducing a warning on iTunes for apps that encourage you to spend once you've downloaded, the Guardianreports.

Any such app now bears the warning "Offers In-App Purchases", as you can see from theTemple Run 2 icon here. But is it enough?

Initially, the warning only appeared on the desktop version of iTunes, so if you were browsing on your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch, it didn't show up. It was quickly extended to mobile devices, however, and a good thing too -- more than two thirds of iTunes downloads go directly to iOS devices.

The Cupertino company has been in hot water recently over in-app purchases (or freemium apps). As well as reimbursing the family whose five-year-old spent £1,700 on Zombies vs Ninja, Apple has settled a US lawsuit concerning similar cases, agreeing to shell out £66 million in refunds to disgruntled parents.

Apple has said it's up to parents to familiarise themselves with the parental controls on its devices, which you can do here. Parents can turn off in-app purchases in the settings.

I think a large burden falls on the parents to monitor what their kids are up to on their devices, but obviously this isn't possible at all times. Apple should get tighter on what's allowed to be sold in-app. Virtual items costing £70 a pop, in a game suitable for nine-year-olds, for example, seems frankly ridiculous to me.

And it's not just apps on iTunes that let you rack up a huge bill either -- Android's app emporium isn't completely innocent either.

[Source: CNET]

Nuts Apple patent protects iPhone by flipping it as it falls

File this Apple invention under B for bonkers. The company has just been granted a patent that protects your iPhone when you drop it, Apple Insider reports.

It apparently adjusts the device's position as it's falling, so it lands on its back or edge instead of the screen. And if you think that's crazy, that's just the tip of the iceberg. Wait until you see how Apple plans to make it work.

The patent is for use in any gizmo with a processor, including tablets and laptops, but the iPhone is specifically mentioned. In order to see how the tumbling tablet or falling phone is positioned, the system will need to use a sensor, which could be the gyroscope, accelerometer, GPS or imaging sensor. A processor tells the system how fast the device is falling, and how far it is from the ground, among other things. It'll remember previous pratfalls too, to help it make its mind up more quickly.

Now, how to actually tilt the device so it doesn't land face first? A number of possible solutions are suggested, including a shifting weight within the phone, lift foils that extend out to the surface, and even a miniature gas canister to act as a thrust, like a tiny jet pack. Amazing.

The patent was originally filed back in September 2011, and was just granted this week. I think it's safe to say we have a while to wait until this finds its way into the iPhone. But it's pretty cool, you have to admit. The only issue -- aside from the problem of how to fit a gas canister to an iPhone -- is that I've known screens to shatter when phones have landed on their edges. So maybe Apple will need to toughen up its handset's chassis somewhat as well.

[Source: CNET]