Nexus 5 Release Date Rumored for October, Made by LG

While recent rumors have hinted that Motorola will make Google’s Nexus 5, a new tip suggests that the search engine giant will stick with LG for its Nexus 4 successor. According to a report from Korea, LG will manufacture the purported Nexus 5 in time for an October launch.

We’re skeptical on this rumor since LG denied that it would be making a new Nexus phone, but Korean site MyDrivers insists that multiple news outlets in Korea are reporting the opposite. What’s more interesting, however, is that Google and LG reportedly plan to keep the same pricing strategy as the Nexus 4.


MORE: 10 Amazingly Dumb Things We Do with Smartphones

According to the report, which we translated from Chinese, the Nexus 5 is likely to come with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor rather than an 800 if Google keeps the $299 for 8GB and $349 for 16GB price points. The current generation Nexus 4 runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro.

Like its predecessor, the Nexus 5 will allegedly come with 2GB of RAM but will get a camera upgrade to 10 megapixels as opposed to the Nexus 4’s 8 megapixel sensor. The report also mentions that Google plans to upgrade the display from the Nexus 4’s 4.7-inch WXGA display to a 5-inch 1080p touch screen and will feature a design similar to the new LG G2.

Rumors concerning the Nexus 5 have been inconsistent throughout the past few months, with reports flip flopping between Motorola and LG. Just last week, Motorola tipster Taylor Wimberly posted to Google+ that the Google-owned company would manufacture the new Nexus smartphone, but none of this information has been confirmed.

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160 Billion Apps Will Be Downloaded in 2017, Report Says

Smartphone applications help make life simpler, more organized, and entertaining, and a new study predicts that they will be downloaded twice as often in a few years. According to Juniper Research, more than 160 billion consumer apps will be downloaded in the year 2017, which doubles their 2013 prediction of 80 billion.

Juniper predicts that free-to-play games will lead 2017′s app downloads, partially due to the growing multiplayer support for mobile titles (Hello Google Play Games and Apple Game Center). With free apps dominating most mobile marketplaces, the report states that only 5 percent of apps will be paid for when downloaded, which is lower than this year’s 6.1 percent.

Application stores such as Apple’s App Store, Google Play and the Amazon Appstore are expected to continue improving app discovery for shoppers, as in-store recommendations are predicted to become more integral to sales and downloads.

While this is excellent for mobile software developers, it also challenges them to find ways to still profit off of applications that are free upon download. After all, many people choose to live with the in-game ads in the free versions of hit titles like “Words with Friends” and “Draw Something.” Some addictive casual games have mastered the art of in-app purchases, however; we’re looking at you “Candy Crush.”

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How to Turn Off Galaxy S4 Location Services

Do you know how many apps on your Samsung Galaxy S4 use Location Services? Some use that data to offer directions, suggest restaurants near you or attach your location to an Instagram photo or Facebook post. These apps likely prompted you to enable Location Services before you started using it, and many people agree to this without thinking. But what you may not know is that your smartphone’s camera is also likely tracking your location.

There are a few reasons you might want to disable location services on your camera, including saving battery power, or more importantly, protecting your family. The location-tagged data in photos can lead predators to your child’s school, playground, daycare and any other places you may regularly use your smartphone. The directions for how to disable Location Services is a little different on each Android device. Here’s how to stop transmitting your location on the Samsung Galaxy S4.

1. Open the Camera app and tap the gear icon on the right of the screen. 

2. Tap the next gear icon that appears on the right of the screen.

3. Tap the gear icon that appears in the next pop-up screen.

4. Tap the gear icon on the right of the pop-up screen. 

5. Tap GPS Tag and toggle off. 

6. Go to your Galaxy S4 Settings Menu to disable more location services. 

7. Tap the More tab on the top right and tap Location Services. 

8. Toggle the top button that reads “Access to my location.” Doing this will disable all other apps on your Galaxy S4 that use your GPS, Wi-Fi or mobile network location to transmit that dat

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Samsung ATIV S Neo Available August 16 for $149.99

The wait is officially over for Sprint customers holding out for a Samsung Windows Phone. The carrier officially announced Wednesday that the Samsung ATIV S Neo will launch in stores and online on August 16.

The ATIV S Neo will become the second Windows Phone 8 in Sprint’s lineup, following the HTC 8XT that was released last month. The new device will be available for $149.99 with a two-year plan, after a $50 mail-in rebate. Samsung’s latest Windows Phone runs on a 1.4GHz dual-core processor and has 1GB of RAM, 16GB of memory, and a removable 2,000 mAh battery that’s meant to deliver 14 hours of talking time.

MORE: Samsung ATIV Odyssey: Full Review

The Samsung device packs an 8-MP rear camera as well as a 1.9-MP lens on the front, and has a 4.8-inch, 1,280 x 720 touchscreen for Windows browsing on-the-go. The ATIV S Neo has access to Microsoft Office and Exchange, and features a built-in Kids Corner that allows parents to provide a customized app layout for their children. It’s also Sprint’s first Windows Phone 8 with international roaming.


You can pick up the Samsung ATIV S Neo starting Friday at Sprint.com, an official Sprint store, or your local participating electronics retailer.

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How to Create an Email Signature in Microsoft Outlook 2013

Email signatures are like the shoes of the corporate world. Sometimes you just need a short, to-the-point one for chain replies. Sometimes you need a formal, official-looking one. Unfortunately, Microsoft Outlook’s signature options can be somewhat hard to find, buried deep in the abyss of its backstage mode for options.

Here’s how to create a signature in Outlook 2013 in five quick steps.

1. Click New Email at the top left corner of the Home tab.

2. Click Signature from the top panel, next to Attach Item. A dropdown menu will appear, with options to add an existing signature to the email you’re working on. Select Signatures from this menu to open a Signatures and Stationery window

3. Click New in the Signatures and Stationery window to create a new signature template.

4. Compose your signature in the editing window. If you have your contact information already saved in Outlook, you can simply import all that information as a business card by clicking Business Card at the top right of the edit options.

You can add images to your signature, like a logo or banner, by pasting them into the editor or clicking the button to the right of the Business Card button. URLs will be automatically hyperlinked, but if you want to add your own link, you can click the Insert Hyperlink button on the extreme right. Click OK, and your signature will be saved for future use.

5. Designate your new signature as your default in the Signatures and Stationery window if you want to make sure it is included with every new message and replies or forwards you send.

If you don’t want a default signature , you can insert the signature into individual email messages by clicking Signature in the Compose window as in Step 1, and selecting the signature you just created.

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Sprint MiFi 500 LTE Review

Pros: Light design; Strong 4G speeds; Simple interface; Long battery life
Cons: Limited Sprint LTE coverage
The Verdict: The Sprint MiFi 500 LTE Hotspot offers good battery life and fast data speeds where Sprint LTE coverage is available.

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LG Vu 3 Could Sport 5.2-inch Display, Snapdragon 800 CPU

LG is rumored to be working on a new entry in its Optimus Vu series of phablets, and this one will be quite an upgrade from its predecessors. According to the Korean site ASIAE, the Vu 3, LG is dropping the Optimus from its name, is expected to sport a 5.2-inch display. That’s up from the Vu II’s 5-inch screen (pictured above). The Vu 3′s display resolution is also expected to jump from 1024 x 768-pixels to 1280 x 960.

Despite the increase in screen size, the Vu 3 will retain the unique 4:3 aspect ratio found on both the Optimus Vu and Optimus Vu II. That means the phablet will also feature the awkward square design that the originals offered. During our time with the Vu and Vu II, we found them a bit difficult to hold in one hand. Users with smaller hands had an especially hard time gripping the handset. If the rumors are accurate that the Vu 3 will retain the same basic styling, LG may be limiting its audience for the phablet right out of the gate.

MORE: Top 10 Smartphones

The Vu 3 will pack one of Qualcomm’s new quad-core Snapdragon 800 processors, 2GB of RAM and a 13-megapixel rear-facing camera. The phablet may also include a stylus, though hopefully LG provides a slot to store it, rather than making you hold it at all times like the Vu II. Most impressive of all is the fact that the handset could include LTE-Advanced support. Of course, that function would only work in South Korea, where LTE-A networks are currently available.

AndroidAuthority reports that the Vu 3 may see its global launch at IFA 2013 in Berlin next month. If that’s the case, we’ll be on hand to see the phablet live and in person.

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How to Turn Off AMBER Alerts on Windows Phone

Designed to notify nearby residents in the vicinity of a missing child, the piercing cry of the AMBER alert can sound at anytime and anywhere. And while the alerts have the noblest intention, many people are calling them annoying and somewhat intrusive as they wake millions of users in the middle of the night. We’ve previously described how to disable AMBER alerts on iPhone, Samsung Galaxy Phones and BlackBerry. Now it’s Windows Phone users turn for some relief and hopefully a good night’s sleep.

To disable AMBER alerts on your Windows Phone:

1. Go to the Start Screen

2. Swipe left to access the Applications list and tap Messaging.

3 Hit the three dots in the lower right corner and select Settings.

4. Click the Emergency Alerts button.

5. Slide the AMBER Alerts tab to the left to turn off the alerts. You can also choose other alert settings (all alerts, Presidential only and Presidential and Extreme alerts) in the Emergency Alerts box below.

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Deal of the Day: Dell Inspiron 17R Core i7 Laptop for $650

Our deal experts have combed the web for the best deals around and today we’ve got offers up to 71% off.

Dell is offering their Inspiron 17R 17-inch laptop fully loaded with an Intel Core i7 quad-core CPU, 8GB RAM, 1TB hard drive, and more for just $649.99. Normally, a 17-inch screen and Core i7 processor would cost a big premium, but this deal cuts $150 off the list price.

Alternatively, head over to Amazon and check out their one-day only SanDisk flash memory sale, with flash drives and memory cards started at only $10.49. Also, don’t miss the new Crucial M500 240GB SSD marked down to $194.99. Scroll down to get today’s hottest deals.

Top Deals:
Dell Inspiron 17R : Core i7 Laptop w/ 8GB RAM, 1TB Hard Drive & Backlit Keyboard for $649.99 with free shipping(normally $799.99 – use coupon code P$XLG1LB$SVWWJ ).
240GB Crucial M500: 2.5″ SATA 6Gbps SSD for $194 with free shipping (normally $219.99).
1-day SanDisk Memory Sale!: Up to 60% off SanDisk memory cards & USB flash drives.

Additional Deals:
256GB SanDisk Ultra Plus: 2.5″ SATA 6Gbps Internal Solid State Drive for $159.99 with free shipping (normally $199).
Turtle Beach Call of Duty: Black Ops II X-RAY Wirelesss Headset: Dolby Surround Sound for $99.99 with free shipping (normally $199.99).

The LogicBuy team scours the web every day for the hottest deals and we make our best effort to let you know when they will end, but sometimes deals expire unexpectedly. You can find the next best price on the item you’re looking at LogicBuy.com.

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Pinterest Targets Casual Visitors With New “Pinterest For Teachers” Site, May Add More Content Hubs In Future

Pinterest has launched what may be the first of several official “hubs” featuring content targeting a particular segment of its user base, with today’s debut of a new “Pinterest for Teachers” site at pinterest.com/teachers. Obviously timed to coincide with the back-to-school rush and news cycle, the company tells us that the new hub will also serve as something of a test to see if it makes more sense to continue down this path in the future, with more hubs devoted to other interests or groups.

The Teachers hub was actually launched a few weeks ago, and grew to 1,300 users ahead of any public announcement or promotion — like today’s company blog post about the new section.

Here, Pinterest explains that it teamed up to work with Edutopia, an online resource for educators, to build out content for the hub, which at launch offers 19 boards, including those focused on preschool and elementary school teachers (grades K-6), as well as topic-based boards on subjects like art, science, math and other things teachers would finding interesting, ranging from classroom decor to recommended blogs. Each board is being maintained by a Pinterest user who’s also a teacher, most of whom also have their own educational websites or blogs, too. The Teachers hub will later expand to cover more areas and grades in the future, the company notes.

In addition to the fact that it’s simply that time of year for a back-to-school marketing push, Pinterest also adds that a teacher-focused board makes sense for the site because it has developed a large community of teachers using its service for tips and tricks, lesson plans, craft and activity ideas, and more. Edutopia cites Pinterest as one of the top five professional websites for teachers, and Pinterest today sees over 500,000 education-related pins added to its service daily.

But the hub’s launch follows several other recent pushes into content recommendations by Pinterest, including the debut of pin and board recommendations, first announced in late July. The company switched on an opt-out mechanism (“do not track”) at the same time – a hint of how deeply it plans to tap into user data in order to personalize the service. And at the end of last month, those same pin suggestions started showing up on mobile as well.

That being said, the Pinterest for Teachers hub is not going to be a part of any sort of personalization efforts right now, but rather will serve as a starting-off point for people coming to the site for the first time, possibly wondering what it’s all about. They may be looking for recommendations, such as whom to follow, or they may just want to browse around for inspiration. The hope is that by offering users the hub as a starting-off point (you can click around its pages without needing an account), those more casual visitors will eventually convert and create boards of their own, we’re told.

Pinterest evaluates whether or not all these plans hold up – not necessarily by looking at hard numbers, but at community engagement and feedback, including things like comments on today’s blog post or on its Facebook page, among other things.

Though the company does not have publicly announced plans for other hubs, the service is also seeing traction in categories like Food, Fashion, Design, Technology and the Outdoors. If it decides the hub concept works, these will likely be the next areas the company will explore.

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Following Comical Scrap With Google, Microsoft’s YouTube App Will Return To Windows Phone Today

Well, Windows Phone fans, you are almost home. Today Microsoft’s YouTube application for Windows Phone will return to the platform’s marketplace.

At last, Google and Microsoft appear to have worked out a compromise that will allow for a fully featured YouTube experience on the latter’s mobile platform. Google and Microsoft have had a fraught year, bickering over email syncing, search dominance and mobile mapping. And the YouTube thing.

Microsoft had pulled its home-built YouTube app for Windows Phone from its mobile store following vociferous Google complaints that resulted in a cease-and-desist letter.

The stakes are somewhat high, if in the distance: Microsoft is hell-bent on building a first-tier mobile platform. Google is dedicated to Android’s continued hegemony. It has scant incentive to grant Microsoft even one extra scrap of oxygen. Windows Phone users have been somewhat caught in the crossfire.

Google once extended its support of Exchange ActiveSync at the proverbial last minute, granting Microsoft enough time to support its CalDAV and CardDAV syncing systems to keep Windows Phone users, who depended on Google web services, happy.

TechCrunch reached out to Microsoft, which provided the following statement: “We’ve released an updated YouTube app for Windows Phone that provides the great experience our consumers expect while addressing the concerns Google expressed in May, including the addition of ads. We appreciate Google’s support in ensuring that Windows Phones customers have a quality YouTube experience and look forward to continuing the collaboration.”

Users will be able to live stream YouTube content that is ongoing, and upload video from their phones.

What matters more than the generic feature breakdown of the application is that it exists at all, at last, with full coronation from both parties. That’s something to be applauded. It has been a scrap for Microsoft to fight for a place at the table. Each time Microsoft has butted heads with the Mountain View search giant, it has always done well by its users in the end. So, if you are a Windows Phone user, here’s a clip to get you started.

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Smartphones Finally Overtook Dumbphone Sales Globally In Q2, Android Now At 79%, Says Gartner

Analyst Gartner has put out its latest smartphone market report, and the Q2 2013 numbers show the inevitable finally occurred: smartphone sales exceeded feature phone sales for the first time. Android has been strangling the life out of dumbphones for years, but it looks like the market tipping point is being reached.

In Q2, Gartner says worldwide smartphones sales rose 46.5% from the year earlier quarter to hit 225 million units shipped, while sales of feature phones declined 21% year-on-year to 210 million units. Smartphone shipments grew most in Asia Pacific, Latin American and Eastern Europe, with growth rates of 74.1%, 55.7% and 31.6% respectively, but the analyst said sales grew in all regions. IDC‘s recent market figures put Android on approaching 80% worldwide marketshare for Q2. Google’s mobile OS is clearly expanding its share by picking up former feature phone users.

The rising tide of global smartphone ownership is raising all boats, but Samsung continues to dominate the smartphone landscape. Gartner said Samsung grew its share to approaching a third (31.7%), up 29.7% on Q2 2012. Apple also grew shipments of its iPhone but its marketshare declined — highlighting the case for Cupertino to make a low cost iPhone to capture growth at the budget end of the market. Apple took a 14.2% share in Q2, 2013, vs 18.8% in the year ago quarter. It still shipped 10.2% more iPhones vs Q2 2012 but is being outpaced by higher smartphone market growth rates.

After Samsung and Apple, it’s a tale of all Asian smartphone makers battling for third place: LG grabbed third place in Q2 (with a 5.1% share); followed by Lenovo (4.7%) whose Lephone has been a popular seller in China; and ZTE (4.3%).

Gartner said Apple saw a significant drop in the average selling price (ASP) of its devices in Q2, with its ASP declining to the lowest figure registered by Apple since the iPhone’s launch in 2007. This is down to strong sales of the iPhone 4 — again underlining the case (from a volume perspective) for Apple to launch a cheaper iPhone. However doing so would clearly accelerate that decrease in its ASP, even if market growth is now being powered by budget devices — providing the impetus for Apple to expand the iPhone to cheaper price-points still.

“While Apple’s [declining] ASP demonstrates the need for a new flagship model, it is risky for Apple to introduce a new lower-priced model too,” commented Gartner analyst Anshul Gupta in a statement. ”Although the possible new lower-priced device may be priced similarly to the iPhone 4 at $300 to $400, the potential for cannibalisation will be much greater than what is seen today with the iPhone 4. Despite being seen as the less expensive sibling of the flagship product, it would represent a new device with the hype of the marketing associated with it.”

Also noteworthy in Q2, Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform pushed past BlackBerry’s OS for the first time to take third place. When Windows Phone launched, back in 2010, Steve Ballmer and Nokia’s CEO Stephen Elop talked of their ambition to create a third ecosystem in the smartphone space. They’re still trying to stock the fires of an ecosystem but are at least in third place from a sales perspective.

Windows Phone took a 3.3% global market share in Q2 vs just 2.7% for the struggling BlackBerry OS. Gupta, noted: “While Microsoft has managed to increase share and volume in the quarter, Microsoft should continue to focus on growing interest from app developers to help grow its appeal among users.”

Taken together, Android and iOS took a 93.2% global marketshare in the quarter — underlining why developers opt to support these two platform first and foremost, and generally require incentives to expend effort elsewhere. Android’s global marketshare in Q2 was a staggering 79% according to Gartner, up from 64.2% in the year ago quarter — buoyed by feature phone switchers.

The drop off in feature phone sales is bad news for Nokia, which still leans heavily on its feature phone business (being as its smartphone business is tied to the Windows Phone underdog). Nokia shipped just 61 million feature phones in Q2, down from 83 million in the year ago quarter. But the Finnish mobile maker is at least seeing some decent growth in smartphones, thanks to having a broader portfolio of devices to offer at different price points. Nokia’s Windows Phone-powered Lumia sales grew 112.7% in Q2 2013, according to Gartner.

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Thalmic Labs Gets Two Ex-BlackBerry Execs (Including One Who Just Left) To Help The MYO Armband Succeed

Thalmic Labs has picked up some heavyweight senior talent in its quest to bring the MYO gesture control armband device to market. Both are ex-BlackBerry, and both bring a lot of experience in the management of a consumer devices company, and in the supply chain for producing said devices.

Thalmic’s newest employees are Mike Galbraith, former SVP of Operations at BlackBerry, and David Perston, former Senior Director of New Product Introduction Outsourcing at the smartphone-maker. Galbraith becomes CFO of MYO, and Perston takes on a role as VP of Manufacturing. Given that arguably the two biggest challenges facing hardware startups are working out finances and managing the supply chain and production process, having some folks with experience in those roles is likely a good thing.

Galbraith comes direct from BlackBerry, which is just the most recent example of corporate shake-up and high-level departures at BlackBerry. BlackBerry just lost three executives last week, in fact, according to a report from the CBC confirmed by the company. As Chris reported at the time, BlackBerry seemed to be framing the departures as part of its aggressive reorganization and turnaround plan, but the recent announcement that it’s looking for suitors as well as considering going private offers good reason to believe top talent is leaving of its own volition.

“What really attracted me to Thalmic Labs was the innovative solution that Stephen, Aaron and Matthew are creating that has the potential to take human computer interaction to a whole new level,” Galbraith offered when asked why he chose Thalmic for his next destination. “I firmly believe there are boundless opportunities with MYO’s unique position within the dynamic wearable computing space. I was also impressed with Stephen, Aaron and Matthew’s vision for MYO and beyond, in developing integrated solutions to enhance how we engage with things in our world.”

Perston, who left BlackBerry back in 2011 after nearly 15 years at the company, said that his “first love is startups” and cited the team and the product itself as his main motivation for joining. In both cases, it seems clear that Thalmic has gained from BlackBerry’s misfortunes of late.

The new hires and rapid growth of the Thalmic team, which is on track to surpass 50 employees by the end of the year, reflects the unintended bounty that could befall the Kitchener-Waterloo region as BlackBerry continues to struggle. It’s likely there will be a lot of talent injected into the market for the growing startup scene in the area to take advantage of, and that’s something investors are taking note of.

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