The new Hulu mobile site does not require a subscription
Hulu announced today that its new, free mobile site at Hulu.com now features "a curated collection" of clips from popular and trending TV shows.
The free clips are "hand-picked & crafted by our editorial team just waiting for you to snack on," Hulu Senior Product Manager Karan Nischol wrote today in a blog post on the company's site.
"It is a daily portal of what's going on in TV, pop culture and news, all in the form of easily watched clips," he continued.
The site opens to a "trending" tab, but users can also browse clips in five other categories: Trailers, Comedy, News, Celebrity and Latino. Viewers can also see clips from specific shows.
We asked Nischol whether the new site is available outside the U.S., and we'll update this blip if we hear back.
More blips!
Check out more of TechRadar's blips if you can tear yourself away from watching clips of The Voice long enough.
Users will be able to break ties with networks who raise their bill
Ofcom has today ruled that mobile and internet users, who are subject to mid-contract prices rises, should be able to cancel their agreement, without having to pay early termination fees.
Under new plans, networks and ISPs hoping to up fixed contract fees will have to give customers 30 days notice, during which time they'll be able to walk away from their contract early.
Until now, users have been to swallow incremental price rises if they're in the middle of those long 18-24 month contracts.
The new rules will come into effect on January 23 2014. After that customers entering into mobile, landline or broadband contracts will have an easy get-out clause.
New deal
"Ofcom is today making clear that consumers entering into fixed-term telecoms contracts must get a fairer deal," said Ofcom's consumer group director of Claudio Pollack. "We think the sector rules were operating unfairly in the provider's favour, with consumers having little choice but to accept price increases or pay to exit their contract.
"We are making it clear that any increase to the monthly subscription price should trigger a consumer's right to leave their contract – without penalty."
The announcement comes following a long campaign, spearheaded by the Which consumer rights website, which claimed an overwhelming victory for the campaign's 59,000 supporters.
"Thanks to you," the site wrote on Tuesday, "millions of mobile phone, broadband and landline customers will benefit from new rights. Now if mobile providers want to hike prices on fixed contracts, you can show them what you think by cancelling without having to pay a penny."
Samsung and Apple are frequently at each other's throats over patents, but great minds apparently think alike when it comes to potential profits from third-party accessory makers.
PhoneArena today reported that Samsung may be exploring the use of dedicated ID chips for future devices as a method of warding off an ever increasing number of faulty third-party accessories.
Like Apple, Samsung has endured bad publicity in recent months over poorly-made accessories such as chargers and batteries from unlicensed vendors, which occasionally malfunction when used with the Korean manufacturer's devices.
In the most extreme example, such accessories can cause a device to burn or actually explode, which certainly isn't in the best interest of Samsung or its customers.
Extreme measures?
According to Korean news agency ETNews (via Google Translate), Samsung is apparently considering the use of "a dedicated ID chip" for future devices, which would simply reject accessories that aren't deemed kosher for use with smartphone or tablet.
While such a tactic may seem extreme, Samsung may simply be again following in the footsteps of rival Apple, who incorporated similar security measures into the Lightning port used with all of the company's current iPhone and iPad products.
Thanks to the increasing popularity of mobile devices, third-party accessories are a booming business with the potential for huge profit margins - especially when knockoff makers can circumvent paying royalties to company actually making the devices.
Of course, Samsung is also likely eyeing ways to keep such profits for themselves by limiting the sale of accessories to licensed vendors, and such ID chips could be their way of doing just that.
Check out our full review of the LG Optimus L9 smartphone!
BlackBerry has just announced the rollout schedule of the OS 10.2 firmware update. BlackBerry Z10 and Q10 and Q5 are the devices eligible for upgrade, while the Z30 is running on 10.2 out of box.
The BlackBerry 10.2 update brings a new Priority Hub, BBM Video with Natural Sound feature, messages preview from any app, better keyboard, easier sharing options, lockscreen notifications, better calendar and reject call with SMS/BBM option.
BlackBerry 10.2 launches for the BlackBerry smartphones in Africa, Asia Pacific, Canada, Europe and the Middle East this week. Latin America will be getting the update in November, while USA will follow at the begging of the winter. Of course, the update rollout also depends on if your device is unlocked SIM-free or carrier-locked. If you got your Z10/Q10 on a contract you may have to wait a few more weeks to get you phone up to date.
If you want to know more about the new features in the BlackBerry 10.2 update, follow the source link below.
Sony is rumored to schedule an event for November 12. According to tipster from Chinese social media, the event will be held in Shanghai and will see the launch of the Sony Xperia Z1S as well as a device codenamed Xperia Taichi.
An official press image of the Sony Xperia Z1S leaked recently, although at that point it wasn't sure if it will be the international version of the Z1 f Sony already launched in Japan. The smaller brother of the Xperia Z1 already undergone several benchmark tests, which showed that it easily will be the best performer in the mini league.
Based on its Japanese brethren, the Xperia Z1S is expected to rock a 4.3-inch 720p display, Snapdragon 800 chipset with quad-core CPU and a 20MP G-Lens camera.
The other smartphone that's been rumored to debut at the event is the Sony Xperia Taichi. According to rumors it's a mid-range phablet flaunting a 6" 720p display and the true octa-core MediaTek CPU inside.
Take this rumor with a pinch of salt, as Sony hasn't mentioned anything about an upcoming smartphone-related event. We'll make sure to keep you posted if any new info comes in, though.
Samsung US announced today the US availability details of the Galaxy S4 mini smartphone. The Galaxy S4 smaller sibling will become available through lots of carriers at the beginning of November.
The carriers to offer the Samsung Galaxy S4 mini are AT&T, Sprint, US Cellular and Verizon. The pricing is yet to be announced, but the smartphone will most probably be free on contract.
We guess the retailers will be getting the local US model by the same time. The international version of the Galaxy S4 mini has been sold for quite some time in the USA at about $400, but the price should drop once the official availability kicks off.
Samsung will be bringing the Galaxy Gear ($300) smartwatch support to the Galaxy S4 mini via a firmware update next month, but it's unclear if there will be package deals if you want to get both (unlikely, since even the Galaxy Note 3 didn't get those). Galaxy S4 mini-compatible S-View Flip Covers will go on sale in time for the release as well.
You can check phone's full specs right here. We already published our in-depth review, where you can read all about our meeting with the Galaxy S4 mini.
BlackBerry has confirmed that it will roll out the BlackBerry OS 10.2 update this week.
That means that BlackBerry Z10, Q10 and Q5 owners will soon have the opportunity to download and install the software update.
Exactly when you receive the new software will depend on what network you're on, but Europe, Canada, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific are first in line to get the 10.2 upgrade.
Interestingly, the US faces a bit of a wait: BlackBerry says the US roll out will start "this winter".
Refinement time
It comes with "hundreds of refinements" including automatic prioritisation of your inboxes, upgraded keyboard smarts and "enhanced" copy and paste.
As rumoured, you'll also be able to see message previews of BBMs, texts and emails when you're in other apps, with the ability to reply in those dynamic notifications too.
Check out BlackBerry's run down of the main features on its blog post here, and keep your eyes peeled for the update soon. And if you simply can't wait for the update to roll out you can always dash out and buy a Z30 which ships with 10.2 on board.
Like the sound of BlackBerry OS 10.2? You'll be needing a Z10 then
Today Japan Display introduced the world's first 12.1-inch 4K display. Even stretched over 12 inches the 3840x2160 pixel resolution results in the great 365ppi pixel density.
The new display unit measures 273.7 x 164.6 x 1.96mm and offers viewing angles wider than 160-degree. It uses LTPS (low temperature poly silicon) technology, which enables the high ppi and keeps power consumption under control.
The rest of the 12.1" 4K display specs include 1000:1 contrast, 500cd/m2 brightness and 3600mW power consumption with the backlight turned set at its maximum level. If no backlight is used, the display consumes just 360mW.
There is no info when these displays will enter mass production, but it seems unlikely we'll see them in actual products before the second half of next year. Japan Display is one of Apple's suppliers of screens, so who knows, this might as well turn out to be the next iPad's key feature.
There has been some speculation as to what this could be, given that it could just as easily be a variant of the Moto X.
Lets get speculating!
Everybody has their own ideas as to what it could be, Phandroid speculate that it could be a Google Play edition of the Moto X, a la Samsung Galaxy S4 Play.
What could the Moto G be?
We're a little more sceptical on that, as it would put the new handset in direct competition with the upcoming Nexus 5.
Whatever the Google owned brand has in mind, we won't know for certain until, or should that be if, Motorola officially announce the device.
Either way we might not be far off this smart phone/watch as Droid-life reveals it's spoken to a rep from US carrier Verizon who claims it's heard the Moto G is "coming soon."
Until then, we might as well say that it is a Motorola grapefruit. Now that would be tasty...
Why not let us know what you think it could be in the comments below?
LG G Flex just hanging out atop a pile of lesser phones (credit: Federico Ini on Twitter)
The LG G Flex is back and this time it's brought a camera.
LG's curvaceous handset found its way into the mitts of a journalist in Argentina who shared a few snaps of the thing on Twitter.
It looks massive, which is thanks to the 6-inch screen, and keeps its buttons on the back just like the LG G2.
Ain't nothin' but a G Flex
Specs still come with question marks all over them, but the word is of a 13MP camera that has an OLED display "that curves on a different axis" according to The Verge, which worked with Federico Ini to nab some extra shots.
Ini, who doesn't reveal where he got his information but since he has the actual phone we'd say is pretty well informed, says that the G Flex will land in South Korea next month, but there's no plan to offer the Flex in the US, Europe or Latin America.
Following the LG G Flex leaked renders last week, now the curved-screen smartphone has been shown in a talk show over at the Argentinian TV station Telefe. Journalist Federico Ini has leaked additional live photos of the G Flex for everyone to admire.
In the video, the LG G Flex gets a good amount of air time, flaunting its curved display. It's reported that the screen is 6" full HD curved OLED and as you can see from the video below it looks pretty good.
Additionally, the video shows that the G Flex sports the same back-sided button configuration as the LG G2. The Power/Lock key is in the middle of the volume rocker. Above the physical keys is located the 13MP camera with LED flash.
You can check out the video by following the first source link below. The interesting part starts at half a minute in.
Processor details of the LG G Flex haven't leaked yet, but it's all but certain that the curved smartphone is going to be almost identical to the LG G2 on the inside. This means a 2.3GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800, an Adreno 320 GPU and 2GB of RAM. Here are some live photos of the G Flex courtesy of Federico Ini.
LG G Flex live photos
According to him, LG will launch the G Flex in South Korea and the company not planning to release it elsewhere. Pricing is unknown at this time, but if the Samsung Galaxy Round is any indication it won't be cheap.
Firefox OS could be considered still in its infancy but as bigger OEMs hop on the train it could gain traction faster than expected. LG is the first major manufacture to premiere a Firefox OS handset of its own.
The LG Fireweb is the Mozilla-powered smartphone a 5MP autofocus and LED-enabled camera. It sports a 4" display of HVGA resolution (480 x 320 pixels), single-core 1 GHz Qualcomm processor, 4 GB built-in storage plus a microSD card slot.
LG Fireweb
The device has gone on sale on Brazilian carrier Vivo's network. It only costs prepaid customers BRL449 ($207), while on contract it can be had for BRL129 ($59).
We'd already heard that the Galaxy S4 would see the latest version of Jelly Bean (and with it Gear support) by the end of the month and it's good to see Samsung is finally adding more handsets to the roster.
The 4.3 Jelly Bean update brings easier text input as well as enhanced graphics and multimedia to the brands ageing handsets.
It also means that they gain Samsung's Knox business solution, Smart Switch, HomeSync and Group Play 2.5.
Galaxy Gear... but not 4.3?
JK Shin, CEO and President of IT & Mobile division at Samsung said "Extending the Galaxy Gear compatibility to more Galaxy devices reflects our deep commitment to continuing to deliver our consumers enriched mobile experiences"
Unfortunately for those using any of the aforementioned S4 variants, or the Galaxy Mega handsets, there is still no word - if indeed there ever will be - on a 4.3 update.
Instead, the S4 handsets are being treated to an internal update to address lack of Gear functionality.
Samsung has said that the Gear update should land from the end of the month, although this will obviously vary depending on market and mobile network.
While Samsung, HTC, LG, Sony and every other phone brand that isn't Apple was unveiling quad core phones, Nokia's hold out was notable.
When even the likes of ZTE are making a supercharged handset for a very low price, you'd have to wonder why Nokia would swim against the tide for so long, with flagship after flagship device sailing by using only a dual core CPU.
The argument that quad core is unnecessary isn't valid, as anything that requires heavy lifting (such as photography and editing at high resolution) needs an engine to keep up – and Nokia's imaging hardware was certainly struggling with the larger files.
However, Samuli Hanninen, Nokia's VP of software program management, told TechRadar that it was a combination of having to work with Microsoft to get the platform ready as well as the right technology not being available.
Bigger makes things harder
He outlined how things like the larger sensor on the Lumia 1020 needed elements within the Windows Phone platform rewritten to support its massive pictures, and the Full HD display needed work on the OS level to support things like a third column before the Lumia 1520 could be unveiled.
"We also had to work on the apps; this led to things like the extra row in the email app to make the most of the extra space [a six inch display could offer], " said Hanninen.
He also pointed out that while it wasn't technically possible to run a quad core processor with Full HD graphics on a Windows Phone last year, Nokia wouldn't have wanted to use one anyway on its hardware.
"I don't think it took us a long time [to bring a Full HD display to a Nokia phone]," Hanninen said when asked why Nokia had delayed the decision so long.
"You only see the benefits when using a 5-inch screen and larger, anything below that the eye can't see the difference.
"If I had the possibility of having a quad core CPU last year, I'd have said that I don't want it," said Hanninen. He pointed out that while phones went down that route last year, the performance wasn't good enough in Nokia's eyes.
"You have to get the best from a quad core chip. If you do it badly then the phones get very hot," he added.
The challenger appears
The availability of Qualcomm's Snapdragon 800 chip seems to have changed that thinking for Nokia and Microsoft, as both had to agree on the changes to the Windows Phone platform to allow the hardware through.
But with the more power-efficient chip, as well as its enhanced ability to process large photo and video files, Nokia finally believed the time was right to use the unit in both its phone and tablet range, with the Lumia 2520 Windows tablet taking a faster-clocked version of the same chip too.
Power-fans finally thinking that Nokia will be throwing caution to the wind and plugging in the most powerful unit just to satisfy consumers, especially now Microsoft has allowed it in Windows Phone, will need to think again though.
Hanninen pointed out that things like battery life and mobility are the priority for Nokia, not headline speeds, as he believes that customers value that more in real life.
