Windows 8 aside, computer users have been trained that a mouse is the proper way to navigate through the desktop for years. Trackballs, trackpads, and touch screens have entered the fray, but the staple has continued to be the mouse even as it evolved from using mouse balls to lasers. So what might the next evolution be? How about combining a Bluetooth mouse with an everyday writing utensil like a pencil? Penclic released a mouse that combines the familiarity of holding a writing instrument with the maneuverability of a Bluetooth mouse in the Penclic Mouse B2. Check our review to see how we liked it.
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Beats Music's streaming service app for iOS has received an update. Users can now subscribe to the streaming service from within the app, meaning that once the trial period is over, the transition to paid service is that much easier. Also included is the ability to find Facebook friends who use Beats, improved social network linking and new tracks in the Sentence playlist generator. The Beat Music app can be downloaded from the iTunes Store.
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Facebook's Paper for iOS app has received its first major update since its release, adding notifications for birthdays and events. Paper allows users to view their Facebook News Feed as well as other content in a simplistic layout format. Users can tap on the globe icon to check notifications that now include important dates. Photo comments are also now featured, meaning that images can be inserted as part of a comment thread, with or without text. Other features within v1.1.0 are new story buttons, more article covers, accessibility features, and group updates. Paper is free to download for devices running iOS 7.0 or later, and is available through the App Store.
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The eighth full day of the Samsung-Apple patent trial went through another raft of witnesses as Samsung struggles to make its case inside its allotted limit of 25 hours -- a problem that hounded the company in the last trial as well. Lead attorney for Samsung John Quinn was forced to read transcripts of declarations to save time, hustle through witnesses and plead with Judge Lucy Koh for more time. An expert that the Galaxy S5 maker paid $1,000 an hour for refuted a colleagues' studies as "kind of biased."
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In an unexpected move, Nike has opted to fire as many as 70 members of its Digital Sport division who were focused on hardware development and will not release a now-cancelled new version of the FuelBand fitness tracker that was expected this fall. The company will continue to support the existing FuelBand SE, but is otherwise planning to exit the wearables market just as it is gaining mainstream traction. The company plans to focus on software going forward -- possibly signalling a partnership with a hardware maker.
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Fri April 18, 2014 | Posted in: developer, Apple
Following the lapse of the deadline for Worldwide Developers Conference ticket lottery winners to pay for their entry, Apple has begun emailing other developers with a chance to purchase unclaimed tickets. The emails are likely also determined by lottery, though the company hasn't said. Reserved slots from the original lottery were held until April 14 at 5pm Pacific time, and it is thought that most of the lottery winners accepted the invitation to attend, which costs $1,600.
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Apple has again expanded its Maps program for both iOS and OS X by adding 3D "Flyover" support for the east side of the San Francisco Bay Area, including the city of Berkeley and its University of California campus, which by happenstance is the birthplace of the original UNIX used as the foundation of both OS X and iOS. The 3d Flyover feature has generally been regarded as one of Maps' best features, alongside turn-by-turn driving navigation.
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Fri April 18, 2014 | Posted in: accessories, iPad
Before we get rolling, I'll confess: I've never understood the purpose of cases like the Booqpad. If you've got a tablet, surely part of the point is being able to ditch paper entirely. In practice of course, there are times when a pen and paper are handy -- but can that justify building an entire case around the concept? I suppose we'll have to put the Booqpad to the test.
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Free media player VLC has updated its iOS ported app today, offering various fixes and new features. Users can play most video file formats, and do so without the need for conversion. File synchronization with Dropbox, GDrive, iTunes, direct download and through an embedded web upload is also permitted by the app.
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Fri April 18, 2014 | Posted in: industry, Apple
Plaintiffs' attorneys in a class action lawsuit against Apple, Google, and two other companies are asking that evidence related to Apple CEO Steve Jobs be included in the case, Reuters reports. The case revolves around the anti-poaching agreements Apple and Google -- and later, other high-tech businesses -- forged to keep salaries low and talent in place. The accused parties settled a US Department of Justice investigation on the matter in 2010, agreeing to end barriers to competitive hiring.
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Fri April 18, 2014 | Posted in: mobile phones
Samsung has been standing atop the hill of Android phones for some time now with its Galaxy line. Other manufacturers like HTC and Motorola have briefly held the crown, but Samsung always seems to find a way to yank it back with new features, ease of use and simple design. The newest in the line, the Galaxy S5, looks to push Samsung towards the top of the pile again. But what kind of features can you look forward to in the new Galaxy S5, and is it capable of competing head-to-head with Apple's iPhone 5s?
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Fri April 18, 2014 | Posted in: iPad
Newly-leaked photos show a front panel claimed to be for the second-generation iPad Air. The photos were obtained by a Dutch website, One More Thing. While the panel is similar to its equivalent for the first-gen Air, it appears to have switched to an integrated display. That could allow a second-gen tablet to become even thinner, or maintain the same size and improve battery life.
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Fri April 18, 2014 | Posted in: Investor, Apple, iPad
Almost half of a group of 34 analysts tracked by Fortune are expecting Apple to report a slight decline in iPad sales year-over-year during its Q2 2014 results, due to be announced April 23rd. The overall consensus currently sits at 19.3 million units, which would be a 0.7 percent dip. Polling among the professional analysts in the group is somewhat more positive, calling for a 19.4 million consensus versus the amateurs' 19.2 million.
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Fri April 18, 2014 | Posted in apps
Tweetbot for Mac is a desktop Twitter client that offers support for multiple timelines, multiple windows and columns, Mountain Lion's Notification Center, and Retina displays. Version 1.5.1 has fixed an issue where large thumbnails could display blurry, along with a problem where clicking on users names in links in a status detail or direct message would not work.
Monolingual is a tool that can be used to remove unnecessary language resources from Mac OS X. The software provides a list of every installed language and lets users choose which ones to keep and which to delete. A code-signing issue has been fixed with this update.
Radium allows users to access a wide variety of internet radio stations from their desktop. The latest release can now access Location Services in order to provide better search results, and includes fixes for some streaming issues, sleep presentation errors, crashes, and more.
Beamer is a tool for wirelessly streaming movie files to an Apple TV. Support is offered for most major video formats, such as AVI, MOV and MKV, but subtitle support is still in the works. The v2.0 update now requires OS X 10.9 or later and features a completely redesigned interface. Users can also now play multiple files in a row thanks to new playlist functionality.
Calcline is an alternative to the OS X calculator, adding extra features for solving more advanced mathematical expressions. Expressions can be solved in a step by step process that shows all the calculations needed to find the final answer. In v4.1 the import function variables and constants now have the ability to auto=detect the file encode format. Additionally, the app will now accept new file encode formats for text files as well as CSV-S files.
Fri April 18, 2014 | Posted in: industry, Apple
US District Court Judge Claudia Wilken has denied a motion by the Apple-led Rockstar Consortium to transfer a patent invalidation countersuit by Google from California to the Eastern District of Texas, Reuters says. The Eastern District of Texas is infamous for leaning towards patent holders in its court rulings. Wilken ruled, however, that Google was able to provide enough evidence to keep the case in California.
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Rogers is expanding the available spectrum for its LTE service in Canada, by turning on its 700MHz network. Engadget reports that areas of Calgary, Toronto, and Vancouver will see the benefits of 700MHz at first, with subscribers and AT&T customers roaming in the region able to see Rogers LTE in indoor areas where the signal was previously inaccessible. While it does not offer specific timing, Rogers plans to roll out the extra spectrum bands across the country.
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Fri April 18, 2014 | Posted in: industry, audio
Following a similar lawsuits against Sirius XM radio, a group of record companies has filed suit in a New York court against Pandora, the top streaming subscription music service in the US. While songs made before February 15, 1972 are not subject to federal copyright protections, the labels argue that Pandora, like Sirius, should pay royalties to the tune of tens of millions of dollars because the songs are still protected under state laws.
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