When we talk about Samsung smartphones, what is it that comes into the mind of most folks? Why, certainly the entire Galaxy range would roll off the tip of most folks’ tongues, especially when you consider what a huge success the Galaxy family has been to date, with the most recent success being the Samsung Galaxy S4 hitting 10 million units worth of sales in record time for the South Korean company. Having said that, one should also take note that most of these devices run on the Android operating system, so for us to see a Tizen-powered Samsung device is not too common a sight. In fact, that is exactly what caught our eyes with a new Tizen OS Samsung device spotted on Samsung’s UAProf website, where it was given the codename Redwood GT-I8805.

This should not come across as a surprise, however, since Samsung did make an announcement before that the masses should prepare themselves for a Tizen device sometime in 2013, with whispers of the codename Redwood floating around, too. What kind of hardware will this bad boy pack underneath the hood? We are looking at LTE connectivity, a 720p resolution display, and a standard Cortex-A9 SoC. Hopefully more details will be revealed in due time.

We humans are extremely creative beings, and you know for sure that this is a fact throughout the ages, where there is always a certain segment of the population who prefer to express themselves through the arts, be they music, poetry, painting, songs, plays – the list is a long one. Thanks to the wonders of modern day technology, one can express him or herself through art in ways that our ancestors would have never thought of before. Take Random International’s Rain Room installation for instance. It is currently on display at the MoMA in New York City now through July 28, where steady sheets of rain will pour down from the ceiling in order to mimic rainfall, and whenever someone steps into the room, sensors will stop the water from running down temporarily, allowing you to walk through the room without getting soaked.

In a nutshell, you can say that the Rain Room is a carefully choreographed downpour, which so happens to be a monumental piece of work which encourages folks to end up as performers on an unexpected stage, in addition to creating an intimate atmosphere of contemplation.

Microsoft has announced two new mice that have been designed with the Windows 8 experience in mind. The Sculpt Comfort Mouse has a very visible Windows button on the side. You can of course press it to head back to the Start page, but you can also swipe it up and down to switch from one task to another. This is a much faster equivalent of the ALT-TAB task switching key combination, and if you happen to switch often, you may just love this mouse.

When I played with it, I was a bit worried about accidental swipes or button action. However, it’s actually pretty difficult to accidentally induce any of those two actions. The swipe needs to be deliberate, and depressing the button is deep enough that accident just never happened during my trial time. The smaller Sculpt Mobile Mouse is more conventional, except for the Start button at the top. It can help you scroll left and right (in addition to vertically), while keeping the mouse in hand, so it’s useful even for touchscreen users. . The Sculpt Comfort Mouse will be available in June ($40), while its mobile counterpart  will appear “this month”, says Microsoft ($30).

Everyone more or less knows that Google’s main business is search, and a lucrative part of that would deal with advertising, which has since raked in the dough for Google consistently throughout the years. In fact, some have even gone so far as to say that the technologies which Google are working on have one end goal in mind – that is, to obtain as many pageviews as possible in order to display ads on, not to mention garnering as much information concerning you as possible, while showing the most relevant ads in your life. Well, Google might be on to something extra special here, with the USPTO having published a patent application known as “Providing information through tactile feedback”, which means Google’s obsession with ads have yet to be curtailed, but things look set to be even more creative.

The patent app would deal with issues concerning the tactile/haptic feedback on touchscreen devices, where they skimmed the surface on how haptic feedback might be able to help you feel ads in an entirely different manner. No idea on whether this, should it actually be executed at all, will be able to make use want to click on the ads just to get a kick out of the haptic feedback. What do you think?

Bing has announced today that it is launching a new feature called the News Carousel in Bing News. The idea behind this feature is to make it easier for users to explore people, places and things that they are interested in through an easy to use and visual carousel format. This new feature is powered by Bing’s Satori technology, which lets the search engine get a deeper understanding of the people, places and things around us and the relationships between them.

When a user searches for a notable person, say Taylor Swift, in current events they will not only see the latest and top news available online, they will also be displayed a visual carousel at the top of the page. The carousel will display important and timely topics which are related to that particular notable personality. Furthermore, on the right hand side of the page related people that the user might have an interest in will be displayed, they will only be displayed because of sort kind of relationship they have with the personality that was the original query. The news articles index has also been extended beyond two weeks at Bing News. Give the new visual carousel a spin and let us know what you think about it.

When it comes to going green, you know that the folks over at Google do have something good going on there. Sure, search might still be their bread and butter, but for quite some time now, the company has moved forward in acquiring new technologies that could very well change the way the world works. For instance, Google has had their fair amount of air time with their self-driving cars (which did get into an accident some time or another), in addition to wearable computing devices like Google Glass. Well, it seems that Google might be making its foray into the world of wind power by acquiring a wind power company known as Makani Power.

They have invested in the company previously, and I guess that Google has seen more than enough in Makani Power to purchase it outright. So far, we have no idea on how much money Google forked out for this company as no financial terms were disclosed. Makani has been working on airborne wind turbines which are mounted on self-piloting flying wings that are tethered to the ground, just like a kite, and it remains to be seen just what Google would do with Makani in the long run. Where does your imagination take you?

The matter of rooting Samsung’s latest Android flagship became a bit controversial when it was revealed that the smartphone will ship with its bootloader locked. In order to root an Android device, its bootloader must be unlocked first. Soon after that statement was made, a well known Android developer showed off his bootloader unlocked Galaxy S4, saying that he would only unveil the method once Verizon started shipping its S4 by the end of May. Now Verizon’s model has already started shipping out to customers, and instructions to root the Big Red’s Samsung Galaxy S4 have already popped up online, thus confirming that it isn’t entirely impossible for users to gain full control of their brand spanking new Android device.

A lot of work is being done with regards to rooting Galaxy S4, only yesterday Chainfire released modified tools for rooting the AT&T and T-Mobile variants of the device. Users who are not accustomed with rooting procedures should keep in mind that there are risks involved, risks that they will solely shoulder the responsibility for. Those willing to tread this path may have a look at the detailed instructions posted here.

So, you think that your tablet or Ultrabook is the next best thing since sliced bread when it comes to computing power? Well, here is news for you – HP might be on to something here with the recently announced HP ENVY Rove20 desktop computer. Touted to be the first mobile All-in-One PC by the company, it frees up the desktop PC from the shackles of the desk, enabling both families and friends to enjoy a shared entertainment experience thanks to an integrated battery, special design as well as advanced touch technology.

A mobile All-on-One PC is definitely a concept that will take some getting used to for sure, where one is able to make the transition from upright to completely horizontal for a tabletop entertainment experience. Ntot only that, thanks to the inclusion of advanced multitouch technology, multiple users are able to interact with games simultaneously, now how about that? Enjoying multimedia content on the 20-inch 1,600 x 900 IPS LED panel is definitely one of the plus points for the HP ENVY Rove20. Other hardware specifications include running on fourth generation Intel Core processors, Intel HD graphics, built-in Beats Audio, and 10-point touch among others. The HP ENVY Rove20 will arrive later this July for a yet undisclosed price. [Press Release]

Some of us like to hold off our game purchases until the publisher themselves roll out something that is extra special as part of an enticement. Take for instance, the collection of Warcraft 2 and Warcraft 3 titles, where if you waited long enough and played the patience card to the full, you would have been able to get the main title along with all of the other expansion sets after a while. Hence, the same logic should apply somewhat where Grand Theft Auto V is concerned, especially with the announcement of the Grand Theft Auto V Special Edition and Collector’s Edition that are already available for pre-order from today onwards.

These two editions are part of a worldwide pre-order exercise at participating retailers, and in order to further sweeten the deal, folks who have decided to throw their lot behind either edition of the Grand Theft Auto V (including the Special Edition, Collector’s Edition or the standard retail edition) franchise between now and September 17th will be able to gain access to pilot the Atomic Blimp in-game vehicle, which should be enticement enough. The Grand Theft Auto V Collector’s Edition will cost you $149.99, while those who want to pick up the Grand Theft Auto V Special Edition will have to fork out $79.99 a pop. [Press Release]

Mailbox is a newly popular iPhone email client that has gained quite a substantial user base in the short time that it has become available for everyone. A testament to its popularity is the fact that Dropbox acquired it and vowed to keep it a separate entity, while calling it “simple, delightful and beautifully engineered.” We reported last month that Mailbox for iPad was being developed and the developers also revealed that the were considering making a Mac version. While we don’t know about that yet, Mailbox for iPad has finally gone live and is now available for download from iTunes App Store.

The new version 1.3 update makes Mailbox for iOS a universal app, meaning that it now brings native support for the iPad. There’s a caveat if you use an email service other than Gmail. For now, Mailbox can only work with Gmail accounts, so you’re out of luck if Google’s email is not your cup of tea. Nevertheless, Mailbox is available for download absolutely free. You might want to check it out and see for yourself what the buzz is all about.