Back in the day of the feature phone, Sony made a name for themselves by releasing phones with the Cyber-Shot branding, indicating that the phone came with a pretty exceptional camera. Considering that cameras on phones then left a lot to be desired, this was a pretty big deal. Now rumor has it that Sony might be looking to start that up again with the rumored device, Honami, which apparently is Sony’s take of the Cyber-Shot phones except that it runs on Android.

While we’re not sure when the Sony H2 will be released, word from the folks at Sony Alpha Rumors is that the camera on the phone is expected to sport a 2/3” image sensor with xenon flash, Cyber-Shot branding (no surprises there), and even come with manual controls like the Sony RX100! We’re not sure if we’re talking physical manual controls, like dials and what not, or software features, but either way with the RX100 being a high-end camera, this is pretty big news. Take it with a grain of salt for now, but for phone photography enthusiast, are you excited?

Canon’s EOS 50D and 60D while being pretty decent cameras, are set at mid-ranged level, leaving devices like the EOS 5D and its generations for the higher-end market. If you think that you only need a mid-ranged camera for now and you want something a little newer, rumor has it that Canon is getting the EOS 70D prepared for a launch, with some speculating that the camera could even be launched in July.

This is according to the folks at Canon Rumors who have gotten word that the EOS 70D is apparently in its final testing stage and is in the hands of some “Explorers of Light”, which we presume are select photographers who are going about taking photos to show off what the EOS 70D can do. Apparently Canon is also in the middle of production for some commercials for the EOS 70D, so assuming all of this is true, a launch in July would seem plausible. Until then take it with a grain of salt.

Last week we reported that Samsung could very well break their own record and go off and move 10 million Samsung Galaxy S4 units by this week, and sure enough they have. Well it looks like the South Korean company has done it again as it is now official: Samsung has confirmed that the Galaxy S4 has managed to hit the 10 million milestone, beating out its predecessors since it managed to achieve those numbers in just about a month. To give it some context, the Galaxy S3 only achieved the 10 million milestone after 50 days, which we guess is pretty impressive, but for Samsung to shave 20 days off with the Galaxy S4, that’s even more impressive! With that being said, we have to wonder come 2014 and with the possible release of the Galaxy S4’s successor, how fast do you think Samsung will need to move 10 million units of that?

We bought the Sony Xperia Tablet Z two weeks ago while we were in Tokyo at the Ginza Sony Store, because we could not wait any longer to get one in our hands. The first thing that surprised us when we held the Sony Xperia tablet Z is its beautiful thin and light form factor.

For one, it is really comfortable to read for hours holding a 10-inch tablet, in comparison, the iPad feels heavy and it becomes tiring after a few hours of reading. In fact, the Xperia Tablet Z is the perfect device to read books and watch video while you are in your bath: just like the Xperia Z smartphone which launched earlier this year in Europe and Japan, the tablet is water and dust resistant. You can check the hilarious Chinese video showing someone cooking a soup with the Xperia tablet Z in it, and the device still works after that treatment…
Read full post →Sony Xperia Tablet Z Review

When unreleased or heavily rumored devices stop by the FCC, that’s the Federal Communications Commission for those who don’t know, it means that an official announcement by the manufacturer itself isn’t that far off. Toshiba has a new tablet that was first spotted back in February, apparently carrying the AT10LE-A moniker for now, this unreleased tablet has turned up at the FCC for approval. It was rumored that Toshbia AT10LE-A touts a 1.8GHz NVIDIA Tegra 4 processor, the FCC filing reveals the same, along with details pointing towards Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/b/ac, NFC and Bluetooth 4.0 support.

This 10.1 inch tablet will apparently come with Android 4.2.1 Jelly Bean installed. There have also been rumors of a mini HDMI output, stereo speakers and a microSD card slot. The AT10LE-A looks like a codename of sorts, I doubt that it will be publicly released with such a complicated name. Toshiba hasn’t announced any plans of unveiling a new tablet any time soon, so we’ll have to wait until the do inform us of such plans. Though considering that FCC approval process has already begun, that shouldn’t take much time.

At its Live 2013 conference last week, BlackBerry finally announced what was being rumored for a long time. The ailing Canadian manufacturing is officially opening up its iconic BlackBerry Messenger service to rival platforms iOS and Android. BBM will be released for these platforms, without tablet support that is, over the next couple of months. BlackBerry founder and ex-CEO Mike Lazaridis has high hopes that BBM will outperform its rivals on these platforms.

BBM’s eroding user base was linked to the popularity of free cross platform messaging services such as WhatsApp and Viber, both of which are available for its own platform as well. While these services are available for almost every mobile platform, BBM up till now has always been exclusive to BlackBerry. Though even with the company’s user base of around 70 million, BBM is still very popular, as it sees some 10 billion messages being sent each day. Mike Lazaridis said that “BBM is by far the most compelling wireless experience and wireless social-networking environment.” From the looks of it, they’re all set to give popular cross platform messaging services a run for their money. If BBM on iOS and Android does bring features such as video calling and screen share, then it definitely has a change of trumping its rivals.

We covered the last Twitter for Mac update which was released towards the end of April. The update came for quite a while, in which Twitter released various updates for its mobile apps, but it looked like the microblogging network had forgotten about its Mac app. Twitter said late last month when it released the update that we should expect more improvements in Twitter for Mac soon. They’ve delivered on that promise, almost one month on, there’s now a new update of this app which brings Notification Center integration.

Don’t confuse Notification Center integration with the Twitter integration that is already present in OS X. The notifications are a completely different thing and it was a shame that they weren’t integrated with Notification Center earlier. Users now have the option of setting preferences for this new feature from straight within the app itself. Notification Center will now display notifications when someone @ mentions you in a tweet or if someone sends you a DM a.k.a direct message. Apart from the integration, there are a host of bug fixes, security and performance improvements. The updated Twitter for Mac can now be downloaded from Mac App Store.

Late last month we reported that Twitter was supposedly testing a two factor authentication system to improve account security. In the past couple of months we have seen a few high profile accounts being hacked, Twitter warned that the attacks will continue, and they sure did. Today they’ve finally unveiled this new two factor authentication which they call “login verification.” It is quite similar to how Google’s two factor authentication works, the user logs in to their account and are then sent a six digit code by Twitter via SMS, it is only upon entering this code that access is granted.

Even with login verification enabled, all existing applications will work without disruption. If the user needs to sign in on any other devices or apps, they’ll need to generate a temporary password from the applications page so that the particular device or app is authorized. Before you can turn on login verification for you account, you’ll need to register a verified phone number and a confirmed email address.

Two factor authentication means that there’s essentially another protective wall ahead of the password. Lone passwords, even the strongest ones, are likely be cracked. While two factor authentication isn’t exactly bulletproof itself, it does significantly ramp up account security as in Twitter’s case the user has to enter the randomly generated code each time they want to log in, and the code is only sent to their registered mobile number. Even if it sounds like a chore, one can never be too safe with a lone password, and its always better to have that extra wall of security.

Back at the I/O 2013 conference Google announced design updates for Google+ desktop website as well as its Android app. A week on from then, the company has finally made the newly updated design for Google+ mobile website live and it bears a resemblance to the ‘cards’ style design of Google Now. Despite the update, this new design isn’t as polished or visually appealing as that of the mobile apps.

The Google+ mobile site now displays posts, photos and videos in the cards style that Google Now debuted. Cover photos, which first went live for the desktop site, have now been brought over to the mobile site for all brand and personal pages. Unfortunately though, the Google+ mobile site still lacks some major features such as photo editing, Hangouts or communities. Android users who already have the newly updated app don’t have much reason to use the Google+ mobile site and neither do iOS users who also have an app available for them, those on other platforms such as Windows Phone or BlackBerry can take advantage of whatever basic functionality the stripped down mobile site offers.

Cellular companies roping in celebrities is no strange phenomenon. Recently we saw Alicia Keys being picked up by BlackBerry and being crowned the Global Creative Director. Many people believe that these positions serve no purpose at all and just exist to augment the company’s brand value, perhaps they’re right, but this trend doesn’t seem to be going away any time soon. Today at Verizon’s CTIA press conference Jennifer Lopez took to the stage, not for a performance, but to announce Viva Movil, a new phone retailer that Verizon is launching with focus on Latinos.

By the end of this year, 15 Viva Movil retail stores are expected to be opened in markets such as LA, Miami, New York, which are three cities you’ll definitely hear about on a Jennifer Lopez track, by the way. She’ll also be investing in these stores which are a result of a partnership between Moorehead Communications and distributor Brightstar. Lopez said she’s “kind of the Chief Creative Office” in this project, implying that she has been collaborating on layouts for the stores, accessories line and designs for the fonts.