| Blip: Snapchat's billion dollar buyout part two: the Googling Nov 15th 2013, 12:13, by Kate Solomon 
Previously on over-dramatised tech tales: Facebook made a $3bn bid to buy Snapchat but neatly-coiffed 23-year-old CEO Evan Spiegel was all "nu-uh, girlfriend" leaving Facebook's lawyers to face Zuckerberg's wrath. Here's what happened next...
We open on a round table in the corner of a dimly lit, opulently furnished bar. The armchairs are artfully over-stuffed and finished in polished leather. There's cigar haze and the scent of wealth in the air. A young man is speaking. He's waving his hands energetically as he spins his yarn for the three other men around the table, all business-casual with odd single-lensed glasses on. Their eyes flicker between Evan and something in the air just up and to the right of them. "...and it was only $3 billion!" Spiegel exclaims as his story reaches its conclusion and all four men laugh. Moving languidly with the ease of a person who has more money than most small countries, the sciurine man opposite leans forward. He smiles the small, satisfied smile of someone who knows he's about to make a really clever joke. "$3 billion's not cool," he says. "You know what's cool, Evan? $4 billion." Evan sits back slowly. There is a pause. "Larry," he sighs. "I'm not looking for cool. I'm looking for ice cold." He raises his eyebrows, looks each man in the eye, swigs the last of his Mexican Coke and is gone. More blipsWill Snapchat ever sell? Pass the time between installments with the rest of TechRadar's blips.        |  | Week in Tech: Moto G arrives, Google gasps and gamers greet PS4 Nov 15th 2013, 12:00, by TechRadar 
That week's big news appears to have been sponsored by the letter G. Motorola's got a G thing, Google's caused much grumpiness and the first of the next-gen gaming giants hits the US today. First up there's the Moto G, which Motorola built to offer iPhone performance and style for a lot less cash. The "surprisingly affordable smartphone" costs £135 (US$179, about AU$190), rocks a 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon, and while it runs Android 4.3 Jelly Bean we've been promised a KitKat upgrade by January 2014. These days Motorola is part of Google, of course, but the Moto G isn't the only cutting-edge Android phone unveiled by the search giant: this week we also got to put the spanking new Nexus 5 through its paces. Marc Flores reckons that "you can't beat the Nexus 5 at this price point" - it's £300 - and while the lacklustre camera and inconsistent battery life aren't ideal, we're not used to seeing "a device with these kinds of specs at this price point. It's not just the specs, either… because it's unlocked it's free of carrier bloatware and restrictions." YouTube gets a Plus one Google was in the news for other reasons this week. Despite its best efforts, the firm has failed to persuade the world to embrace its Google+ social network - so it's trying to force everyone to use it instead. The latest front is YouTube, where you now need a Google+ account before you can leave the friendly, insightful and informative comments the site is famed for. 
Co-founder Jawed Karim was one of many users who said very bad words, but as Marc Chacksfield explains, the move might mean fewer very bad words in the future: "with their public persona at stake they will at least think about what they write." There was a big change to another major video site this week: Netflix has revealed a brand new look for those of us who access it via our smart TVs. It's based on a brand new software platform that should speed up future updates, and the update will roll out to the Xbox 360, new Blu-Ray players, new Smart TVs, the Roku 3, the PS3 and the PS4 within the next two weeks. PlayStation to the foreDid someone say PS4? Yep, the PlayStation 4 hits the US today and the UK in a fortnight. On paper at least, the PS4 appears to be a better deal than the Xbox One: it's more powerful (10 times more powerful than the PS3, Sony says), and it's cheaper too - although the price doesn't include the PlayStation Camera, whereas the Xbox price includes its latest Kinect. 
In addition to an enormous 300MB day-one update, the PS4 will get another fix soon - this time to address something that looked awfully like a not-very-subtle attempt to push Sony's own Music Unlimited service. It emerged last month that the PS4 wouldn't play MP3s or CDs, a decision that was a gift to Microsoft and that generated exactly the kind of warm and cheerful response you'd expect from the famously laid-back world of gaming. Sony says it'll issue an update to fix the missing features, but that update might take a while to appear: according to Sony Worldwide Studio President Shuhei Yoshida, "the system guys are discussing when we can put these features in". That means: don't expect it in the day-one download. Sony also denies any alleged skullduggery and shenanigans. But as Kate Solomon points out, it would, wouldn't it? According to Solomon, saying that you didn't have a diabolical music streaming plot is "exactly what somebody who'd masterminded a failed diabolical music streaming plot would say."        | | Samsung's next Galaxy phone might have a three-sided wraparound display Nov 14th 2013, 21:51, by Michael Rougeau 
It doesn't wrap around your wrist (that's what the Galaxy Gear is for), but Samsung's next Galaxy phone might feature a wraparound display that extends the screen past its bezels onto the sides of the device. With a three-sided display, the new Galaxy phone would be able to display messages, stocks and other information on its sides. The wraparound Galaxy phone is said to use an upgraded version of the Youm flexible display tech seen in the Galaxy Round phone unveiled last month. According to Bloomberg, which learned about this new Galaxy phone from numerous unnamed sources, the three-sided display tech could be used in a Note or S phone, or could be used to start a new line of Galaxy devices. Staying flexibleSamsung revealed the curved Galaxy Round just last month, but with Apple reportedly working on its own curved iPhones Samsung may be feeling pressure to continue to innovate. Bloomberg's sources said there's no exact release date for the new Galaxy device, though the tri-sided phone could arrive during the second half of 2014. Samsung showed off the Youm flexible display tech at CES this year, but it's yet to be used on a widely released commercial product. With the Galaxy Round out in the open and reports like this one coming in, it seems that will soon change. Not to mention that LG has confirmed that it has its own flexible displays in the works, and both companies are reportedly working hard on developing flexible batteries.        | | Siri crowdsourcing patent could harness human brainpower for iOS devices Nov 14th 2013, 21:46, by Matt Swider 
Siri could one day be more useful than just setting timers and answering basic questions, as Apple has filed a patent that envisions an expanded database with answers from human sources. The "Crowd Sourcing Information to Fulfill User Requests" filing with the US Patent and Trademark Office suggests the Cupertino-based company will tap into the knowledge of real-life experts. Apple's 2,000-word document indicates that crowd-sourcing for an answer is initiated if Siri fails to retrieve a good enough solution from its current database. "In response to detection of the failure, information relevant to the user request is crowd-sourced by querying one or more crowd sourcing information sources." ChaCha real smoothRight now, Apple's voice-guided personal assistant relies on sources such as Bing, Yahoo and Wolfram Alpha. But additional results from "self-identified experts" could give Siri the power of human-based search engines and Q&A sites like ChaCha and Quora. "In some embodiments, queries and answers in a particular field may be posted in a public area for all self-identified experts of the field to see," explained the patent's text. "The answers provided for the queries can be peer reviewed and rated by other self-identified experts in the field." Siri's theorized crowdsource module would then make use of ratings to select the best answer for a user's question, exactly like ChCha and Quora. Playing the long gameWhile peer-reviewed results from humans would be a boon to what Siri offers right now, the answers wouldn't always be as instantaneous as machine-based solutions from Bing, for example. The patent talks about a "delayed response" that happens outside of the time frame of the current user session. "The time frame in which a delayed response to a user request is provided ranges from several minutes to several hours, days, or weeks," noted the patent. "[This depends] on the nature of the user request and the typical time frame that useful information may be crowdsourced from external CS information sources." 
Of course, this patent doesn't necessarily mean we'll see a crowd-sourcing Siri in tow with iOS 8 or any future update to Apple's mobile operating system. Siri doesn't seem to want to tell us either way.        | | Nokia Goldfinger, Moneypenny tipped as first Windows Phone 8.1 devices Nov 14th 2013, 19:35, by Kevin Lee -470-75.JPG)
Nokia's inaugural Windows Phone 8.1 devices have been outed as "Goldfinger" and "Moneypenny." The two double-oh-seven inspired names were listed by serial product leaker @evleaks, who has a pretty spot-on track record. There isn't much to go on beyond the monikers, but it is believed that Goldfinger will be the new flagship of Nokia's Lumia line. As Nokia's new "golden boy," the device is expected to come with a new feature called "3D touch," which allows users to make gestures around the phone instead of just on the touchscreen. The phone will have hardware sensors to detect where the phones owner's hands are in a similar fashion to Air Gestures on Samsung Galaxy S4. The Verge has it on the authority of sources that Goldfinger owners will be able to interact with the device by making hand gestures above and to the side of the device. These gesture controls could include scrolling and flipping, letting Windows Phone 8.1 users navigate through menus without actually touching the screen. A MWC 2014 release?Currently the word on the street is that Microsoft is tiptoeing towards a Mobile World Congress 2014 unveiling of its latest mobile OS. Windows Phone 8.1 is expected to bring several enhancements, including a new notification center, better multi-tasking, and a Siri-like Cortana voice assistant. Nothing is confirmed, but it looks like we'll have at least two new handsets sporting the new features.        | | First Jolla phone on sale November 27, Here Maps and Android app store in tow Nov 14th 2013, 19:23, by Michelle Fitzsimmons 
The first phone from the ragtag bunch of ex-Nokia employees is due out this month. Jolla has announced its inaugural Sailfish OS handset will be available through Finnish carrier DNA on November 27. For the non-Finns among us, there's no word yet on a wider release. With a sticker price of €399 (about $512/£337/AU$521), Jolla's offering a decent amount of phone for a mid-tier machine. Those who pick up the two-tone phone (to start it's heading mostly to those who made pre-sale orders) will have a 4.5-inch display in their hand, backed by a dual-core processor, 8MP camera and 16GB of storage. There's also a slot for microSD. Jolla revealed on Twitter that the phone will be available both on and off contract with no SIM lock. Know where you're sailing off toBecause nothing beats not getting lost thanks to your phone, Jolla also announced that it struck a deal with Nokia to integrate the latter's Here Maps and positioning tech into Sailfish. Add to that Android app access provided by Yandex.Store and Jolla owners should have a decent suite of software in their Sailfish vessel. Yandex hosts more than 85,000 Android apps "in 17 categories," according to Jolla press release (PDF), including majors like Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Skype and Viber. Will Jolla's first phone rock the handset world its core? Not likely, but at least it won't be a dead fish on arrival.        | | Miniaturized Sony Xperia Z1s spied on camera, could find its way to Europe Nov 14th 2013, 18:37, by JR Bookwalter 
Hey, good looking, what's your name? Newly leaked photos appear to reveal a mini-sized edition of Sony's next Xperia smartphone, although it's anyone's guess exactly what it might be called. A trio of images showing a possible Mini Me sized Sony Xperia Z1 have surfaced this week and could be evidence of a second variation of the Japanese-only Xperia Z1f the manufacturer confirmed last month. According to Russian language forum 4PDA, the images we're looking at come from a prototype of the Sony Xperia Z1s, an international variant that seems to be targeted for the European market. The handset shown above is apparently being prepped for release in Russia, but all indications point to the handset making its way to the region in the near future as well. Big performance, small deviceIn case you're thinking the shot is just a full-sized Sony Xperia Z1, the ruler and coin look to indicate otherwise - the handset is roughly 65mm wide, which lines up nicely to the specs for the Xperia Z1f. The so-called Xperia Z1s is said to sport a 4.3-inch 720p HD display powered by a Snapdragon 800 processor with 2GB RAM, Android 4.3 Jelly Bean and a 2300mAh battery, impressive specs that suggest this won't just be a smaller version of the Z1. Sony also isn't skimping when it comes to the camera optics, apparently packing in a 20.7MP sensor that ought to make just about anything you can point it at look pretty darned good; a 2.2MP front-facing camera is also on board for video chats. No word on when this little dude plans to come out of hiding and make an appearance in the hands of Sony fans, but for now we'll have to console ourselves with the rumors that it might exist at all. - Big phone, small price? Get a hands-on look at the new Motorola Moto G!
       | | EXCLUSIVE: Motorola hints at possible global launch for Moto X Nov 14th 2013, 16:42, by John McCann 
People got very excited in the lead up to the Moto X launch as Motorola teased us with talk of a customisable smartphone. In reality it wasn't as customisable as we'd hoped, but the real sticking point was its US-only badge. All may not be lost for the humble Moto X though, as Motorola has hinted that it's considering various opportunities for the handset. Marcus Frost, Motorola's Senior Marketing Director for EMEA spoke to TechRadar at the launch of the firm's new Moto G handset. Continuously perusing opportunities"The reception of Moto X has been fantastic and we're continuously perusing opportunities in the EMEA region, so really watch this space," Frost said. While the trail is still cold for Asia and Australia there is a potential light at the end of the Moto X tunnel for anyone holding out for the handset in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Motorola's Vice President for EMEA, Magnus Ahlqvist, added: "We are serious about Europe and we want to bring strong propositions to the market." The Moto X sports a 4.7-inch, 1280 x 720 display, 1.7GHz dual-core processor, 2GB of RAM, 10MP rear camera, 2MP front snapper, Android 4.2 Jelly Bean and the choice of either 16GB or 32GB of internal storage.        | | Opinion: How Motorola's Moto G will change the smartphone market Nov 14th 2013, 16:30, by Desire Athow 
The launch of the new Moto G by Google's Motorola may have come as a surprise to many but in the hindsight, it represents only the completion of what now looks like a logical process, ahead of the next big thing. Google now has two products for its three main mobility categories (laptops, smartphones and tablets), one for entry level and one for power users. The Nexus 7 and the Nexus 10, the Moto G and the Nexus 5 as well as the Chromebook(s) and the Chromebook Pixel. Why the Moto G launched under the Motorola banner rather than as Google remains a mystery. What one can be sure of though is the growing uneasiness of Google's partners, particularly at the lower end of the market. Sure, the Moto G will skip China at launch, officially because the Chinese government blocks some Google services but also possibly to appease the likes of TCL, Huawei and ZTE, powerful allies in the booming Chinese economy who will not want to see a frenemy infringe on their turf. 
Nexus 7th Heaven?It appears however inevitable that Motorola's latest smartphone will have the same effect on the entry-level ecosystem as the Google Nexus 7, causing big names to abandon the lower end of the Android smartphone market or cut margins (offering more for the same price or the same thing for much less) to compete with no-names. Google, being in control of an entire ecosystem, is essentially Intel and Microsoft combined into one entity. Wintel, as the duo was commonly known as, shaped the world of desktops and laptops for decades but neither was as influential as Google. The latter has the ability to shape the actual device. Neither Intel nor Microsoft ever actually managed to build mainstream popular, traditional computers that went on to have a significant impact on the market because they were disproportionately powerful players in their own realms. Google however faces no Intel equivalent in a fragmented hardware market where it can pick and choose partners at a component level. And its influence in the Android market is important. According to 51degrees, Google (including Motorola) now accounts for one eighth of all Android devices in the UK, sitting fourth on the list with more than double its marketshare from 12 months ago. In the US, Google is comfortably the second biggest player in the Android ecosystem behind Samsung. What's next?It now seems clear that Google is engineering a long-term process aimed at reducing the clout of Samsung and clearing out the market ahead of the next big thing which is the demise of Chrome OS and the launch of Android 5.0. The latter is likely to unify all three mobile platforms (keyboard enabled, big screens and small ones) as alluded to by Sergey Brin, Google's co-founder, in November 2009 and explains why Google named Sundar Pichai, the head of Android as the one in charge of Chrome and Apps, in lieu of Andy Rubin. This opens a window of opportunity (no pun intended) for Microsoft which might try to convince disgruntled Google device partners to join the Windows Phone band, although given the company also owns Nokia, brands might not be so willing to jump from one domineering, hardware-producing ally to another.        | | Interview: Motorola admits it lost ground in mobile market Nov 14th 2013, 16:19, by John McCann 
Motorola hasn't been at the forefront of the mobile market in recent times, but it's getting back on the horse step by step. Magnus Ahlqvist, Motorola's Vice President for EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) spoke to TechRadar at the launch of the Moto G, and discussed the firm's new direction. "We're really starting to make a comeback as a company and it's a new start for us in terms of starting to rebuild our presence in Europe, the Middle East and Africa," Ahlqvist told us. "We do have a big ambition, but for the last 18 months we have gone through a substantial transformation at Motorola." A smaller presence"The US is our home base and we still have a big presence there and also in Latin America," he explained, but the firm has slipped in other regions. "Motorola has had a smaller presence in EMEA recently, but that's natural for a company going through a major transformation." Even though Motorola may have fallen away in various markets, in never disappeared completely, as Ahlqvist explains: "we never left markets, but we were smaller and now the ambition is that we're going to put all the building blocks in place to start to grow strength in the next couple of years." Focus and disciplineIt won't be getting carried away though, and the feeling at Motorola is a steady-as-she-goes approach, honing in on some core areas of mobile instead of trying to hit every base possible. "We're going to be very consumer focussed. We're not going to make 40-45 products per year. We're trying to be really disciplined about addressing consumer needs." Marcus Frost, Motorola's Senior Marketing Director for EMEA added: "[We'll] only add features where is makes sense for the consumer. The kinds of things you'll see us do are solving problems which are frustrating today's smartphone users." It's small steps for Motorola, but it is moving forward and signs are looking positive - especially with the backing of Google.        | | Nokia adds Bluetooth 4.0 support to all WP8 Lumia devices Nov 14th 2013, 11:24, by James Rogerson -470-75.JPG)
Right now Bluetooth 4.0 low energy (LE) is sorely lacking from most Windows Phone 8 devices, but that won't be the case for long if Nokia has any say in it. The Finnish company has already added Bluetooth 4.0 LE support to the Nokia Lumia 520, 620, 625 and 720 with the recent 'Amber' update, but it now plans to extend that support to all Windows Phone 8 Lumia devices. That new support will be added with the 'Black' update and should include tablets as well as phones, though as yet it's not known when the update will land. Lower energy, longer lastingOnce it does, Lumia devices will be able to make low energy Bluetooth connections with other devices, using a lot less battery power than a standard Bluetooth connection would. While it could be useful for any number of things, Bluetooth LE is currently widely used with fitness accessories such as heart rate monitors. The black update is also set to add new Glance (Nokia's always-on screen tech) screen colour choices, along with extra Glance screen options, such as a pedometer and notifications. It also adds RAW camera support to the Nokia Lumia 1020 and 1520 and new camera algorithms. There's bad news for anyone still rocking a Windows Phone 7 Lumia device though, as this generation has been left out in the cold yet again. - The Nokia Lumia 1020 is one of many devices that could benefit from this update.
  | | Dual-screen YotaPhone launching internationally before Christmas Nov 14th 2013, 10:43, by James Rogerson 
Normally when it comes down to it a phone's a phone. Sure they have different screen sizes and some of them are getting a bit bendy, but at the end of the day they mostly look similar and all have a single screen. But the YotaPhone changes all that. In late 2012 those crazy Russians at Yota Devices decided that one screen just wouldn't cut it, so they made the YotaPhone - which has two. There's a standard 4.3-inch 720p LCD screen on the front and then for some reason another 4.3-inch e-ink screen on the back - and it's finally about to go global. Black and white and read all overWhat's the e-ink screen for? Well it seems that its main purpose is to allow the YotaPhone to double as an ereader, but in any case it sure will make it stand out from the crowd and being e-ink it shouldn't be too battery hungry. Crazy dual-screen credentials aside the YotaPhone sounds a bit middle of the road. It runs Android 4.2.2, has a 1.7GHz dual-core processor, 2GB of RAM, a 13MP camera, 32GB of storage and an 1800mAh battery, so it seems to be relying on that second screen to make sales. There's not been a great deal of news since its launch in 2012, until now that is. If you've been longing for a phone with multiple screens then you won't have much longer to wait, as Yota Devices has confirmed to TechCrunch that the YotaPhone will launch internationally before Christmas. It's not known what the YotaPhone will retail for, but an earlier report from the Russian site hi-tech.mail.ru pointed to a price of 20,000 rubles, which translates to roughly £381.   | | Clear skies ahead as EASA approves gadget use during take-off and landing Nov 14th 2013, 02:58, by Chris Smith 
European air travellers will soon be able to use their personal electronic devices throughout flights, with the continent's air safety regular confirming new guidelines will come into play by the end of the month. Following the lead of their American counterparts, the FAA, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) said passengers need no longer shut down and stow their gadgets during taxi, take-off and landing. Once the new rules take effect, flyers will be able to use smartphones, tablets, e-readers, MP3 players and other devices, as long as they're in flight/airplane mode. That still means calling, texting, and using mobile data is still off limits. The new guidelines will be published before November comes to an end. From there it will likely be up to individual airlines to adjust their policies as they see fit, as has been the case in the United States recently. No bulky laptopsThe EASA still wants "bulky" laptop computers to be stowed during taxi, take-off and landing stages of the flight, but today's announcement represents a major step forward. The EASA said it was looking for safe ways to allow phone calls, but wants to ensure passengers listen to those all important safety instructions, first and foremost. In a press release, sent out on Wednesday, the regulator wrote: "In the long term, the Agency is looking at new ways to certify the use of mobile phones on-board aircraft to make phone calls. EASA recognises the wide proliferation of personal electronic devices and the wish of the travelling public to use them everywhere. "The aim of the Agency is to ensure safe and harmonised use of PED on-board aircraft operated by European airlines. Safety is EASA's priority; it is important that passengers continue to listen to the safety briefings conducted by the crew and follow their instructions." The swift action of the European regulator will pleasantly surprise the UK's own Civil Aviation Authority. A spokesman recently suggested it'd be "months" before the EU red tape was cut.   | | Moto X will see Android 4.4 KitKat 'in a matter of weeks,' says Moto CEO Nov 13th 2013, 20:48, by Michael Rougeau 
Sometimes being owned by Google can give you a bit of an edge over the competition. Such is the case with Motorola's Moto X, which will soon become one of the first Android devices to be upgraded to Android 4.4 KitKat. In fact, Motorola CEO Dennis Woodside said today that the Moto X will receive its KitKat update "in a matter of weeks," according to GigaOM. If the Moto X's KitKat update does arrive that soon it could be the first non-Nexus handset to be upgraded to Google's latest. Sweet updateKitKat was released initially on the Nexus 5, and the Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 next in line, receiving the update over-the-air in the last day. Android 4.4 adds a number of changes and new features. For one, SMS messaging has been folded right into Hangouts, which Google hopes will become users' de facto messaging app. In addition, Google Now is more accessible than ever in KitKat. Much of its functionality can be accessed with the voice command "OK Google." Other important apps, like the phone, music and movies applications, have been treated to aesthetic and UI overhauls. Google's own official KitKat hub has a full outline of new features, so head there if you're hungry for more or want to know what to expect. And don't forget to keep checking TechRadar to find out when KitKat will arrive on your device.   | | HTC One Max flexes onto Sprint's network November 15 Nov 13th 2013, 17:30, by Kevin Lee 
HTC's oversized One Max is finally coming to the yellow tinged shores of the Sprint network. Phablet connoisseurs will be able to purchase the oversized handset starting this Friday, November 15 for $249. The special price naturally comes with a contract string attached. Customers will have to either sign up for a new wireless line or get upgrades attached with Sprint's $25 One Up service. The HTC One Max features a sizable 5.9-inch 1080p screen. Underneath the big sheet of glass, there's a 1.7GHz quad-core chip backed up by 2GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. On the software end, the HTC One Max comes running Android 4.3 under HTC's Sense 5.5. Keeping up with the power user motif, the big honking phone also has a fingerprint scanner and expandable memory, thanks to a microSD slot. More blips!  | |
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