| Apple's enhanced iPad Smart Cover takes cues from HTC and Samsung Jun 13th 2014, 12:22, by John McCann 
A patent for a new type of iPad Smart Cover from Apple has been published, and some of the features detailed in the listing sound a little familiar. The patent appeared at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and depicts a case which has a matrix of LEDs to signal various notifications as well as a cut-out section, allowing you to view a portion of the iPad's screen. These plans differ vastly from Apple's current offering of iPad covers, which don't feature any electronic components or ability to view any of the screen when closed. Taking a closer look at that matrix display we can't help but be reminded of the Dot View case that HTC launched alongside the One M8 earlier this year to alert users to particular notifications and weather updates. In Apple's Smart Cover it appears a series of LEDs are built into it, rather than using the screen of the tablet, and are capable of displaying various snippets of information. 
Samsung take noteThat's not the only trick this iPad cover could have up its sleeve though, with a possible translucent panel giving you a peek at the screen below. In the same way we've seen the Samsung S View and LG Quick Circle cases show a portion of specially tailored display, Apple's answer appears to do the same thing with information relocated to the smaller area. 
While this all sounds rather copy-cat from Apple it's worth noting that this patent was originally filed in 2012, so it's certainly not a knee-jerk reaction from the Cupertino firm. Will we ever see this smarter iPad Smart Cover hit the market? Well that's difficult to say, but we wouldn't be surprised is Apple decided to innovate in this area.        |  | Week in Tech: Week in Tech: Microsoft fights Sony for E3 crown, Amazon fights Spotify for your ears Jun 13th 2014, 12:00, by TechRadar 
E3 isn't short for Extremely Exciting Electronics, but it should be: the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo is where we get to find out just what fun Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo have lined up for gamers in the coming months. We've also got the skinny on Samsung's new tablet, discovered Amazon's plans for music streaming, spotted a secret Facebook app and looked at what appears to be the iPhone 6. It's the Week in Tech! E3: the giants battle it outThe playground chants of "my dad's better than your dad" are back, but instead of dads they're about games consoles: at E3 we saw the Xbox One and PS4 face each other in the playground, yell a bit and give each other dead legs and Chinese burns. Microsoft showed off all the Halos for Xbox One alongside a new Tomb Raider and - yes! - a new Crackdown, while Sony showed us a white PS4, Little Big Planet 3, Uncharted 4 and - yes! - legendarily brilliant adventure Grim Fandango, remastered and re-released to delight a new generation of gamers. Sony also introduced what our Scott Alexander described as "the most important product of E3 2014": the PlayStation TV. Imagine an Apple TV that plays games, a world-class console that's cheaper than anything else on the market. It could be a game-changer. E3: The Goomba, the bad and the uglyNintendo "is the tortoise to Micro-Sony's hare," Nick Pino says. It's a shy tortoise too: unlike its rivals, it didn't bother with an elaborate press event at E3, preferring something much more low-key. It's got a brand new game to talk about, the steampunk/strategy S.T.E.A.M., it's launching Skylanders-style figures and it's bringing Mii support to the upcoming Super Smash Bros on Wii U and 3DS. Amazon gets into the grooveThese days you're nobody until you have a streaming music service, and Amazon's the latest big hitter to go all streamy: its Prime Music service offers a relatively titchy 1 million tracks to US Prime customers and works on PC, Mac, iOS and Android. It'll no doubt work on the Amazon phone we expect to see next week too. Keeping a Tab on SamsungSamsung has unveiled not one, but two Galaxy Tab S tablets: one with an 8.4-inch screen and one with a 10.5-incher. And those screens aren't ordinary LCDs, either. They're Super AMOLEDs, which means they're bright enough to give you a tan. Samsung's ads pronounce AMOLED as "ahm-led", says our mobile expert Gareth Beavis. "That's going to get annoying," he predicts. The tablets are extremely thin, very light and available in Dazzling White and Titanium Bronze with US price tags of $399 and $499, and we've got the most in-depth review you can possibly imagine. Beavis's verdict? "My legs hurt." Oh snap! Facebook's Slingshot slips outWhat's white and invisible? That app! No sooner had Facebook's Snapchat rival Slingshot appeared on the App Store than it disappeared again. The reason? Facebook had launched it by accident. An official release is coming soon. Ain't nuttin' but a G Pad thangHere's a different kind of three-G: three new G Pads, courtesy of LG. The tablets were "unleashed" - now there's an exciting word - this week in three different sizes: seven inches, eight inches and 10.1 inches. The little one is for "optimum mobility", the big one for "delivering a media-focused experience" and the in-between one for swatting wasps or something. Has Lin leaked the iPhone 6?Remember Jimmy Lin, the Taiwanese driving and movie star who was waving an iPhone 5C about before it was actually launched? He's at it again, and this time he appears to have an iPhone 6. As John McCann explains, as Lin's previous leak was spot on, "hopes are high that he's managed to repeat the trick this year."        | | Google drops a tasty hint that Android 5.0 is coming soon Jun 13th 2014, 10:05, by Hugh Langley 
Google might have just dropped a big hint that Android 5.0 will be the version of its operating system, which we expect to see rear its head at Google I/O later this month - not 4.5. The teaser came in the form of a tweet from Google regarding a new World Cup feature, which shows the system clock as 5:00. That sounds like we might be reading too far into things, but since Android 2.3 Google has used the clock as an indicator of whats its next OS will be. And if you go check out the devices on the Google Play Store you'll see they all read 4:40 as the current time. A leak from earlier this year indicated that Google is plotting to bring Android, Chrome and Search all closer together in 5.0. As for the name, the new Android is currently going under the sweet moniker of Lollipop, but who knows which delicious treat will get its moment of fame?        | | Samsung gives Aussies docking freedom with new update Jun 13th 2014, 01:56, by Farrha Khan 
Something that has always irked Samsung Galaxy users has been the inability to customise the TouchWiz dock. The applications dock, which sits at the bottom of each homepages, has been fixed since the launch of the Galaxy S3. Strangely, this has not been a global issue, as the dock has been customisable for users everywhere around the world - except for Australia. Even stranger is that with every new launch, Samsung hasn't even attempted to explain why the dock is locked for all Australian handsets time and time again. But with a new update, the dock is finally open to be changed. TouchWiz freedom With Samsung's locked down dock, you were stuck with the Phone, Contacts, Messages and Internet app. There was no chance of adding Chrome, a camera app or email app instead. Those were the four you were to see on every homepage, even if you never used the native Internet app. Most users instead turned to launchers, such Nova Launcher, to bypass the locked dock. We have yet to confirm which handsets are in line to receive the update, though we have updated a Galaxy S5 successfully. If you are connecting to a Wi-Fi network, you may have been prompted automatically, but if you weren't, you can check if there is a software update for your Galaxy device by going into the Setting Menu, then About Device and clicking Software Update.        | | Samsung Galaxy Note 4 said to come in curved and flat models Jun 12th 2014, 18:50, by klee 
Early rumored specs on the Galaxy Note 4 already have us hot and bothered, but now details have come out suggesting there might actually two versions Samsung's next phablet. An executive at one of Samsung's supplier partners confirmed with The Korea Times that the Galaxy Note 4 would come with a curved screen and another model with a regular flat screen. Both devices will also purported be announced at IFA 2014, which takes place from September 5 to 10 in Berlin, Germany. Thus far, early reports pointed to the handset getting a screen with curved edges like the Galaxy Round. Now this latest report states that the curved phablets will be a "niche" device only available in a limited number of unnamed markets. The source also divulged that a standard version with a flat screen, which will likely see a much more widespread launch. Around the bendAlthough the curved Galaxy Note 4 might not be destined for many markets at launch there's still a chance it could come later. As we saw with the G Flex, LG first curved handset was originally only available in South Korea until its eventual expanded release. Meanwhile, everything else we've heard about the Galaxy Note 4 has is making out the device to be Samsung's most tantalizing handset yet. If the rumors are to be believed the extra large handset should come with a 5.7-inch display with a QHD resolution of 2,560 x 1,440. Internally the phone will supposedly come rocking a 2.7GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 processor and a full load of RAM at 4G. The handset is also suspected to feature a bumped up 16-megapixel camera with optical image stabilization. The Galaxy Note 4 is said to launch sometime in early September when Samsung also announces another rumored premium handset, the Galaxy F. Curved or not we'll report all the coming details as they leak so stay tuned to this space. - Samsung isn't the only one changing screens, check out the rumored bigger iPhone 6
       | | Facebook offers up ad preferences, but you'll be watched more closely Jun 12th 2014, 17:21, by JR Bookwalter 
Prefer to be in control of your own destiny? Facebook will soon hand some of the advertising reins over to users, even though advertisers will be watching what you're in to from afar. Facebook announced upcoming changes in how it determines what type of advertising it shows users. Users, meanwhile, will finally have a little more say it what ads are presented to them. Instead of mining activity only from Facebook, advertisers will soon be able to tap into other websites and apps frequently used by members to provide "interest-based advertising" similar to what Google already does. The new initiative will roll out to Facebook users in the United States over the next few weeks, and will then expand across the globe in the months to come. What are your interests?Even as Facebook expands its advertising reach, the social network has devised a peace offering for members in the form of ad preferences, which enable users more control over what type of ads they see. Facebook offered the example of a consumer researching the purchase of a new television, which would then trigger interest-based advertising in the future for other electronics that could potentially complement such an acquisition. Assuming the TV shopping was a one-time event, Facebook users could then remove electronics from their ad preferences, effectively turning off a potential faucet of similar product offerings to come. Facebook members will also be able to opt out of the new ad targeting on the web using a Digital Advertising Alliance opt out, or the new controls being baked into the iOS and Android mobile apps.        | | UK HTC One (2013) gets up to speed with Sense 6.0 UI Jun 12th 2014, 17:11, by Chris Smith 
UK-based owners of the original 2013 HTC One (M7) can now upgrade their device to the latest version of the company's Sense 6.0 UI. The 678MB over-the-air update brings a range of new features that give users an experience more closely aligned to that on the new HTC One M8 device. Users will get the refined version of the news and social hub Blinkfeed, a new camera app and a speedier interface with streamlined icons and menus. The new Zoe app will also roll out when HTC decrees. The update, which began rolling out in other territories last month, also brings the Extreme Power Saving mode into play. No DuoNaturally, due to the lack of the newer device's Duo Camera lens, the original HTC One owners will be without the Ufocus focus feature and others dependent on the upgraded hardware. You can find the update via the About section of the Settings menu. Have you tried it yet? Noticed a big difference? Share your experiences below.   | |
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