Word from the Wall Street Journal is that Apple is chatting with Yahoo on ways the latter's services can have a more prominent role in iPhones and iPads.
iOS phone owners already have Yahoo Finance and weather apps baked into their handsets, while some data, like sports stats, circulate in Siri, but the Journal's sources are talking about an even deeper integration.
One facet of the discussions reportedly centers around packing iDevices with expanded sports stats, info from Yahoo News, and other Yahoo web properties or possibly stuffing more Yahoo goods into Siri.
Google gone?
Increasing Yahoo's presence in iOS isn't too earth shattering, but apparently Yahoo has contemplated a loftier takeover, one that could get it into more mobile devices while also helping Apple put a longer arm between it and a certain Mountain View firm.
Though "still a long shot," Yahoo has reportedly pondered ways it could provide search results to replace Google in iOS.
There are a few hitches to this happening, not least of which is Yahoo's 10-year deal with Microsoft's Bing to power its search service.
What's more, Google has done its part to stay relevant - and in demand - on the competing platform by bringing a host of its apps to iOS, making unseating it and making Apple less antsy all the more unlikely.
One interesting wrinkle in the Journal's report is that the publication noted Eddy Cue, senior vice president of internet software and services at Apple, has joined other execs in saying they aren't willing to sacrifice the quality of Google search in the company's products.
However, Bloomberg reported late Tuesday that Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer and Cue have met to discuss a deeper relationship between the two firms, though those talks seemingly center around bringing more Yahoo services to iOS and not necessarily on search.
No deal is imminent and so far the discussions look like little more than hot air, but we'll keep you posted on any and all updates.
You can get on your sweater (as pictured) and pre-order a BBQ10 today in Canada
The BlackBerry Q10 release date in Canada is April 30, according to a leaked Rogers document that listed the QWERTY keyboard-equipped smartphone.
The alleged memo from Canada's top carrier, dripped on the aptly named Mobile Syrup, makes good on BlackBerry's promise to release the BlackBerry 10 phone "in April."
It also gives the company formerly known as RIM a second BB10 smartphone on the market following the all-touch BlackBerry Z10.
On cue, Rogers began taking BlackBerry Q10 pre-orders today, selling the phone for $199.99 with a three-year contract, and $649.99 to buy it off-contract. That's Canadian currency, by the way.
So far, Rogers is the only Canadian carrier to offer a white Q10 in addition to the black model.
More Q10 pre-orders in Canada
With the Rogers' BlackBerry Q10 marketing launch date pegged at April 30, other carriers have started taking pre-orders for their new and existing Canadian telecom customers.
Telus is selling the the phone for $199 with a three-year commitment, and $700 to buy it outright, according to an updated Mobile Syrup story.
This carrier advises that while BBQ10 devices will begin shipping on April 29, it may take two or three business days for delivery.
Bell will bring the BlackBerry Q10 to the market for roughly the same price, give or take a few Canadian pennies: $199.95 for three-year contract and $699.95 if paid in full.
Bell hasn't started pre-orders yet, but plans to do so on April 19.
The final carrier to announce prices today, Fido, is the only provider marketing the BBQ10 with a two-year contract, selling it for $350. An option to buy the phone is $650.
Canadian retailers join pre-order party
Best Buy-owned retailer Future Shop is accepting pre-orders with a $50 deposit, telling Mobile Syrup, "BlackBerry Q10 will be available at Bell, Rogers, Telus and Virgin Mobile Canada networks in the coming weeks."
Best Buy itself has the same $50 down payment deal in place, but it is also offering a 20 percent discount on accessories to BBQ10 pre-orderers.
BlackBerry should receive a nice reception in Canada, where the smartphone manufacturer is based and where BlackBerry faithful have been waiting for a QWERTY version of a BB10 phone for some time.
Google Play has a spam problem, but it could soon be revamped
Google hit a record high for removing rubbish apps from the Google Play store in February, deleting around 60,000 spam, low quality or otherwise crap apps.
That marks the biggest purge Google's digital app store has ever seen, according to TechCrunch.
Compared to Apple's iOS app store, the Google Play marketplace has always been a bit of a wasteland, without the strict vetting system that Apple has in place.
The cream Android apps have always tended to rise to the top of Google Play, but there was always that seedy underbelly of sour milk.
Not anymore?
TechCrunch's report came yesterday by way of "a company in the mobile app industry which has insight into changes like this." It's unclear why TechCrunch failed to name said company, though we've asked them for clarification.
The site also reported that Google's automated algorithms to detect spam apps have been steadily improving.
The Google Play Android app store is great for developers who don't want to bother with Apple's strict guidelines and sometimes bothersome approval process, but that same system also opens the door for less reputable app makers to flood the space with rotten creations.
The recent purge of garbage Android apps could be simply due to Google getting better at detecting them, or it could be part of a concentrated effort on Google's part to spruce the place up.
In fact, the change in policy could have something to do with rumors of the Google Play 4.0 redesign arriving alongside Android 5.0: Key Lime Pie, possibly by summer.
Either way, it seems the Google Play marketplace is only getting better.
No word on when you can resume those FaceTime chats
Users of Apple's iMessage and FaceTime applications for iOS and Mac OS X are experiencing downtime, the company has confirmed.
Following a host of complaints from users on social media, the company has updated its System Status website to confirm an issue with both apps, which it said is only affecting "some users"
A number of iMessage users are unable to send messages at all, while iPhone users have claimed that the usual Apple-to-Apple free messaging service is defaulting to regular text messages over cellular networks.
Some FaceTime users are reporting that they're currently unable to make calls, rendering the service useless.
No resolution yet
According to the company, which has not offered a reason for the outage, the issues began shortly around 8 p.m. GMT time on Tuesday (3 p.m. EDT).
At the time of writing, the issue has yet to be resolved.
TechRadar has asked Apple for an update and will provide more details when a response is forthcoming.
Users of Apple's iMessage and FaceTime applications for iOS and Mac OS X are experiencing downtime, the company has confirmed.
Following a host of complaints from users on social media, the company has updated its System Status website to confirm an issue with both apps, which it said is only affecting "some users"
Many iMessage users are unable to send messages at all, while iPhone users have claimed that the usual Apple-to-Apple free messaging service is defaulting to regular text messages over cellular networks.
Some FaceTime users are reporting that they're currently unable to make calls, rendering the service useless.
No resolution yet
According to the company, which has not offered a reason for the outage, the issues began shortly around 8pm UK time on Tuesday evening (3pm EST)
At the time of writing, a couple of hours later, the issue has yet to be resolved.
TechRadar has reached out to Apple for an update and will update this story when a response is forthcoming.
Apple made the screen bigger last time. Is an even bigger iPhone on the way?
When Apple unveiled the iPhone 5, the reaction was a bit muted: where previous phones were massive leaps forward, the iPhone 5 was a bit longer and a lot easier to scratch.
So what can we expect from the next iPhone, the iPhone 6 or 5S? Let's see what the crystal balls are saying.
One thing is for sure, with the release of such super handsets as the Samsung Galaxy S4, Sony Xperia Z and HTC One, the next iPhone will have to seriously up its game.
iPhone 6 and the iPhone 5S are two different phones
The rumour mill doesn't seem too sure whether the next iPhone is going to be the iPhone 5S or the iPhone 6. Given the iPhone's history - from the 3G onwards, there's always been a half-step S model before the next numbered iPhone - we'd bet on an iPhone 5S first and an iPhone 6 a few months later.
It's been suggested that there could even be three size variants of the new iPhone - check out these mocked up images by artist Peter Zigich. He calls the handsets iPhone 6 Mini, iPhone 6 & iPhone 6 XL.
Could we see both an iPhone 5S and iPhone 6 this year?
iPhone 6 release date
Some pundits predict a summer release for the iPhone 6, while Money Morning reckons that the iPhone 5's lack of NFC and Jumbotron display is because Apple's got a proper iPhone ready for a springtime release.
It's quite likely that Apple is moving to a two-phones-per-year upgrade cycle, but we'd bet on a springtime 5S model and a bigger, iPhone 6, update in the Autumn, probably September.
Even Digitimes reckons a springtime iPhone 6 is unlikely: it's predicting a summertime reveal for Apple's next generation phones, which again fits with a WWDC unveiling.
Apple may have a new roadmap, with new phones every spring and autumn
iPhone 6 cases
Multiple rumours say Apple's working on plastic cases for its next iPhone, mixing plastic and metal in such a way that "the internal metal parts [are] able to be seen from outside through special design."
It's unclear whether such cases would be for the iPhone 5S or iPhone 6, or if Apple is simply considering making cheaper iPhone 4s to sell when the iPhone 3GS reaches the end of its life.
Speaking in March 2013, a KGI analyst said it believed Apple would turn to manufacturer Pegatron to make up to 75 per cent of low cost iPhone products.
Pretty, yes, but also horrifically scratch-prone. Will your next iPhone have a plastic back?
The iPhone 6 will finally do NFC
That's what iDownloadblog reckons, quoting Jefferies analyst Peter Misek: it'll have a better battery too, he says.
The iPhone 6 will run iOS 7 and the iPhone 5S probably won't
Developers are seeing new iPhone model identifiers in their server logs: the device identifies itself as the iPhone 6,1 (the iPhone 5 is 5,1 or 5,2) running iOS 7, and its IP address is an Apple one. If the two-phones strategy is true, we'd expect Apple to unveil the next major revision of iOS at its WWDC conference in June, with it shipping on the iPhone 6 a few months later.
iPhone 6 storage
We've already seen a 128GB iPad, so why not a 128GB iPhone 6? Yes, it'll cost a fortune, but high-spending early adopters love this stuff.
iPhone 6 home button
According to Business Insider, of the many iPhone 6 prototypes Apple has made, one has a giant Retina+ IGZO display and a "new form factor with no home button. Gesture control is also possibly included" - more on that shortly. Mind you, it was mooted that Apple would dump the home button in time for iPhone 5, but it never happened.
iPhone 6 screen
Take this one with a pinch of salt, because China Times isn't always right: it reckons the codename iPhone Math, which may be a mistranslation of iPhone+, will have a 4.8-inch display. The same report suggests that Apple will release multiple handsets throughout the year over and above the iPhone 5S and 6, which seems a bit far-fetched to us.
Could the touch screen even be transparent? Emirates 24/7 sin't the first source we'd turn to for bone fide rumours about a new smartphone, but it claims that an ultra-sensitive transparent touchscreen will make it into iPhone 6. The site also believes the display will be made by Sharp, which wouldn't be so surprising. One thing's for sure - a potential wraparound screen is probably a pipedream.
You'll probably still be able to see the camera lens in the iPhone 6
iPhone 6 processor
Not a huge surprise, this one: the current processor is a dual-core A6, and the next one will be a quad-core A7. The big sell here is more power with better efficiency, which should help battery life.
Expect to see it in the 2013 iPad first, and expect to see an improved A6 processor, the A6X, in the iPhone 5S.
iPhone 6 camera
Apple's bought camera sensors from Sony before, and this year we're going to see a new, 13-megapixel sensor that takes up less room without compromising image quality.
iPhone 6 eye tracking
One thing seems certain - Apple can't ignore the massive movement towards eye-tracking tech from other vendors, especially Samsung. It seems a shoe-in that Apple will deliver some kind of motion tech within the next iPhone, probably from uMoove.
The new iPhone will have better 4G LTE
On its UK launch, just one UK network had 4G LTE: Everything Everywhere, which currently offers 4G on the 1800MHz band. In 2013, all the other big names will be coming on board, offering 4G in other frequency bands. International iPhones already work across different 4G bands to the UK, so you can expect the UK iPhone 6 (and possibly the iPhone 5S) to be more promiscuous than the iPhone 5.
iPhone 6 Wi-Fi may be 802.11ac
Apple likes to lead Wi-Fi standards adoption - its Airport really helped make Wi-Fi mainstream - and there's a good chance we'll see ultra-fast 802.11ac Wi-Fi in Apple kit this year. It's faster than Lighting, and not very frightening.
iPhone 6 wireless charging
Wireless charging still isn't mainstream. Could Apple help give it a push? CP Tech reports that Apple has filed a patent for efficient wireless charging, but then again Apple has filed patents for pretty much anything imaginable.
The tasty bit of this particular patent is that Apple's tech wouldn't just charge one device, but multiple ones.
It seems that the Blackberry Q10 is on its way to Canada on April 30th, landing on Rogers and perhaps a few other carriers the same day.
At the moment, Rogers has the only confirmed launch date for the keyboard-equipped BB10 handset. For those that need a reminder of what the Q10 brings to the table, the phone obviously uses its more traditional QWERTY design as its biggest call to fame. Beyond that, it has a dual-core 1.5GHz processor, 2GB RAM, a 3.1-inch AMOLED 720×720 pixel display, 16GB storage, microSD and both front and rear cameras. For the front you get a 2MP cam, the back gets an 8MP.
Unfortunately, no word on exactly how much the phone will set you back when it lands later this month. Still, if you love traditional Blackberry handsets but want the power of BB10, this could be the perfect phone for you?
Recently we reported on a rumor that suggested WhatsApp and Google in talks to sell the popular app to the Mountain View search giant for a cool $1 billion. Now Neeraj Arora, WhatsApp’s business development head, has come forward and said that such an acquisition isn’t happening after all.
The Google purchase rumor follows on the heels of a rumor last year that claimed Facebook was interested in buying WhatsApp, and considering the app’s success, it isn’t surprising to think that companies like Facebook and Google would be actively interested in making the purchase.
To give you some perspective on just how popular the app is, it is currently the number one app in Apple’s Store in several countries and has been downloaded more than 100 million times by Android users via Google Play. Still, at least for the moment, WhatsApp remains independent. What do you think about the idea of Google buying the app? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
With word that Google has been internally testing a new design for its Play Store app, we knew we'd soon see it surface – and the company has announced that it will be here today.
The Play group product manager, Michael Silski, posed on the Android blog that the 4.0 update would be rolled out starting today.
So what's new? A lot of focus on the visual side of things, with bigger pictures, and similarly themed content now grouped together. Checkout's been given a tweak, and you'll also get content recommendations as you scroll down the page, making life a bit easier.
Go Play
The update is available for any Android phone or tablet running Android 2.2 or better, and will bring it in line with the rest of its Android system.
"People around the world should see it over the next few weeks," Silski added, so we've no guarantee as to where it will hit first.
But so far there's been no sign of the update here at TechRadar. We expect to see it appear in the coming hours/days/weeks and will update as and when we do.
You could soon be able to buy music on an iPhone or iPad without needing an internet connection thanks to Apple's latest patent.
The new patent would see iTunes storing top recommended songs to your phone, tablet or computer, but keeping them locked until you click 'buy'.
To buy the songs, you'd need to have pre-paid credit on your account - if not, iTunes will tell you "Insufficient credit - please connect to the internet to purchase this song".
Another way to take your money
The number of songs stored on your device ready in case you feel like buying them will depend on both the amount of credits you have pre-paid for, and the amount of space you have available on your gadget.
Obviously you'd need an internet connection to your device at some point - be it a phone, tablet or computer - but you could feasibly buy new music when you're on a plane or underground.
We sort of remember a time when not needing an internet connection to buy music was the norm.
We think there might have been some kind of street in the middle of every town where you could go into a specific building and swap money for music without any kind of access to the information superhighway, but it's a bit hazy.
Who knows when - or if - Apple's latest invention will make it to our iTunes accounts - could it be a feature of the supposed iRadio streaming service that's supposedly set to launch soon?
If so, memo to Apple: we'd like to see the songs iTunes chooses to offline for you be based on your listening habits rather than being just generic chart-fodder as the images seem to show.
Still, it'll be good to know that if there's a nuclear winter and the internet goes down forever, you need never be without The Fray's chart-bothering You Found Me or the latest heartbroken missive from Taylor Swift.
“It’s a no-brainer” according to an ad by Virgin Mobile to promote their campaign that is aimed at T-Mobile prepaid customers. The Sprint-owned MVNO is offering $100 in unlimited-plan credit to customers willing to switch their phone number from T-Mobile to Virgin Mobile.
As you can see below, the numbers are certainly attractive. If you make a switch before May 31st you will save a total of $334 in two years and that includes the $100 credit. There is a $55 per month plan for unlimited data (3G speed after 2.5GB, while T-Mobile offers 2G after that limit), messaging and talk service.
That plan costs $5 less than what T-Mobile is currently asking for its monthly package, but don’t forget the speed difference between Virgin Mobile’s EV-DO / WiMAX service and T-Mobile’s speedier HSPA+ / LTE.
Check out the creepy ad below, completely if possible, and tell us what you think about it. And are you planning to make that switch?
After more leaks than a wicker canoe, the Huawei Ascend W1 was finally unveiled at CES 2013 as the Chinese firm's first Windows Phone 8 smartphone.
Aimed at the bottom end of the market, the Ascend W1 doesn't sport the premium polycarbonate unibody of the Nokia Lumia 920 or the sultry design of the HTC 8X, as it looks instead to rub shoulders with the Lumia 520 and various Android handsets such as the Ascend G330, Orange San Diego and ZTE Blade 3.
With its rivals in mind you won't be surprised when we tell you the Ascend W1 will set you back £119.99 on PAYG, or £13.50 per month on contract.
O2 currently has an exclusive deal to range the handset, although we're told Huawei is in talks with other carriers about selling the W1.
You can pick the Ascend W1 up in a fetching shade of Electric Blue or Electric Pink. It also comes in black (as our review model did) and white, but it's not clear if the dark hue will be making its way to shop floors.
The first thing you'll notice is instead of the glass fitting snugly into the body of the phone, on the Ascend W1 there's a noticeable ridge running all the way around the handset, giving the impression that it's just been slapped on top - reminiscent of the HTC One V.
There's a noticeable lip below the screen where the coloured plastic rear protrudes slightly, and it's not a look we're particularly keen on - although it does give you a flash of blue or pink from front on if you've chosen one of those colour options.
The Ascend W1 does feel a bit bezel-heavy especially below the display, with the three navigation keys housed in a sea of black coupled with the chassis peeking out below.
This adds extra length to the W1, but it's not too much hassle in terms of the size as the W1 measures a manageable 124.5 x 63.7mm.
At 120g the Ascend W1 is a good weight for a 4-inch smartphone, and while the handset measures 10.1mm in depth, the slightly curved polycarbonate back rests nicely in the hand and provides some grip.
The all-plastic construction is hardly a surprise considering the price, but the Ascend W1 does at least feel sturdy and capable of taking a few knocks.
There's an easy to reach power/lock key on the top of the handset, sitting alongside a headphone jack, while on the left there's an equally well positioned volume rocker switch.
On the right you'll find a dedicated camera key towards the base of the W1 - a requirement for any handset running the Windows Phone platform.
The microUSB slot on the bottom of the device is aligned to the right side instead of the traditional middle and while this makes absolutely no difference when it comes to using the Ascend W1, it did get us wondering why Huawei had positioned it to one side. Answers on a postcard, please.
Nip round the back and you can expect a dose of deja vu, as the design of the 5MP camera lens and single LED flash is almost identical to that of the HTC One X.
Towards the bottom of the Ascend W1 there's the Windows Phone logo sitting above an elongated speaker grill, which we found kicked out a decent volume - although audio quality wasn't the greatest.
A bonus here is the fact you can peel off the rear cover of the W1 to gain access to the 1,950mAh removable battery as well as the microSIM and microSD ports.
Slightly frustratingly, you need to remove the battery to access both of these slots, so you won't be able to quickly swap SD cards as you please.
With great power, comes a great number of lawsuits - and Google is certainly no stranger to finding itself in sticky litigation disputes.
Now European antitrust regulators have received a formal complaint about Google's Android for mobile, filed by Fairsearch Europe, a group that includes Microsoft, Nokia and Oracle.
According to the group, Android is giving Google anti-competitive and "deceptive" advantages, acting as a vehicle for the company to control consumer data and using its free model to give it a leg up.
Can't we just talk it out?
In the complaint, Thomas Vinje, a lawyer for the group, said:
"Google is using its Android mobile operating system as a 'Trojan horse' to deceive partners, monopolise the mobile marketplace, and control consumer data."
Big words, it seems. But does Fairsearch have a fighting chance here? The group's problem seems to be that, while Android is free, users must download a number of apps in order to "register" with Google.
This means things like YouTube and the Google Mail app get prime position. However, registration is not mandatory. But the fact that Android is free does make it difficult for rivals to compete.
"Failure to act will only embolden Google to repeat its desktop abuses of dominance as consumers increasingly turn to a mobile platform dominated by Google's Android operating system," Vinje added.
This also comes as Google is facing a separate EU investigation made by six countries, after a failure to make proposed alterations to its privacy policy.
After announcing that it would be doubling the speed and capacity of its 4G network, we were hoping EE would also give its data allowances a boost - but, alas, that's not the case.
Olaf Swantee, the CEO of EE admitted during a press briefing that "people are using more data on 4G than on 3G" (which is no big surprise), but defended the caps on its contracts revealing that on average heavy-use 4G customers get through 1.3GB to 1.4GB of data per month.
Swantee explained the network was "continuing to monitor feedback from customers on tariffs", but didn't suggest a change was in the works.
4G to get affordable?
EE has been criticised over its lofty tariffs which require users to shell out at least £31 per month to enjoy 4G - although that only gives you 500MB of data, while 1GB will set you back £41.
A reprieve may be on the horizon however, with Swantee confirming that "in the next couple of months you will start seeing devices hitting other price points in the market" - suggesting affordable options are on their way.
We already know that EE will be ranging the Facebook Home-toting HTC First, but it's not clear what other mid- and low-end devices will join the fray.
Numero Uno
The UK's first 4G network has set it's sights high as Tom Bennett, EE's director of network services, told TechRadar: "We want to be the benchmark for 4G services worldwide.
"Our rollout plan has been aggressive, but it's not stupid and we expect to have 8 per cent of our customers on 4G by the end of the year.
"That's impressive growth as on average 4G networks around the world have seen 10 per cent of customers switch over during the first 24 months, and we'll have 8 per cent in just 14."
EE is certainly taking the fight to the likes of O2, Three and Vodafone who won't be launching their rival LTE services until later this year, but we'll have to wait and see whether this early work pays off.
Speculation was rife yesterday that messaging app WhatsApp was reportedly in talks to sell itself to Google for a nice little (billion-dollar) sum.
But the company has now denied that this is the case - although it's not clear whether the fact is that talks have ended or that talks were never happening.
Neeraj Arora, WhatsApp's business development head, told AllThingsDigital that the company is in fact "not holding sales talks with Google", though declined to say more than that.
Is it or isn't it?
This could mean several things. Yes, it could all have been nonsense. Or, Google and WhatsApp may have been in talks at an earlier point, but after the app demanded more than was offered, as rumoured - said to be around $1bn (£653m/AUS$963m) - Google walked away.
Or, Arora is just throwing us all off the scent. Certainly, Google's interest in the app makes perfect sense right now.
Especially as we're hearing a lot about Google's Babel service (previously known as Babble) which will allegedly place its messaging, chat and VoIP services on the same platform.
If a deal were to take place with Google, we'd expect to see WhatsApp also sharing the same roof. And given the cross-platform success of WhatsApp, that could be a very good thing indeed.
Getting out into the great outdoors can be a fantastic stress reliever, but one big problem these days is that you generally have to leave your gadgets behind. But what if you could get instant power anywhere, with just water as fuel; no electrical socket, sun or wind required?
Enter the PowerTrekk hydrogen fuel cell charger.
What is a fuel cell?
The PowerTrekk is being marketed by myfc as the 'world's first portable fuel cell charger'. A fuel cell is an electrochemical device that turns chemical energy stored in a fuel, be it methanol, gas, petroleum, or any energy-rich compound, into electrical energy.
Of course, in this case we're talking about hydrogen, and the chemical energy locked up in water.
Hydrogen fuel cells essentially create water, reacting pure hydrogen gas with oxygen from the air to produce good old H2O. During the reaction, chemical energy from the formation of chemical bonds between one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms is released.
The fuel cell harnesses that energy to push ions from one electrode to another, a lot like a traditional battery, generating a flow of electrons and therefore electricity in the process. That electricity can then power whatever you happen to have hooked up to your fuel cell.
The problem is that hydrogen isn't the most stable of elements, and is highly combustible, so it's dangerous to store in a pure, gaseous form. The PowerTrekk, therefore, uses another chemical reaction first to generate the fuel we need, one with water and sodium silicide, which produces aqueous sodium silicate and the all-important pure hydrogen gas.
The hydrogen then passes safely up into the fuel cell to react with the oxygen in the air, producing water, electricity, and a little heat. So, in essence, the PowerTrekk turns water into hydrogen and then back into water again, releasing energy in the process.
Powering up your gadgets
So, we know how it works in theory, but how does it perform in practice? The PowerTrekk has three components: a tiny water reservoir; a puck which contains the sodium silicide, and the green plastic fuel cell top.
Simply fill the tiny tank up with water, slap a puck in the slot, and lockdown the fuel cell to pierce the puck and start the reaction generating electricity. It starts up pretty quickly, and can immediately start charging anything hooked up to the USB port.
Of course, when you punch a hole in the puck and start the chemical reaction, there's no way to turn it back off, so the PowerTrekk has a built-in lithium-ion cell too, which can be charged from the fuel cell when nothing's hooked up to the USB port.
The hybrid battery- fuel-cell system also has the added benefit of being able to augment the 2W- charge, provided purely by the 5.6 Watt hour fuel cell, up to the 2.5W normally demanded by your average smartphone. You can always charge the internal battery via microUSB, so you don't even need to initiate the fuel cell if you're just topping up your phone's battery, but where's the fun in that?
Using it is straightforward; charging LEDs on the side show you the state of the internal battery, and there's a button to initiate charging over the USB port. A green-glowing emblem of the fuel cell lights up on the side when the fuel cell is producing electricity, and flashes when the puck is nearing depletion. It will turn red and buzz if there's a problem, like the internal battery is fully charged and you haven't hooked anything up to the USB port.
The pucks are one-time use and disposable. During operation the fuel cell gives off a little heat, but nothing more than a smartphone that gets warm while playing a game. The biggest downside to the PowerTrekk is, however, that you have to keep the thing upright and clear of obstructions while in operation.
That means you can't just fire up the fuel cell and sling it in your bag to charge whatever you need. It also emits quite a pungent smell, and buried deep in the safety instructions it tells you that you must use it in a well-ventilated area. But, let's face it -- you're not going to be using this thing unless you're out in the great outdoors anyway.
Once the puck nears depletion, you have to wait for all the hydrogen to be released before you can take the fuel cell off and dispose of the puck, which in our testing took quite a while. The puck can also get quite hot so you have to wait for it to cool before chucking it in the trash. However, we were only given review samples with 'limited capacity', which probably means your mileage will be different.
Verdict
It's quite pricey, at around the $230/£150 mark for the fuel cell, with a pack of three pucks running you about $12/£8, but it's light, rugged, and will charge more or less anything that has a USB plug instantly with just the power of water, anywhere.
The PowerTrekk is a useful piece of kit if you happen to be journeying out into the wilderness anytime soon, and marks one of the first consumer-available steps towards a hydrogen-powered future.
How big is too big for a smartphone? The Galaxy Note 2 would like a word
New Galaxy Mega 5.8 and Galaxy Mega 6.3 leaks today revealed some specs for the rumored massive Samsung devices.
Whenever Samsung decides to add new members to its line of generally stellar Galaxy devices, new details always seem to fly around at lightspeed.
But according to the latest leaks, the 5.8-inch and 6.3-inch Galaxy Mega devices will not offer anything more impressive than what we're already seeing in other Galaxy hardware.
These specs are far from confirmed, but they seem reasonable enough to at least give some airtime.
Galaxy Mega specs
The Galaxy Mega 5.8 (codenamed GT-I9152) specs come from SamMobile, which claimed today to have received a specs sheet for the phablet.
According to the site, the Galaxy Mega 5.8 will be a dual SIM smartphone with Android 4.1 or 4.2: Jelly Bean and a 5.8-inch 960 x 540 display, 2- and 8-megapixel front and back cameras, 1.5GB of memory, a 2,600 mAh battery, and a 1.4GHz processor.
Those internals will reportedly be housed in a 164mm x 83.8mm x 9.7mm chassis, slightly bigger than the Galaxy Note 2 (keep in mind, the Mega 6.3 may have appeared first as what we thought was a 6.3-inch Galaxy Note 3).
The Galaxy Mega 6.3 specs, on the other hand, come by way of the Korean website Daum.
According to Unwired View, the site reported that the Galaxy Mega 6.3 will also feature 2- and 8-megapixel front and rear cameras, plus a dual-core Exynos processor, and will come initially in black and white.
Those specs are a little more sparse, but what can you expect from a leak?
Throw the book at them
And by book, we mean the dictionary, because Merriam-Webster is going to have to change its definition of "portable" if and when Samsung's Galaxy Mega phones surface.
Samsung already stretched the definition of the word with the massive Galaxy Note and Galaxy Note 2, but if the Galaxy Mega 6.3 really comes in at 6.3 inches, it's going to be in a whole different class.
Specifically, it will be in iPad mini and Nexus 7 territory, making it basically a tablet.
A 6.3-inch phone would put many pants pockets to the test (come on, no one wears cargo pants anymore), though at least "Mega" is a much more appealing moniker than "Galaxy Fonblet."
