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The Sony SmartWatch 2 still goes for $199.99 new, but today you can get one around your wrist for less than half the price. Cow Boom, a Best Buy brand, has pre-owned Sony smartwatches in stock that it's willing to let go for .99. These may come with scratches and dents, but they're still going to work. I'll admit, that may not sound entirely compelling, but that's the risk you take whenever you buy something used.
On the same day that Apple buys Beats Music, users are being rewarded with two niceties. The free trial period welcoming testers of the music streaming service has extended from one week to two, giving potential customers a full fourteen days to decide if the service is apt for them. Even sweeter, the annual price has dropped down from $119.88 a year to the more attractive $99.99.
The Galaxy S5 may be the latest thing out, but a quarter-bajillion people around the world are still walking around with the Galaxy S III, and it benefits us all if they're running current software. An update bringing KitKat to the Sprint version of the handset started rolling out earlier this month, and now it's US Cellular's turn. The carrier has announced an OTA that should bump the device up to Android 4.4.2 via version R530UVXCND4.
Through a steady stream of updates, AllCast has evolved into something far more than the Chromecast streaming app it began as. Now developer Koushik Dutta has released a receiver app into the Chrome Web Store that enables the Android app to cast content straight to your web browser.
Pocket is one of the best apps out there for saving a webpage and deciding to read it later, a type of instapaper that reformats each saved article for optimum readability. Now the company is introducing a paid subscription model to pay the bills. As far as app subscriptions go, it's on the pricier end of things. Users will be expected to pay $4.99 a month or $44.99 a year if they want access to the newly unveiled premium features.
An update is rolling out to the Lookout security app with a new feature tucked away exclusively for premium account holders. This feature is theft alerts. After the alerts have been enabled, Lookout will send phone owners an email automatically when the phone starts engaging in behavior that indicates it could have been stolen. This way you get notified as soon as shenanigans begin, rather than having to manually check for the device's location yourself. Lookout defines said shenanigans as follows.
The Xperia Z2 doesn't support wireless charging out of the box, but Sony has just announced two accessories for the flagship device that will be able to scratch that particular itch. The two products include a flip cover that enables the device to work with Qi wireless chargers and an official Sony-branded circular base to set it on.
BBC has just pushed the Go button on its big iPlayer redesign. Now an updated version of the app is available in the Play Store that introduces tweaks to the way users stumble across new things to watch. The changes are apparent on the home screen, where the refined focus on discovering content is apparent right from the go. There are also new pages for browsing channels and perusing through categories.
Today's a big day for Chromecast. Earlier today we reported that Google's little magic media stick was ready to stream shows to TVs in Japan and Austrialia. Now we see that the device has also arrived in Belgium, Norway, Portugal, and Switzerland as well.
The heyday of the Roman empire may have passed many, many moons ago, but that doesn't mean the quest for glory ever truly faded away. Soldiers have merely set their eyes towards conquest on a smaller scale. These determined Roman troopers may not be able to conquer the world, but one day they should be able to call this entire room their own. Erm, or something like that.
The latest Humble Bundle has landed, and this time it's offering seven-ish games out of the gate. To clarify that "ish" - those who pay under the average will receive Draw a Stickman: Epic, a copy of Galcon Legends (single-player) that comes with Galcon Fusion (multiplayer), and a beta version of Symphony. This equates to three or four games depending on whether you count Galcon as a single package and/or don't mind playing a title that's still in beta. For the people that beat the average, these games are joined by four more: Breach & Clear, Fieldrunners 2, Metal Slug 3, and Skulls of the Shogun.
Update: This deal applies to select other PC digital downloads as well. Some are free, while others may set you back around a dollar.
As a game centered around using a smartphone to get ahead on the streets of Chicago, it's only natural that Watch Dogs would get a companion app. But this isn't your typical bonus offering that just provides a mini-map, some background information, and a few doodads. Watch_Dogs Companion: ctOS is a multiplayer extension to the main game. While console or PC players are doing everything they can to make it from checkpoint to checkpoint, mobile gamers are giving their all to stop them.
Getting your hands on a budget tablet for around a hundred bucks isn't particularly challenging, but these decidedly underwhelming gadgets typically don't come with the latest version of Android. Toshiba intends to do budget shoppers one better by providing them with a 7-inch tablet with Android 4.4, all for $110. This little guy goes by the name of Excite Go.
Lenovo, despite being the relatively new owners of Motorola Mobility, didn't need this acquisition to produce attractive new hardware - at least for markets other than the US. The Vibe Z, which never made it to our corner of the world, looks poised to get a sequel that ups its game in every area that matters. Shots of a phone dubbed the Lenovo Vibe Z2 Pro have surfaced, showing a 6-inch phone with a quad HD display, a 4000mAh battery, a 16MP OIS camera with dual LED flash, and a Snapdragon 801 processor. The Vibe Z's plastic body has been replaced by an impressive metal one.
It looks like Samsung is at it again. The company that unveiled a successor to the Galaxy Gear after only a few short months is already planning on releasing yet another smartwatch. This time the wrist-bound device should function as a standalone phone and not require something to pair to. According to the Wall Street Journal, we can expect it to drop sometime this summer.
Human capacity for speech seems infinite, but after writing a steady stream of text messages, emails, and posts over the years, things start to get repetitive. PhraseExpress has spared Windows users sentences, paragraphs, and pages worth of mundane conversation since its release, and now the software is ready to do the same for Android.
Ubisoft's Trials series has been hitting the track for years now, challenging players to perform fantastical tricks atop their motorbikes while hurtling through the air. The franchise has typically stuck to PCs as Java and flash games, but later versions have made the jump to consoles. Now the first mobile release has exited limited geo beta and is now available for all.
Samsung announced a couple days ago that the gold Galaxy S5 will come to all major US carriers by May 30th, but the phone has already popped up on AT&T's site. There it goes for $199.99 with a two-year contract, various monthly payments with an AT&T Next plan, or $649.99 outright. The name, Copper Gold, sounds like a currency stuck somewhere between a penny and something of actual value*, but it describes the color well.
These nuns have been attacking unholy forces on countless mobile devices, but just who are the women underneath those veils? Frima Studios' latest game dives into the history behind Yuki, a silent warrior driven by her need to protect all of the orphans stolen from her village. Using stealth, weapons, and "nun-jutsu," she's ready to wage war against the minions of evil.