Angry Birds Rio Updated With Exciting New Levels

Rovio has updated its Angry Birds Rio, bumping it to version 2.0, and introduced a number of new features and improvements to the game.

The new update is live in the App Store and is based on the sequel of the Rio movie that was released a few years back, known as the High Dive episode and exciting new levels to the game.

The latest update comes with 20 challenging new levels to test your skills, along with 6 bonus levels on Brazilian shores. In addition, the update also brings new moves and improved graphics for the Rio 2 chapter. Here’s a complete change log for the game:

Make a BIG splash in the High Dive episode – based on the new blockbuster movie sequel Rio 2!

NEW LEVELS! 20 levels and 6 bonus levels set in a Brazilian port harbor!

RIO NEVER LOOKED SO GOOD! Totally refreshed with shiny new graphics for the Rio 2 chapter!

AMAZON RIVER DOLPHINS! These beautiful animals are accidentally trapped and they need your help!

NEW MOVE! Dive below to break open those cages from underwater!

If you’re an Angry Birds Rio user, head over to the App Store or the Google Play Store and grab the game.

Source: App Store, Google Play Store

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Official Google Chromecast Forums Now Open

Google has today opened the doors on its official Google Chromecast forums allowing the Chromecast community to post their views, tips and suggestions and allowing anyone else who might be interested in purchasing a Google Chromecast device more information.

Together with the ability to access plenty of information about the features of the new Google Chromecast device, as well as a detailed FAQ section.

As soon as you visit the new Google Chromecast public forums the front page has a quick link to twelve of the most frequently asked Chromecast questions according to Google. Providing answers for new adopters and providing more details on how they can benefit from purchasing a Google Chromecast device.

As with any forum there are quick search facilities as well as a variety of different ways to filter and list the threads that are available within the forum database to meet your needs.

Together with links to general content about setting up your Google Chromecast dongle as well as additional information on the current smartphone and tablet applications available to be used with Chromecast. Jump over to the Google Chromecast forums now to get started.

Source: Android Police

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Samsung Galaxy Camera 2 Launching Next Month For $450

After Samsung unveiled their new Samsung Galaxy Camera 2 during the CES 2014Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas at the beginning of this year. Samsung has today officially announced the launch of their highly anticipated Samsung Galaxy Camera 2 will take place next month in March 2014 and the newly updated camera will be priced at $450.

Samsung have equipped their new Galaxy Camera 2 with a 16.3 megapixel sensor with BSI, a 21x optical zoom, with a 23mm wide angle lens, all run by Google’s Android 4.3 Jelly Bean operating system.

The Samsung Galaxy Camera 2 is powered by a quad core 1.6GHz processor supported by 2GB of RAM and its equipped with a 4.8 inch HD Super Clear Touch LCD display on the rear. As well as 8GB of built in storage and a microSD card slot which supports up to 64GB cards for further expansion when required.

Samsung have also included NFC, WiFi, GPS with GLONASS, Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity and optical image stabilisation, with power from a 2,000 mAh battery. Simon Stanford, Vice President of IM division, Samsung Electronics UK and Ireland, said during this years CES event :

“Consumers love the Galaxy Camera and this next-generation version is designed to improve on the successful predecessor, with upgraded and new features that will enhance the photography experience. The result is a more powerful and portable device, which continues to embrace the public’s passion for the social features of smartphones, yet also provides superior image control and quality. We are dedicated to making it easier for more people to achieve great results and with the Galaxy Camera 2′s host of creative features, anyone can capture standout images.”

Other features of the Samsung Galaxy Camera 2 include a built-in pop up Xenon flash, plus a range of Google and Samsung applications tom choose from, which include S Voice, Samsung Link, Samsung ChatOn and more. For more information on the new Samsung Galaxy Camera 2 jump over to the Samsung website for details.

Source: Liliputing

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Samsung Galaxy S5 will also come in gold, confirms leak

Much has been said and speculated about the Galaxy S5′s hardware, but one thing that hasn’t been discussed in the color options the upcoming flagship will be available in. Well, for those that like some bling on their smartphones, it looks like Samsung will be offering a gold color version of the Galaxy S5. A leaked Vodafone document has confirmed that a gold S5 will be launched at some point – considering it is already listed in a carrier’s database, it’s likely we’ll see the gold option made available right at launch, instead of months later as was the case with the gold Galaxy S4.

If the gold Galaxy S5 is launched at the same time as its non-gold counterparts, parallels will naturally be drawn to Apple’s iPhone 5s, which was also launched with a gold paint job right from the beginning. Add to that the fact that the S5 is also suspected to be powered by a 64-bit processor and sport a fingerprint sensor, and it seems like Samsung will be leaving no stone unturned in making sure that its next flagship offers all that its biggest competitor offers to its consumers, while trumping it through features like a feature-packed 16-megapixel camera and a QHD (2K) display.

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Android and Samsung build on their market shares in Q3 2012

Android's market share increased significantly during the third quarter of 2012, with the Google OS powering 72.4% of all smartphones sold in the three months' period. Apple's iOS came a very distant second with a market share of 13.9%.

This is an impressive accomplishment for Google's mobile OS, considering Android's market share was 52.5% in Q3 of 2011.

Samsung saw its position as the leading mobile manufacturer increase to 22.9% after selling almost 100 million phones in the three month period ending in September. This was mostly at the expense of Nokia, which saw its market share slide almost 5 percent points year-over-year.

The holiday season should see Apple take back some of both of those pies, as many iOS-faithfuls held off on replacing their smartphones until the iPhone 5 came around. Apple's new smartphone top dog is expanding its availability to many new markets in Q4, which should help Apple arrest the fall in iOS market share.

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Audiovox Car Connection Helps You Find Your Car and More

Audiovox has announced a new device called the Car Connection that helps drivers monitor, manage, and maintain vehicle health. The device plugs into the OBDII port available on most vehicles since the mid-90s. When connected to the vehicle the Car Connection can monitor the driver habits to help coach drivers to be more green.

When the cooler features of the device is that it will show you your vehicle location and where it’s heading. Vehicle location can be tracked online from a smart phone or notebook computer. This allows you to keep an eye on where teenage drivers are and what they’re doing, and can help police recover your vehicle if it’s stolen.

Another interesting feature is that the Car Connection can work with the app operating on Android or BlackBerry smartphones to limit access to the phone when the vehicle is in motion. You can prevent users from making calls from behind the wheel or sending texts. The device operates on the Sprint mobile broadband network and requires a service plan at $9.95 per month or $89.95 per year. Both plans require a $19.95 activation fee and the device itself sells for $169.99.

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Logitech Alert Security Camera Receives OS X Support And Alert Commander App

Mac OS X users might be pleased to learn that Logitech has today rolled out Mac support to their range of Logitech Alert Security System and Cameras. Enabling you to now view the cameras on Mac OS X.

The new Logitech Alert Security Mac software “Alert Commander” is now available to download from the Apple AppStore for free and allows you to  configure your video security system, watch live video, store video on your computer and review recorded video, directly from your Mac. Watch the video after the jump to see it in action.

Alert Commander provides a wealth of features and supports up to six Logitech Alert security cameras:

* Install your Logitech Alert camera system on any Mac (with OS version 10.6.8 or higher)
* Control and configure your video security system 
* Manage up to 6 cameras
* View live and recorded video in HD resolution 
* Set up motion zones for individual cameras
* Create and manage e-mail and mobile phone motion alerts 
* Perform Digital Pan, Tilt and zoom
* Back up video stored on your cameras to your Mac
* Manage your account and security settings
* Receive desktop notification of important events
* Set schedules for when you want to receive motion notifications to your email or mobile device

“With a wide-angle lens that delivers twice the viewing area than that of a standard camera and HD resolution video, home security has never looked this good. Plus, there is a new pop-out window feature that allows you to minimize the main app while continuing to watch one or more cameras while you multi-task. Work on a presentation or browse the web, and still keep an eye on what’s important.”

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Microsoft Surface Tablet Gets Software Updates

Microsoft recently launched their first tablet, the Microsoft Surface, which comes with Windows RT, and now Microsoft has released a software update for the device which comes with a number of bug fixes and performance improvements.

According to the guys over at the Verge, there are a total of seven minor updates available for the Microsoft Surface Windows RT tablet, and some of the improvements include faster launching applications.

As well as releasing various software updates, Microsoft has also patched a number of security issues with their Windows RT OS, you can find out more details over at Microsoft.

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Google Releases Android 4.2 Jelly Bean SDK

Google’s latest Android devices, which come with Android 4.2 Jelly Bean were released yesterday, the list includes the new Google Nexus 4 smartphone, the Google Nexus 10 tablet and the updated Google Nexus 7 tablet.

Now Google has announced the release of the Android 4.2 SDK, which is now available to download for developers, with API level17, you can see some of the highlights below.

Performance
We’ve worked with our partners to run Renderscript computation directly in the GPU on the Nexus 10, a first for any mobile computation platform.

New ways to engage users
Users can now place interactive lock screen widgets directly on their device lock screens, for instant access to favorite apps and content. With just a small update, you can adapt any app widget to run on the lock screen. Daydream is an interactive screensaver mode that users can encounter when their devices are charging or docked in a desk dock. You can create interactive daydreams that users display in this mode, and they can include any type of content.

New interaction and entertainment experiences
Android 4.2 introduces platform support for external displays that goes beyond mirroring. Your apps can now target unique content to any number of displays attached to an Android device.

Enhancements for international users
To help you create better apps for users in languages such as Arabic, Hebrew, and Persian, Android 4.2 includes native RTL support, including layout mirroring. With native RTL support, you can deliver the same great app experience to all of your users with minimal extra work. Android 4.2 also includes a variety of font and character optimizations for Korean, Japanese, Indic, Thai, Arabic and Hebrew writing systems.

You can find out full details about the Android 4.2 SDK over at the Android Developers Blog.

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Elliptic Labs Windows 8 Touchless Gesture Control Unveiled (video)

Elliptic Labs has developed a new touchless gesture control system for Microsoft’s latest Windows 8 operating system, which has been designed to enable users to take advantage of natural gesturing to navigate Windows 8.

The new system unveiled by Elliptic Labs uses ultrasonic touchless technology, and uses up to 95% less power than existing camera image-based gestural systems which are currently on the market, says Elliptic Labs. Watch the video after the jump to see the new touchless gesture control system in action.

Elliptic Labs has also developed an “Elliptic Ultrasound Starter Kit for Laptops”, to provide developers with an out-of-the-box solution for them to start integrating the new touchless gesture-based system within their hardware.

“Microsoft’s new metro interface changes how consumers interact with the operating system and the design is a perfect fit for touchless gestures. Elliptic’s Windows 8 Gesture Suite gives the users a touchless version of the gestures they already know from a touchscreen and allows the user to interact in an even more natural and intuitive way without having to touch the screen.”

For more information jump over to the Elliptic Labs website for full details on the new touchless gesture-based control system.

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Google Confirms Adobe Flash Is “Fully Sandboxed” In Its Chrome Browser

Adobe Flash Player has received extra attention from Google within its Chrome browser, and has now been “fully sandboxed” within Google’s browser across Windows, Mac, Linux and Chrome OS platforms.

The purpose of sandboxing help restrict malware from being able to install itself on to your computer, adding additional layers of security against malicious website that might have other plans for your computer whilst viewing a video on their site.  Watch the video after the jump to learn more about the Chrome Flash Sandboxing update.

Google has been working with Adobe since 2012 to help make their Chrome browser even more secure for possible threats and the addition of the newly added sandboxing for Adobe Flash Player offers great protection for users against malicious websites.

“With this release, Flash Player is now fully sandboxed in Chrome on all of our desktop platforms, including Windows, Mac, Linux and Chrome OS. Ultimately, this means a safer experience for you as you browse the web. We take the security of Chrome extremely seriously, so we’re excited to be delivering these enhanced protections, and we’ve enjoyed collaborating with Adobe on this effort.”

For more information jump over to the official Google announcement.

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PlayStation Vita PS Plus Service Launching November 19th (video)

If you have been waiting patiently for Sony’s PS Plus service to arrive on your new Sony PlayStation Vita portable gaming console. You will be pleased to learn that Sony has rolled out a new update to its PlayStation Vita console taking its system software to version 2.00.

The new PS Plus service will be available to Sony Playstation Vita owners from next week on November 19th 2012, with access to four games per month, together with other perks such as free play, exclusive discounts and online storage.

Using Sony’s new PS service gamers will be able to enjoy cross platform benefits, allowing them to set their game saves and trophies to automatically synchronise, with up to 2 GB of storage available to store game saves.(1GB on PS3 and 1GB on PS Vita). Sony explains:

‘The Instant Game Collection across both platforms means players will have a constant library of 14 games and at least five new games a month, which means over 65 games a year for PS3 and PS Vita. Gamers will also receive automatic updates with the service to ensure they are on top of the latest PS3 and PS Vita game and software updates.”

Sony Vita PS Plus subscription plan starts from 90 days for £11.99 / €14.99 and 365 days for £39.99 / €49.99. For more information jump over to the official Sony PlayStation blog.

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Nexus S and Motorola Xoom to remain on Android 4.1.2

While announcing the availability of Android 4.2 on AOSP, lead Android developer at Google Jean-Baptiste Quéru confirmed that the Nexus S and the Motorola Xoom will not be updated to Android 4.2 and will remain on Android 4.1.2.

We honestly can't say we didn't see this coming. Both devices, the Nexus S in particular, had started struggling while running the newer versions of Android, with their antiquated hardware unable to properly run the new software that is clearly designed for more powerful devices.

Still, both had a good run. The Nexus S was launched with Android 2.3 and since then has seen two major updates. Same goes for the Xoom, which was released with Honeycomb and received ICS and Jelly Bean afterwards.

It's worth noting that both devices are currently running a newer version of Android than many Android devices launched in the last six months, even though both have been around for close to two years now. While it does tell us that Google has been quite committed to updating its own devices, it also tells us how messed up the Android update situation is on non-Nexus devices.

Of course, just because the official support has stopped doesn't mean the unofficial support will cease as well. Custom ROM makers such as CyanogenMod will continue support for both devices for a while and you should see an Android 4.2 ROM for both pretty soon.

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Windows 8 Release Preview Arriving First Week Of June

Microsoft has announced today that you can expect a new version of its Windows 8 development to roll out in the first week of June. Microsoft announced the arrival of their new Windows 8 Release Preview, the next major preview of their new operating systems, via their Build Windows 8 Twitter account.

Windows 8 is expected to be officially launched in October, three years after the release of its predecessor, Windows 7. Microsoft has already revealed that there are three packages in the line-up, Windows 8, Windows 8 Pro and Windows RT, you can find out more information about the new packages .

Windows 8 features the new Metro style interface and has been “reimagined from the chipset to the user experience” say Microsoft. You can view the current Windows 8 Consumer Preview over on the Microsoft website now.

“It’s Windows reimagined and reinvented from a solid core of Windows 7 speed and reliability. It’s an all-new touch interface. It’s a new Windows for new devices. And it’s your chance to be one of the first to try it out.”

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Samsung Releases New Galaxy S III Teaser (Video)

Samsung is expected to unveil its new Galaxy S III smartphone early next month on the 3rd of May, and the company has now released a new teaser video, unfortunately it doesn’t actually feature the handset.

You can see the new Galaxy S III teaser from Samsung below, which Samsung says “With technology that fits in this easily, you can now stand out from everyone else” , in the video which also features some sheep.

So we presume Samsung are having another dig at Apple in their video, like they have done in previous offerings, we should have some more details on the actual handset on the 3rd of May, and we are looking forward to seeing what the new Galaxy S III is like.

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Facebook Now Has More Than 900 Million Users

The last time we had some information from Facebook, the company reported they had over 800 million users, and it looks like that has jumped more than 100 million, as Facebook has revealed that they now have a total of 901 million active monthly users.

The company also revealed some more financial information, the details were provided in Facebook’s updated Form S-1, and their first quarter revenue is up to $1.06 billion this compares to $731 million for the same period in the previous year.

Their net income is down slightly to $205 million, as opposed to $233 million for the same period in the previous year, and we also got some more details on their recent $1 billion deal with Instagram.

Facebook will pay $300 million in cash for Instagram, the remaining $700 million will be paid in Facebook shares, also if the deal doesn’t go through for any reason, Facebook will pay Instagram a total of $200 million.

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Intel launches Next Generation Ivy Bridge Processors

As expected Intel has now officially launched its new next generation Ivy Bridge processors this week. Which are equipped with a 22 nanometer transistor design, in contrast to Intel’s older Sandy Bridge processor, which has 32 nanometer transistors.

The new higher density Ivy Bridge processors have been designed to be faster and be able to handle a multitude of multimedia functions than previous processors.

As well as being faster both Thunderbolt and USB 3.0 support is now fully integrated into the Ivy Bridge processors, providing faster transfers from smartphones, external hard drives and cameras

The new Ivy Bridge processors also have an integrated graphics processing unit, that has been added to help make editing videos faster and game play sharper. Intel corporate vice president Kirk Skaugen explained at a press conference in San Francisco:

“[Ivy Bridge is] 20 percent better performance on multithreaded applications, two times better 3D graphics, and twice as fast media processing, compared to the previous generation,”

Manufacturers are now planning to equip over 270 new desktop, all-in-one and laptops equipped with the new Intel Ivy Bridge processors, and due to the Ivy Bridge processors being a similar price to the previous Sandy Bridge processor consumers shouldn’t see much of an increase in price for the new Ivy Bridge equipped systems.

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Skype 1.0 For Windows Phone Released

Microsoft has released a new version of Skype for Windows Phone and this is the first non beta version that has been released for Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform, Skype 1.0.

Skype 1.0 for Windows Phone will work on Windows Phone devices running Windows Phone 7.5 or higher, although according to the guys over at The Verge it will only run on devices with more than 512MB of RAM and not on the latest Tango devices with 256MB of RAM.

Imagine talking to friends, family, and colleagues anywhere in the world, and seeing them as if they’re in the same room. That’s Skype.

Call, video call and instant message anyone else on Skype for free with Skype for your Windows Phone.

You can find out more details about Skype 1.0 for Windows Phone over at the Windows Phone Marketplace.

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Microsoft Sells 650 AOL Patents To Facebook For $550 Million

It has been revealed this week that Microsoft has sold a majority of its AOL patent portfolio to Facebook for $550 Million. The deal included 650 patents in total, but in its initial AOL Auction Microsoft secured around 925 U.S. patents and patent applications plus a license to AOL’s remaining patent portfolio.

The remaining patents in AOL’s portfolio, contains around 300 additional patents that were not for sale. As a result of today’s agreement, Facebook will obtain ownership of approximately 650 AOL patents and patent applications, plus a license to the AOL patents and applications that Microsoft will purchase and own. Brad Smith, executive vice president and general counsel, Microsoft explains:

“Today’s agreement with Facebook enables us to recoup over half of our costs while achieving our goals from the AOL auction,”-“As we said earlier this month, we had submitted the winning AOL bid in order to obtain a durable license to the full AOL portfolio and ownership of certain patents that complement our existing portfolio.”

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Samsung Galaxy S III Confirmed By Samsung Unpacked 2012 App

Samsung has be teasing us with details of their new Galaxy smartphone, which the company has been calling the ‘next Galaxy’, and now we have some confirmation that the device will be called the Galaxy S III.

Samsung has released a new app on Google Play, called the Samsung mobile Unpacked 2012 app, and as you can see from the screenshot below, the description of the app has a reference to the ‘galaxy s3′.

We are expecting the device to be officially announced by Samsung on the 3rd of May, so we don’t have much longer to wait to see what Samsung’s new flagship Android handset is like.

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