Sony Santa Monica hit with layoffs

Sony Computer Entertainment Santa Monica Studio, the developer behind the God of War franchise, was hit with layoffs today, a representative from Sony Computer Entertainment America confirmed to Polygon.

"SCEA can confirm that we have completed a reduction in workforce at Santa Monica Studio," an SCEA statement reads. "This is a result of a cycle of resource re-alignment against priority growth areas within SCE [Worldwide Studios]. We do not take these decisions lightly. However, sometimes it is necessary to make changes to better serve the future projects of the studio. We have offered outplacement services and severance packages to ease transition for those impacted."

SCE Santa Monica is part of Sony's global network of development studios, which also includes SCE Japan Studio, SCE London Studio as well as Uncharted and The Last of Us developer Naughty Dog and LittleBigPlanet and Tearawaydeveloper Media Molecule.

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iPhone software security flaws exposed

Apple is facing its biggest security scare in years after flaws in its iPhone software risked exposing its users’ communications.

Researchers at FireEye, a cyber security firm, on Monday published a “proof of concept” surveillance app that would allow an attacker to capture every tap on the iPhone’s screen or buttons. This came after Apple quietly released a software update on Friday that fixed a serious weakness in its iOS software’s encryption technology, which had existed for more than a year.

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5 Reasons the Samsung Galaxy S5 Will Crush the iPhone

Samsung is firing its latest shot at Apple with the launch of the Galaxy S5 on April 11. The Galaxy was once one of many also-rans in a market that Apple dominated, but Samsung’s persistence (and deep pockets) have made the Galaxy line into a worthy competitor to Apple’s most valuable product. The latest Galaxy has some advantages that may help it best Apple’s flagship phone in sales, at least for a little while. Here are five reasons the Galaxy should be a hit come spring:

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Sony Xperia Z1 Compact review

The size of smartphones has been following an inexorable upward curve in recent times, but Sony is bucking the trend with the Xperia Z1 Compact. It's a smartphone with top spec components, but squeezed into a smaller chassis with a 4.3in display.

It's certainly easier to slide into a tight jeans pocket than, say, a Samsung Galaxy S4 or Nexus 5, but it isn't quite as light or thin as you might expect. It weighs a rather porky 134g, and measures 9.6mm from front to back, which makes it a good deal chunkier than the super svelte Apple iPhone 5s.

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Samsung to unveil first smartwatches with own Tizen platform

SEOUL (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics Co is to unveil on Sunday its first wearable smartwatch powered by its Tizen platform in its latest attempt to distance itself from Google Inc and enhance its software and services.

Samsung has been jointly developing its mobile platform with Intel Corp, as the dominance of Google's free Android software, which Samsung uses for its Galaxy line of products, continues to grow and is now used in almost 80 percent of the global smartphone market.

The South Korean company is due to unveil two new smartwatches on Sunday, less than six months after it introduced the Galaxy Gear wristwatch, then running on Android, to prove that it is more than just a fast follower in innovation behind rival Apple Inc.

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Samsung unveils smartwatches with fitness features, addressing shortcoming in original Gear

BARCELONA, Spain - Samsung unveiled two new computerized wristwatches on Sunday, this time including health sensors and related fitness features to give people a reason to buy one.

Samsung's first Galaxy Gear smartwatch came out last fall amid much fanfare, but it landed with a thud in the marketplace. Samsung and its smartwatch rivals had failed to persuade many consumers that they need to be able to constantly check messages from their wrists. Wearable devices that succeeded tended to be fitness products such as the Fitbit.

The new Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo will have a heart rate sensor, a pedometer and various tools to measure exercise, sleep and stress levels. The low-resolution, 2-megapixel camera on the Gear 2 is being moved to the main body; it was on the strap on the original Gear. The Gear 2 Neo has no camera and is slightly larger, but lighter. Available colours are also slightly different.

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Nokia X aka Normandy Roundup: Expected Specifications and Price Details

Many Android fans would have been eagerly awaiting for the Nokia's Androidsmartphone for quite some time now. Well, the wait is almost over as the long rumored Nokia X aka Normandy is slated to make a grand debut in just a couple of days at MWC (Mobile World Conference) 2014, Barcelona on 24 February.

Why so much buzz around 'Nokia X'?

Even though numerous reports are pointing that the upcoming 'Nokia X' is a budget smartphone with very little to offer in terms of features, the buzz around the phone seems to be increasing with each day getting closer to launch date mainly because of the fact that this handset is the Finnish company's first ever Android device and it's quite a bizarre strategy from Nokia which is getting acquired by Microsoft (next month) who is competing with Google.

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Behind iPhone’s Critical Security Bug, a Single Bad ‘Goto’

Like everything else on the iPhone, the critical crypto flaw announced in iOS 7 yesterday turns out to be a study in simplicity and elegant design: a single spurious “goto” in one part of Apple’s authentication code that accidentally bypasses the rest of it.

Apple released iOS 7.0.6 yesterday to patch the bug in its implementation of SSL encryption — the internet’s standard defense against eavesdropping and web hijacking. The bug essentially means that when you’re e-mailing, tweeting, using Facebook or checking your bank account from a shared network, like a public WiFi or anything tapped by the NSA, an attacker could be listening in, or even maliciously modifying what goes to your iPhone or iPad.

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Apple releases Sandro Lisi's iPhone audio and video

The Toronto police squad investigating Mayor Rob Ford has zeroed in on video and audio recordings secretly made by Ford’s occasional driver, Alexander “Sandro” Lisi, on his iPhone.

The Etobicoke man, who is facing extortion charges over allegations he tried to retrieve the crack cocaine video featuring Ford, is known by a former associate as “the kind of fellow who likes to keep a record of what people say and do.”

So it will come as no surprise to those who know Lisi that an iPhone seized by police last fall contained electronic records of his interactions with people, including the mayor.

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Sony Xperia Z2 tablet tipped to sport a 10.1-inch display, 6.4mm thin, run KitKat

Sony came out blazing in 2011 and joined many other manufacturers by launching a couple of tablets. The Xperia S and Xperia P hit the market with a teardrop design only to be left with minimal appreciation. Sony went back to the drawing board and shifted their tablet design to mirror its smartphones. The impressively thin Xperia Tablet Z was available to Canadians last year and added some improved specs and class.

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HTC One 2, AKA M8, AKA “The All New HTC One”: What You Need To Know

The HTC One was one of the finest Android handsets of 2013. For many it was THE Android handset of 2013, surpassing strong releases from Samsung, Sony and LG. HTC raised the bar with the One, adding in new hardware, cutting edge design and a complete rethink of its custom Android skin, Sense.

The end result was a compelling, unique, and thoroughly captivating device. The HTC One might not have sold in the same number as the Galaxy S4 or iPhone 5s, but it did pick up awards and accolades the world over, solidifying HTC as one of the foremost Android manufacturers in business today.

HTC’s 2014 looks to be very much like 2013: an uphill struggle. That’s bad news for the company, but consumers shouldn’t worry – financial dire straits haven’t stopped the Taiwanese firm in the past, and 2014 should not be any different.

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HTC One successor tipped to be called ‘The All New One’

According to @evleaks, the HTC M8 will be called The All New One when it arrives in stores in April. It will also come in three colours: grey, silver and gold.

Invitations for the simultaneous New York/London launch on March 25th were recently sent to journalists, confirming what we’ve seen in many, many leaks. The device looks to be a slightly larger, more powerful version of the phone released last year, with a 5-inch 1080p display, a Snapdragon 800 processor, a larger-sensor Ultrapixel camera, a second rear camera to aide in focusing, a larger battery and Android 4.4.2 KitKat with Sense 6.0.

Apple released its third-generation iPad under the name ‘The new iPad’ which ended up confusing some consumers when the following-generation device was released. It’s unclear how HTC intends to market The All New HTC One, or whether it will merely be referred to, after the announcement, as the HTC One (2nd gen) or something similar.

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Microsoft Office May Reach The iPad Before Windows Tablets

The news from Microsoft MSFT -0.51% on Monday is that it is readying a touch version of its Office software for — gasp! — Apple's AAPL +0.35% iPad before it’s ready for Windows 8-based tablets.

The idea, according to ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley, is to launch the new product mid-year as a downloadable subscription app.

The speculation appears to counter a comment last week by Tami Reller at the Goldman Sachs Technology & Internet Conference. Microsoft, she said, was taking a “thoughtful approach” to cross-platform models of Office that could be used on the iPad and Android tablets as well as Windows-based Surface tablets.

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iPad 2 vs iPad Mini: What’s the Better Value?

The iPad 2 is expected to be getting the boot at some point this year, ending its three-year reign as an active seller in Apple Stores. The company has kept the older tablet around, claiming that it was still popular amongst schools and businesses. However, it looks like Apple will be making way for a new entry-level iPad to take over that duty.

In any case, though, this is merely just rumor and the iPad 2 is still alive and well in the Apple Store. While the iPad Air is the current flagship full-size iPad and the iPad mini with Retina display is the flagship iPad mini in the bunch, we though it might be interesting to compare the older tablets that Apple is still actively selling: the iPad 2 and the original, 1st-generation iPad mini.

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Samsung’s new Galaxy S5 said to have bigger 5.2-inch screen, sharper displa

Samsung Electronics Co.’s new high-end smartphone will have a larger 5.2-inch screen and a sharper display than the current Galaxy S4, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter.

The new phone, with an improved battery and camera, will be released about the same time as an upgraded Galaxy Gear smartwatch, the person said, asking not to be identified because the specifications aren’t public. Samsung may start selling the new phone for less than previous models in the S series after encouragement by at least one wireless carrier, said a second person familiar with the matter.

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HTC sheds light on update plans for One max, One mini and EVO 4G LTE

Looks like that commitment to provide major Android updates to its upcoming flagships isn’t the only good news that HTC had to share during its Reddit AMA. Responding to questions about some of its existing hardware, HTC revealed that the One max and One mini are expected to receive their own helpings of KitKat in the near future. The company also shed some light on its update plans for the EVO 4G LTE.

First up, HTC says that the Android 4.4 updates for the One max and One mini are currently being cooked up inside of its kitchens. The One max’s update is expected to hit first, with an estimated arrival in March, while the One mini’s piece of KitKat could be broken off sometime in April.

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5 HTC One 2 (M8) Killer Features For March Release Date

HTC One 2 release date inches closer as February comes to end soon and March will start soon.

HTC One 2 will purposely skip the Mobile World Congress event later this month. Reliable leaker @evleakstipped HTC will launch the much-awaited smartphone in an elaborate event in New York next month. It was initially speculated that HTC One 2 will be introduced at MWC 2014. But aside from a successful first generation of HTC One, HTC is also avoiding stiff competitors at the event.

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Nokia sends Nokia X Normandy to developers in India

Nokia is reportedly already sending Nokia X (previously known as Normandy) units to select developers in India. The company's first Android smartphone has been tipped to launch in early April.

Nokia would desparately need to win over developers if their Android phone is to succeed. Rumors so far have it that the phone is based on the Android source code but it won't have any of Google's services built in. This means there is no Play Store, so Nokia must create its own application repository. Nokia will also be substituting Google's services for its own HERE Maps location services and Microsoft's Bing, Outlook and Skype.

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Nokia, Microsoft deal to close despite India tax dispute

The sell-off of Nokia's phone unit to Microsoft is still expected to go ahead by the first-quarter of this year, despite rumblings that Indian authorities could scupper the deal.

The reason? Nokia has a $340 million tax bill to pay in the country, which the phone maker (soon to be Microsoft) holds dear to its heart as a crucial emerging market that generates the company billions in revenue each quarter.

To make matters worse, that figure could ultimately rise to as much as $3.4 billion.

Earlier this week, Nokia appealed a Delhi High Court ruling that stated it owed the back tax due to the improper exemption on software exports. While rumors suggested this alleged accounting snafu may hold back Microsoft buying Nokia's phone-making unit for $7.2 billion, the Finnish firm rejected such claims on Friday.

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Nokia X with Android 4.4, Snapdragon 200 listed on Vietnamese online retailer

Nokia's anticipated first Android phone, believed to be dubbed Nokia X (and codenamed Normandy), has again been listed on a Vietnamese online retailer.

The alleged Nokia X has been listed with model number A110 and is priced at roughly $110 (Rs. 6,800 approximately). However, there is no word on the availability of the alleged Nokia X A110. The newlisting indicates that the yet-to-be-announced Nokia X might be first hitting the Vietnamese market, soon after being launched.

It's worth pointing out that in January, the alleged Nokia Normandy was spotted at a Vietnamese e-commerce site without price.

Rumoured specifications of the alleged Nokia X include a 4-inch TFT display with a resolution of 480x854 (FWVGA) pixels; a 1GHz dual-core Snapdragon 200 processor; 5-megapixel rear camera; microSD card support and Android 4.4 KitKat.

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Nokia makes a skirt from 80 Lumia smartphones

If wearing Google Glass on your face isn't a big enough salute to technology, you might want to take a look at Nokia's bizarre, new skirt. It's made from 80 of its Lumia 1520 and 1020 smartphones. I popped along to London Fashion Week, where the skirt was given its catwalk debut.

Skirt sashays with 80 Nokia Lumia smartphones (pictures)

The skirt is roughly the size and shape of a tutu that you would normally find on a ballet dancer. It's best to check out the photo gallery above to see exactly what it looks like. The phones are all turned on of course, and show a pattern that swirls in time with the motion of the wearer. At least, that's what Nokia said is happening -- with only a small walk up and down a catwalk, it was difficult to get a real impression of what the screens were doing.

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Samsung Galaxy S5 rumours: A mobile user’s nine lives

They’re just a bunch of circles, but based on the smartphone industry’s reaction, a graphic on the invitation to what will likely be Samsung’s Galaxy S5 launch later this month holds more meaning than Egyptian hieroglyphics.

Samsung will host its next “Unpacked” series of events at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on Feb. 24, and while there was no mention of a successor to the popular Galaxy S4, there were nine intriguing buttons. The round, multi-coloured symbols include “Speed,” “Fun,” “Social,” “Fitness” and “Life,” among others. At a time when it’s getting harder to impress consumers with major changes to the size, shape and feel of a smartphone, Samsung may be suggesting it is placing far more emphasis on what happens inside.

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Rogers Samsung ATIV S GDR3 update coming February 15th

Rogers users who are rocking the Samsung ATIV S can mark off February 15th in their calendars because this is when the GDR3 update will hit your device. Rogers has once again updated their “OS Upgrades” schedule today and shows that the ATIV S, which is now a 2-year old Windows Phone 8 smartphone — will be receiving the long-awaited OS update. Here’s a complete list of the features you can expect to see:

• Accessibility. We’ve made several improvements for customers who are visually impaired.
• Storage. Now you can easily free up storage space on your phone and manage temporary files. New categories show what’s taking up space.
• Driving Mode. Feeling distracted behind the wheel? Driving Mode allows you to minimize incoming calls and text messages to help you focus on the road.

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Hands-on with the Samsung Galaxy TabPRO and NotePRO tablet series

This morning, during a small briefing in Toronto, I had a chance to play with four new tablets from Samsung. Each is alike yet separate, a consequence of a “device democracy” policy set in place by the powers that be.

With its enormous size and manufacturing capabilities, Samsung has managed to carve out a substantial section of the horizontal mobile share very quickly, rising from a squeak in the mid-2000′s to the best-selling smartphone manufacturer today. It has been able to do that by catering not just to one, or even a handful, of demographics, but to every possible smartphone or tablet customer out there. What started from a single Galaxy Tab in 2010 has grown to a suite of names, screen sizes and capabilities, ranging from a $169 7-inch tab at the bottom to a gargantuan $769 12.2-inches at the top.

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Nokia's low-end Android phone expected later this month

Nokia will introduce a new low-end handset that uses Google's Android mobile operating system later this month in Barcelona at the Mobile World Congress trade show, according to a report on Monday from The Wall Street Journal.

Nokia has been rumored for months to be working on a device that uses the open sourceAndroid operating system. The phone, which is aimed at developing markets, will be a low-end, inexpensive device. According to various news reports, the device will not be able to access the Google Play application store. Instead, it will run services created by Nokia and Microsoft, including Here maps and Mix Radio. Nokia will offer its own application store for the phone that will offer access to popular Android apps, such as Skype, Facebook, Twitter, and many others.

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Nokia's Android phone: X marks the forked spot?

After a couple of months of leaks from various sources around the Web regarding the existence ofa Nokia-branded Android phone, code-named Normandy, the Wall Street Journal is now on the "it's happening" bandwagon.

The Normandy phone, supposedly branded the Nokia X, exists, in spite of naysayers claiming that it never would or could. The Journal claims Nokia will show off the new Android-based phone at Mobile World Congress in a couple of weeks.

With the Nokia X, Nokia could replace the proprietary S30/S40 operating systems, which power its Asha phones, with a variant of the Android Open Source Project OS. (Sounds like the "unforkable" Android has been forked, to me.) The Nokia X was designed for emerging market customers and will run a variety of Microsoft and Nokia services, such as HERE maps, Skype and Xbox Music, according to various reports.

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Nokia Asha 502 review

Nokia, the Finnish smartphone and tablet maker, has always been considered a game changer in the ever-evolving smartphone industry. As a rival to other world leaders including Samsung and Apple, the firm fell behind for a while but has now made a huge comeback with its line of Lumia devices running the Windows Phone OS.

At last year's Nokia World event, the company introduced six new handsets. While the high-end phablets took the spotlight, Nokia also made sure that it still caters to the needs of its budget customers. Introduced at the event, the Nokia Asha 502 budget smartphone is a shining example of how hard the firm is still trying to take over the low-end smartphone market by stuffing a bunch of impressive features into a small-sized device.

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Samsung Galaxy S5 Video Rumor and Release Roundup

On February 24th we expect to see the Samsung Galaxy S5 with a larger screen, possibly a new higher resolution, a new design and a look at a new version of Samsung’s TouchWiz on Android 4.4 that will take the Samsung Galaxy S experience to a whole new level with new features and specs. 

The Samsung Galaxy S5 is the first new Galaxy S smartphone in 2014, and after an announcement later this month we expect to see it arrive on store shelves as soon as April in the UK, Internationally and in the U.S.

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Rogers says KitKat update for Samsung Galaxy S4 and the Galaxy Note 3 ‘coming soon’

After successfully surprising the masses and bringing KitKat to the HTC One, Rogers has just updated their “OS Upgrades” schedule with news to bring a bit of joy to Samsung owners.

If you have the Samsung Galaxy S4 or the Galaxy Note 3 you can expected to see OS 4.4 (presumebly 4.4.2) KitKat “coming soon.” Unfortunately, there’s no word on when the update will happen, just soon. Rogers notes in the fine print that the “release dates are subject to change.” In addition, the Nokia Lumia 920 and Samsung Ativ S will also be graced with the GDR3 update “soon.”

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iPad mini deemed most fragile gadget, iPad Air third

The iPad mini is a hugely popular tablet and many people may not even have considered its breakability factor. However, a new study has found the iPad mini is the most fragile of several top devices tested, with the Samsung Galaxy S4 second and the iPad Air coming third.

The research was conducted by insurance firm SquareTrade Europe, and durability testing looked at several factors such as design, weight, construction, water resistance and ‘grip-ability.’ Each device was also given a breakability score, which involved dropping the devices from a set height onto concrete.

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LG to hold event on Feb. 13, G Pro 2 may be guest of honor

Get out your calendars, smartphone fans, because we may finally have a date on which one of the bigger Android phones of the year will be officially unveiled.

LG has sent out invitations for an event taking place in Korea on Feb. 13. The invitation doesn’t come out and say exactly what the Life’s Good crew has planned, but it does include the tagline “Knock-knock knockin’ on,” which is likely a reference to the KnockOn double-tap to wake feature found on LG hardware such as the G2.

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LG G Flex: A Poor Start for Curved Phones

As the first phone with a curved screen to go on sale in the U.S., the LG G Flex commands attention. It screams, both as an object and as a new kind of device, "Hey, look at me!" Once you do, the implied follow-up is, "Do you like what you see?"

Uh, kinda? I've spent a lot of time with many different smartphones over the past few years, and never once have I thought, "You know what this phone needs? A curved screen."

I have, however, occasionally longed for a bendable phone that I could fold up into a sugar-cube-size device. That would truly be amazing (not to mention useful) and curved phones are a stepping stone toward that magical future. Some variation of that vision is probably why LG reportedly spent years designing the device.

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Make phones, not war: HTC and Nokia come to patent truce, plan future collabs

The war is over - at least for HTC and Nokia.

The two hardware makers have reached an agreement that ends years of pending and ongoing patent litigation.

This truce comes just two days after a German court handed Nokia a decisive victory that would have required HTC to redesign several of its phones.

As part of the agreement, HTC will pay Nokia an undisclosed amount, presumably for patent licensing, so it doesn't have to go back to the drawing board for some of its devices.

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Nokia teases WP announcement, is it the Lumia 929 Icon?

Nokia US has posted an interesting teaser video on its YouTube account, asking if we’ve heard what’s coming. The short clip ends with the Windows Phone logo, giving away the nature of the upcoming announcement, but we didn’t get a specific date for it.

Given the number of times the Nokia Lumia 929 Icon has leaked, it’s very hard to look beyond it when searching for the possible device behind this teaser. The handset and its rumored PureView branding also align nicely with the message of the video – “See and hear what you’ve been missing”. The high-resolution cameras and wide dynamic range microphones used in PureView device are have been the center to a lot of Nokia promo campaigns.

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HTC tipped to make Nexus tablet in 2014: A new Nexus 10 is on the cards

Smartphone maker HTC has been tipped to partner with Google on a new Nexus tablet, possibly the Nexus 10 2.

2013 only brought along a new version of the Nexus 7 tablet, not the Nexus 10, but this year could be a different story. It has been rumoured that Samsung or Asus would make the second version of the Android tablet but now there's a third horse in the race, HTC. See also: Google Nexus 10 2 (2014) release date, price and spec rumours.

That's according to Focus Taiwan, which says HTC has won orders for a 'high-end model of the Google Nexus tablet line'. The device is expected to launch in the third quarter of the year, so between July and September.

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HTC M8 screenshot shows Blinkfeed is bigger than ever

If you are a fan of HTC’s Blinkfeed tool from their last wave ofAndroid phones, you can expect it to be even better in the next update.

The HTC One brought about a lot of unique features from HTC, many of which became staples in their OS moving forward. Perhaps the most ambitious because of how drastically it sought to change user behavior on the Android homescreen was Blinkfeed.

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Nokia and HTC settle litigation, sign patent deal

HTC and Nokia have been fighting a patent dispute for the better part of a year, with Nokia claiming the Android OEM violated a patent related to the combined use of 3G chips in several European countries. In December, after an extended court date, a judge ruled that HTC violated said patent and would be subject to an import ban, including the currently-on-sale HTC One.

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Can The Galaxy S5 Release Realign Samsung Owners' Loyalty?

As we await the announcement of the latest and greatest from Samsung – the suspected Galaxy S5 – later this month, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at continued battle between this smartphone giant and that other giant, Apple AAPL -0.02%. While Samsung’s global market share remains intact, according to our latest insights, Apple is the dominant player in the smartphone market stateside, with 43.7% of U.S. adults 18+ owning one, with Samsung resting in second position (25.7%). Combined, these two Goliaths account for more than two-thirds of U.S. smartphone ownership among adults, ahead of smaller players like Motorola (7.5%), LG (7.0%), HTC (6.6%) and BlackBerry (3.0%).

What’s interesting about these two big competitors, though, is the loyalty between the two brands when shopping for a new smartphone model – and how much this loyalty is worth. Among current Apple owners planning to purchase a new smartphone in the next six months, more than four out of five (81.4%) are eyeing Apple again. However, flip the scenario to current Samsung smartphone owners considering a new phone in the next six months, and just seven out of 10 (71.3%) are looking at Samsung models. So Samsung owners have less “consideration loyalty,” if you will.
We continue to build the case for Samsung owners’ wavering loyalty when evaluating their propensity toward considering brands beyond Samsung and Apple. Compared their Apple-wielding counterparts, Samsung owners are much more likely to consider the HTC One, Motorola Moto X or DROID as well as Nokia Lumia smartphones.

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