Technology

Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson was kind enough to give us an early look at his line of  sport-friendly headphones  on stage  back at CES . Today, you get to see them out in the wild. As a refresher, there are on-ear and in-ear models and you can choose wired (Street) or wireless (Sync) varieties depending on how you roll. The on-ears come with a sweat-proof inner chamber and a rubberized coating to keep them looking box-fresh no matter how many laps you put them through, and there's even a sports "towel" (it's more of a cloth) included to mop your brow! The in-ears won't come with such luxuries, but they do come in the same striking blue, pink or yellow color options. The Bluetooth variants all support  aptX , which is more than can be said for the  other  rapper-backed sports buds  we saw recently . Prices are $80/$150 for the in-ears (wired/wireless) and $180/230 for the on-ears -- and we got an early look at some. Running with headphones is a divis...

Another day and another  iPhone 6  rumour. This time a report out of China details an astonishing new launch date for the next iPhone from Apple, ahead of most dates in previous leaks. The report is accompanied with purported pricing details, as well as the name of the anticipated larger 5.5-inch iPhone 6 variant - iPhone Air. The report citing industry sources claims Apple will unveil the iPhone 6 on September 15, which falls on a Monday, while retail availability will begin on September 25, which falls on a Thursday. Apple traditionally starts sales of new iPhone models on a Friday to capture the weekend crowd, so the dates seem a little fishy. Previous leaks (including a purported internal communication from a German telecom carrier) had indicated a more credible launch date of September 19, which happens to be Friday. According to the China.com report (via GforGames), China will also be amongst the first countries to receive the iPhone. The repor...

When I was a tiny tot, I watched  Knight Rider  and pretended I was  Michael Knight , talking to KITT on my watch. Yet now that there are real-life watches that can do even more things, I don't find myself quite as excited as my 5-year-old self was. Smartwatches have been around for over a decade already (remember Microsoft SPOT?), but the category hasn't evolved at the same pace as smartphones. It's not because there's a shortage of digital wrist-worn timepieces. The problem is that there's no common platform for third-party apps, which means there's little potential for growth. There also doesn't seem to be any vision. Some watches act as Android phones with SIM cards and tiny touchscreens, while others try to establish their own platform to entice developers. Still others have even tried to put fitness bands and smartwatches into one device, to limited success. Even worse, most of the watches on the market today are what you might ca...

Facebook is acquiring video advertising company LiveRail in the internet social network's latest step to make video ads a bigger part of its business.  Facebook did not disclose a price for the San Francisco-based company, which was founded in 2007 and has offices in several countries.  LiveRail's technology automatically pairs video ads with the videos that appear on many websites, such as the sites for Major League Baseball, ABC and A&E Networks.  Facebook would not discuss plans for using the technology on its own website.  In March, Facebook began offering 15-second video ads from a limited number of companies on its website. The company has moved cautiously in introducing the video ads on its social network to prevent a backlash from users who might find the ads annoying.  Video ads command higher prices than other forms of online advertising such as banner ads. Facebook and internet rivals like Google are increasingly trying to grab a slice of l...

People often compare computers with our brains, but there are important differences between them. One difference, which the wider public seldom thinks about, is that computer brains are made of silicon while our brains are made of carbon. All known life is made of carbon, which is the most versatile element in the universe. Why should computers be made of silicon, even if it is the second most versatile element in the universe? IBM now thinks that the silicon age of computers is about to end, and that we might see the first carbon computer in just six years.  It is a bold statement, tempered with caveats, made more with hope than authority. Carbon nanotube chips would be not very different from silicon chips, only much faster. However, making them in large scale still requires significant technology advances. The year 2020 is around the time when silicon is supposed to hit a roadblock, yet again.  It will be great to get nanotube chips ready by then. This is what IBM hop...

NEW DELHI: Samsung has added four new smartphones to its Galaxy line-up, namely, Galaxy Core II, Galaxy Star 2, Galaxy Ace 4, and Galaxy Young 2. All of the four phones feature Samsung's TouchWiz Essence user interface, and come with the latest version of Android, Kitkat.  Samsung Galaxy Core II is a dual SIM phone with 4.5-inch (480x800p) display. It is available in two colours - black and white. Powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core processor and 768MB of RAM, it has a 2,000mAh battery.  The phone offers a front camera apart from a 5MP main camera and an LED flash. It has 4GB internal storage and supports microSD cards of up to 64GB.  Samsung Galaxy Ace 4 has 4-inch (480x800p) display. The phone is powered by 1GHz dual-core processor and 1GB RAM. It has a 1500mAh battery and is available only in black colour. The phone also has a 5MP rear camera, an enhanced camera UI and LED flash, and a front camera. It has 4GB of internal storage and can support a microSD card of up to ...

NEW DELHI: Samsung has taken the covers off the Galaxy S5 mini smartphone, bringing the exclusive features of the company's top smartphone in a compact size.  The main differences between Galaxy S5 and S5 mini are in display, camera and processor. Galaxy S5 mini has a 4.5-inch HD (720p) screen, which is quite smaller than the 5.1-inch Full HD (1080p) display of Galaxy S5. The camera resolution has gone down from 16MP in the older model to 8MP in the new smartphone.  While the India version of Galaxy S5 comes with an eight-core Exynos processor, the new Galaxy S5 mini runs on a quad-core 1.4GHz processor, but Samsung has not revealed the chipmaker's name.  Despite these downgrades, Samsung has retained the fingerprint sensor and heart rate monitor, which debuted with Galaxy S5, in Galaxy S5 mini. The smartphone is IP67 certified, meaning that it is water and dust resistant to an extent, and has Galaxy S5's Ultra Power Saving mode.  Other key hardware specificatio...

SAN FRANCISCO: Google is fine-tuning its digital music strategy with the acquisition of Songza, a service that creates soundtracks tailored for people's changing moods.  Financial terms of the deal announced Tuesday were not disclosed. That means the price is considered to be too small to affect Google, which ended March with $59 billion in cash.  The acquisition highlights the growing importance of services that customize playlists as more people listen to music through internet connections on their smartphones, tablets and personal computers.  Apple is buying headphone maker Beats Electronics for $3 billion largely because it prizes the song-picking prowess of a digital music service that Beats has been building. The music service combines automated formulas with the expertise of a team led by Beats' co-founders, longtime recording industry executive Jimmy Iovine and hip-hop producer and rapper Dr Dre.  Amazon.com also recently rolled out a music-streaming se...