Sales of Samsung’s Galaxy Note lineup reportedly top 40M, including 30M Note II handsets

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Sales of Samsung’s Galaxy Note lineup reportedly top 40M, including 30M Note II handsets

Less than three weeks ago, Samsung announced that channel sales of its Galaxy Note lineup had topped 38 million units globally. According to a report from Focus Taiwan, Samsung has had a pretty huge three weeks. With the Galaxy Note 3 set to debut in the U.S. next week, Samsung has reportedly confirmed that Galaxy Note family sales have now reached 40 million units worldwide. Curiously, the site says that figure includes 10 million Galaxy Note handsets and 30 million Note II devices, which doesn't leave any room for Galaxy Note tablet shipments. Earlier sales figures announced by Samsung included smartphones and tablets like the Galaxy Note 8.0 and Galaxy Note 10.1. Samsung's next-generation Galaxy Note 3 launches on October 2nd alongside the new Galaxy Gear smartwatch.

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Apple reels in Nike Fuel Band designer to help with wearable computers

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Apple reels in Nike Fuel Band designer to help with wearable computers

Apple's about to get a big boost in the wearable computing department. 9to5Mac reports that Apple has hired top Nike Fuel Band and Flyknit shoe designer Ben Shaffer to work on the company's upcoming wearable computing devices such as the long-rumored "iWatch." This isn't the first time that Apple has hired a design expert who worked on Nike's fitness-tracking Fuel Band wrist accessory as earlier this year it hired fitness expert and one-time Fuel Band consultant Jay Blahnik to help work on its mobile accessories. Ties between Apple and Nike have traditionally been strong, especially since Apple CEO Tim Cook sits on Nike's board of directors.

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Video: Microsoft ditches dancing, unveils a strong Surface 2 ad

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Video: Microsoft ditches dancing, unveils a strong Surface 2 ad

Microsoft's marketing campaign for its original Surface was undoubtedly one of the worst for a major product launch in recent memory: Instead of showing people what the Surface was capable of doing, Microsoft literally had people break dancing while twirling the Surface up in the air. The good news is that the company seems to have learned its lessons and has produced a solid ad for its Surface 2 in which it explains why the Surface can do a lot more than an iPad. What makes the ad interesting is Microsoft's framing — it first describes the Surface 2 as "not just a laptop" before also says that it's "not just a tablet," which indicates that the company is trying more to pitch the device as a super-portable laptop replacement more than a direct iPad rival. Microsoft's full ad follows below.

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Third-party Android browser forms ‘anti-Google alliance’ with rival search engines

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Third-party Android browser forms ‘anti-Google alliance’ with rival search engines

Dolphin, a third-party mobile browser that runs on Android and iOS, is apparently tired of seeing Google reign as the de-facto king of the Internet. Because of this, it's formed what it calls an "anti-Google alliance" with international search engines to add some more diversity to the global mobile search realm. The alliance includes Russian search engine Yandex, Chinese engine Baidu, Yahoo Japan and DuckDuckGo, the privacy-friendly American search engine that has become a favorite for anti-NSA activists. 

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Apple’s wireless carrier contracts under investigation in France

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Apple’s wireless carrier contracts under investigation in France

Quelle surprise! Apple's dealings with wireless carriers in France have come under investigation. MarketWatch reports that authorities in France are probing Apple's contracts to determine whether the company is engaging in anticompetitive practices with French carriers that sell the iPhone. The investigation in France is part of a broader European investigation into smartphone manufacturers' business practices that in the past has probed whether Apple applies stricter standards for small carriers who want to carry the iPhone than the standards used for large carriers. The European Commission has said in the past that it’s merely giving the iPhone contracts some scrutiny and that it hasn’t decided to open up aformal antitrust investigation yet.

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Apple rumored to be working on giant 12-inch iPad

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Apple rumored to be working on giant 12-inch iPad

Apple may have missed the boat with the phablet craze but now it may be trying to beat Samsung to the punch by releasing an iPad Mega. Chinese newspaper United Daily News reports that Apple is teaming up with longtime manufacturing partner Quanta Computer to design a 12-inch iPad that the company will use to offset declines in MacBook Air sales. This isn't the first time we've heard rumors about a bigger iPad, of course, as earlier this year The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple was testing out a 13-inch iPad alongside a larger "iPhablet" that would go head-to-head with Samsung's Galaxy Note series.

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This is the No.1 reason why Apple is replacing the iPhone 5 with the 5c

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This is the No.1 reason why Apple is replacing the iPhone 5 with the 5c

When it launched the iPhone 5c this year, Apple broke its long-standing tradition of keeping its most recent high-end iPhone model on the market and selling it out a discount. And now we have a good idea of why: It's all about money. AllThingsD points us to a recent iPhone teardown conducted by IHS estimating that it costs between $173 and $183 to build an iPhone 5c, which means that it's around $20 to $30 cheaper per unit to build than the now-discontinued iPhone 5. The math for Apple is pretty obvious in this case: It could either keep producing a hard-to-build high-end model and sell it on contract for $100 as it's done with other older iPhones, or it could produce an easier-to-build model for less money and sell it at the same on-contract price. Seen from this perspective, it's easy to see why Apple isn't too worried about the 5c cutting into its margins anytime soon.

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Hack the iPhone 5s Touch ID for a cash reward

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Hack the iPhone 5s Touch ID for a cash reward

Now that the iPhone 5s is officially in the hands of Apple fans, one of the first features that everyone will be toying with is the Touch ID fingerprint sensor. Unlocking your phone with your fingerprint is certainly a fascinating prospect, but many users expressed their concern about the safety of the new security measure when Apple revealed it earlier this month. Well, one man has made hacking the iPhone 5s Touch ID more than a concern -- he's made it a challenge.

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Apple TV 6.0 software update out now, includes iTunes Radio, Music Store, Airplay

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Apple TV 6.0 software update out now, includes iTunes Radio, Music Store, Airplay

Because releasing iOS 7 and two new iPhone models wasn't enough for one week, Apple has decided to update the Apple TV software to version 6.0 as well. We already knew that this update would allow Apple TV to stream purchased content from the cloud, but that's only one of several additions to Apple's set-top box. 9to5Mac reports that the 6.0 update also includes the newly released iTunes Radio, iCloud photos and videos to replace Photo Stream, the iTunes Music Store and conference room mode. Still no news on any new hardware from the Apple TV line, but this should tide over any users of the box in the meantime.

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Apple sticks with Samsung for the A7 chip after all

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Apple sticks with Samsung for the A7 chip after all

Apple may not like it but manufacturing partners like Samsung are hard to find. iFixit and Chipworks both teamed up to tear down the iPhone 5s and found that the device's A7 processor was indeed manufactured by Apple's longtime partner and more recent arch-nemesis Samsung. Chipworks says that it found design and manufacturing processes on the A7 that are unique to Samsung chips such as the Samsung Exynos Application processor found in the Galaxy S4. In addition to confirmation of Samsung manufacturing the A7 chip, we've also been hearing reports that Samsung will supply Apple with components for its second-generation iPad mini so it seems the companies still have a good working relationship with one another despite being at each others' throats in both the marketplace and the courtroom.

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Microsoft to reportedly give Surface 2 same $500 entry price as original Surface RT

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Microsoft to reportedly give Surface 2 same $500 entry price as original Surface RT

If doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results is the definition of insanity, then Microsoft may have completely lost its mind. After Microsoft's original Surface RT turned out to be one of the tech world's biggest duds of the last year and forced the company to write off a whopping $900 million, many expected it would price the upcoming Surface 2 more competitively, especially after the company said that it was willing to slash the price of the first Surface RT just to get it into consumers' hands.

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Apple CEO Cook: ‘We never had an objective to sell a low-cost phone’

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Apple CEO Cook: ‘We never had an objective to sell a low-cost phone’

Tim Cook is sorry if you're disappointed that the iPhone 5c isn't a budget phone aimed at consumers in emerging markets but he never meant to give you the impression that it would be. In an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek, Cook says that Apple "never had an objective to sell a low-cost phone" that would compete on some level with the dirt-cheap Android handsets that have been flooding into emerging markets. Instead, Cook says that the goal with the iPhone 5c was "to sell a great phone and provide a great experience, and we figured out a way to do it at a lower cost."

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iOS App Store update provides access to ‘last compatible version’ of apps for older devices

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iOS App Store update provides access to ‘last compatible version’ of apps for older devices

With the release of iOS 7 just one day away, developers have been scrambling to ensure their apps will be compatible with the update, and even more importantly, flattening their icons to fit with the new design. Although this update is possibly the most significant yet for Apple's iOS platform, many iPhone owners are going to take their time before jumping on board, and a recent update to the App Store will allow them to "download the last compatible version" of an app in case their OS is out of date. As 9to5Mac observes, this is not only a sigh of relief for iPhone 4, 4S, and 5 users who don't care about iOS 7, but also for 3G and 3GS owners, who will still have access to the last working versions of their preferred apps even if they're update to Jony Ive's creation.

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BBM for Android download leaks ahead of supposed launch this Friday

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BBM for Android download leaks ahead of supposed launch this Friday

The cross-platform mobile messaging space has never been this crowded, but people still seem excited to check out BlackBerry's upcoming entry. BBM for Android has been years in the making and according to a tweet from Samsung Mobile in Nigeria, the app will finally debut this Friday. But there's also some potential bad news for those who don't use Samsung phones — it looks like BBM for Android may be a Samsung exclusive in at least one region, at least in the early days following its launch.

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Apple finally sheds Siri’s ‘beta’ label

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Apple finally sheds Siri’s ‘beta’ label

It looks like Apple is finally confident enough in Siri to call it a finished product. 9to5Mac points out that Apple has at long last removed references to Siri being in beta on its official Siri webpages. Siri has technically been in beta since its launch nearly two years ago and since then Apple has worked to refine the voice-enabled personal assistant to make it faster, more accurate and more consistent. Although Siri was a first of its kind for smartphone platforms when it was released in 2011, it has since gotten stiff competition from Google Now for Android and is expected to get another competitor next year when Microsoft releases its own Cortana personal assistant software for Windows Phone.

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Video: Microsoft roasts Apple for lack of innovation in iPhone 5s, 5c [updated]

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Video: Microsoft roasts Apple for lack of innovation in iPhone 5s, 5c [updated]

Microsoft has done a lot of Samsung-esque Apple mocking in recent ads that have produced mixed results at best. Microsoft's latest video depicts a supposed "fly on the wall" at Apple's Cupertino headquarters as two Apple employees pitch new iPhone ideas to their new superiors. The video does get some legitimate shots in — the line about Apple going out of its way to explain how the iPhone 5c's plastic casing doesn't really feel like plastic certainly rings true — but the execution is on the whole rather awkward and lacks the polish of Samsung's classic Apple-roasting ads. Plus, unlike Samsung, most of Microsoft's ventures in the mobile world have been duds so far and thus take some of the bite from the company's attempt at parody. The full video follows below.

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Google’s next ‘moonshot’: Tearing down language barriers

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Google’s next ‘moonshot’: Tearing down language barriers

Google's "moonshots" — that is, projects that the company pursues even if they seem far-fetched — are one of its defining features. Spiegel reports that Google's Translate team has enormous ambitions to eventually eliminate language barriers with the development of a voice-enabled universal translation system. Although such a system is certainly a long way off, Google has already started working on a voice-enabled translator smartphone app that can translate roughly 24 different languages so far.

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Will Twitter go as ad crazy as Facebook after its IPO?

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Will Twitter go as ad crazy as Facebook after its IPO?

Facebook has discovered that pushing ads aggressively on its users works well, even if people complain about the strategy. After Twitter goes public, it will face intense pressure to match Facebook's phenomenal recent ad revenue growth. In the autumn of 2012, it seemed as though Facebook's star-crossed IPO was going to ice Twitter's plans to go public for years to come. Facebook's share price plunged by 50% following its listing in May 2012. But over the past two months, Facebook's strong Q2 ad revenue growth has driven investors wild — Facebook's share price has rocketed from $22 to $45 since early July. This may well have lured Twitter into pulling the trigger on its own IPO plans now that sentiment surrounding the mobile ad market is so optimistic.

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U.K. retailer claims we will see affordable 4K TVs by 2014

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U.K. retailer claims we will see affordable 4K TVs by 2014

4K TVs are beautiful, but they are also extremely expensive. Most of the major TV manufacturers have already unveiled their Ultra HD offerings, but the question remains: When will the average consumer be able to afford them? Speaking to Trusted Reviews, one United Kingdom retailer believes 4K resolution TV prices may be cut in half within the next year.

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iPhone 5s, 5c approved for launch on China Mobile

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iPhone 5s, 5c approved for launch on China Mobile

Apple is very close to launching its iPhones on the world's largest mobile carrier. Unwired View points out that China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has given the go-ahead for both the iPhone 5s and the iPhone 5c to launch on China Mobile. Now that the devices had TD-LTE licenses, Unwired View expects them to launch on China Mobile in November. Getting its devices on China Mobile is crucial to Apple’s plans to stop its market share from eroding further in China, which has been flooded over the past year by low-cost Android devices. With more than 700 million subscribers, China Mobile has the potential to help Apple claw back significant market share from Android vendors such as Samsung and Xiaomi.

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Apple looking to add 300 more people to its marketing machine

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Apple looking to add 300 more people to its marketing machine

As Apple prepares to unleash its latest round of iPhone devices, it appears that the  company is also in need of some new creative talent. Ad Age reports that Apple is in the market for between 200 and 300 new hires, which would double the size of the current in-house marketing team. An unnamed executive said that the marketing team had capped growth during Steve Jobs' tenure as Apple CEO, which forced the company to rely more on outside firms. Apple will continue to work with other ad agencies, but the expanded team will be "tackling more projects, doing everything from site design to tutorial videos for Apple products to maintaining a large internal commercial-production facility." The report also suggests that this move might not be an entirely monetary one, but instead a decision to have more control over the creative work Apple produces.

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ROUNDUP -- Everything you can expect from Apple's new iPhone 5C

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ROUNDUP -- Everything you can expect from Apple's new iPhone 5C

The wait is almost over. The rumor mill has been churning up tales of a low-cost iPhone, often dubbed "iPhone mini," since shortly after the original iPhone debuted in 2007. While it doesn't look like there will be anything "mini" about Apple's upcoming iPhone 5C, which is shaping up to actually be a bit larger than the flagship iPhone 5S model, we've seen enough leaks at this point to have a pretty good idea of what's coming during Tuesday's press conference.

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Survey: Half of current iPhone owners will upgrade to iPhone 5S or iPhone 5C immediately

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Survey: Half of current iPhone owners will upgrade to iPhone 5S or iPhone 5C immediately

There's no question that people are excited about the iPhone announcements coming on September 10th, but the number of existing iPhone owners who are already prepared to upgrade might surprise you. In a survey of more than 4,000 current iPhone owners conducted by Ask.com, the results of which were provided by VentureBeat, 46% plan on picking up an iPhone 5S or iPhone 5C as soon as they hit store shelves. The survey also revealed that more than 60% of current iPhone owners are more interested in the high-end iPhone 5S than the budget-priced 5C. In terms of potential features users are hoping to see in the new iPhones, improved battery life received 40% of the vote, while the recent fingerprint scanner leaks have clearly made an impact, as 34% of current iPhone owners are looking forward to thumbprint unlocking.

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A crucial win for Apple: China Mobile to carry the iPhone 5C

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A crucial win for Apple: China Mobile to carry the iPhone 5C

It looks like Apple's iPhone is coming to the world's largest mobile carrier. The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple and China Mobile have reached a deal to sell the iPhone 5C on China's most popular wireless network. The Journal cautions that while it doesn't know for certain whether the two companies have signed a formal agreement just yet, "the fact that Apple is planning to ship phones [to China Mobile] implies a deal has been struck."

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AT&T and T-Mobile announce Galaxy Note 3, Galaxy Gear launch details

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AT&T and T-Mobile announce Galaxy Note 3, Galaxy Gear launch details

Verizon Wireless was first to bat and now both AT&T and T-Mobile have announced their respective Galaxy Note 3 release dates, and T-Mobile has revealed launch details for the Galaxy Gear smartwatch as well. AT&T on Friday announced that it will begin taking preorders for the Galaxy Note 3 phablet immediately ahead of the device's launch set to take place "around" October 1st. Where the Galaxy Gear is concerned, the carrier would only say that Samsung's new smartwatch is coming soon. The Note 3 will cost $299.99 on contract at AT&T, or $35 per month for 20 months with its new AT&T Next scheme.

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Google launching Glass app store in 2014

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Google launching Glass app store in 2014

Until now, there had been no official word from Google on an app store for Glass, but The New York Times this past weekend briefly mentioned that Google was planning to launch a Glass app store in the future. The Glass app store got official, however, when Google went on to confirm the Times' report to Marketing Land on Tuesday. Google had already asked developers to begin preparing applications for Google Glass earlier this year, which made it clear that an announcement would be coming relatively soon. The company has not revealed any more details about the store, including whether or not it will be a part of Google Play or a separate store entirely.

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LIVE STREAM: Sony's IFA press conference is about to start - here's how to watch it live

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LIVE STREAM: Sony's IFA press conference is about to start - here's how to watch it live

The problem with press conferences at trade shows is that companies have to compete with every other big announcement set to be made. In Sony's case, that is exactly what's happening with its IFA press conference in Berlin, Germany on Wednesday. Sony reportedly plans to unveil its next-generation flagship Xperia Z1 Android phone and rumors suggest it has a couple of unique smartphone camera accessories in store as well, but Samsung's Galaxy Note III and Galaxy Gear smartwatch event later on Wednesday are capturing all of the buzz on tech blogs. Nevertheless, recently leaked official press images and specs suggest Sony has quite a flagship phone in store for us — Xperia Z1 highlights reportedly include a quad-core 2.2GHz processor, a 20.7-megapixel camera, a 3,000 mAh battery, 2GB of RAM and Android Jelly Bean. As for the rest of Sony's announcements, the firm's press conference is set to begin at 10:15 a.m. EDT, 7:15 a.m. PDT and live streaming video of all the action can be seen on Sony's website, which is linked below in our source section.

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Motorola reportedly cutting Moto X price to $99 in Q4

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Motorola reportedly cutting Moto X price to $99 in Q4

Good things may come to those who wait a little bit longer to buy the Moto X. The reliable @evleaks reports that Motorola plans to cut the on-contract price of its flagship smartphone to just $99 starting in the fourth quarter this year, which means that the Moto X's price could be cut in half as soon as October. Motorola has taken some criticism for the Moto X's $199 on-contract price tag because the device doesn't feature the same high-end specs that rival Android devices such as the Galaxy S4 and the HTC One have, although the company's production costs are higher than most smartphones because the device is assembled in the United States. @evleaks also says that Motorola will release three variations of the Moto X in the near future that have "wood"-style rear panels.

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Video: How Firefox OS will avoid the app discovery problems that plague iOS, Android

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Video: How Firefox OS will avoid the app discovery problems that plague iOS, Android

In order for Mozilla to stand a chance in the competitive mobile marketplace, differentiation is vital. Samsung turned down the Firefox OS earlier this year, but Mozilla is showing signs of life once again with a demonstration of the customizable Firefox Marketplace posted on Wednesday. The Firefox OS app store is designed around a concept called "the feed," which allows user to customize which apps appear on the front page by liking individual apps, groups of apps, or an entire page of search results by tapping on a heart. As a result, the app store learns your preferences and over time, the apps you see will start to be more in line with your preferences.

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EA accused of botching SimCity for Mac launch

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EA accused of botching SimCity for Mac launch

It may be time to wonder if some malevolent entity has placed a curse on the SimCity franchise. TUAW points out that EA forums have been flooded with complaints from Mac users who say that the recently released SimCity for Mac is unplayable. The biggest complaint seems to be that the game won't let users play in full-screen mode, although other gamers are having trouble just installing the game onto their MacBooks. A spokesperson for EA subsidiary Maxis acknowledged that "there are a small number of players who have encountered issues with SimCity for Mac" and that the company was working on fixes. EA was forced to apologize earlier this year when it botched the launch of SimCity for Windows after the company's always-on DRM requirements quickly overwhelmed its servers and rendered the game unplayable.

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