Upgrading to iOS 7 gave iPhone users a fresh coat of paint on Apple's stale user interface, but it also gave the new, much more unwelcome "white screen of death" glitch.
Now the company is said to be in the process of fixing this random soft reboot problem, four months after the mobile operating system launched worldwide.
"We have a fix in an upcoming software update for a bug that can occasionally cause a home screen crash," Apple spokesperson Trudy Muller told Mashable.
This is the same reset glitch that sometimes goes by the name "black screen of death." In these cases, the phone reboot color is simply matching the black or newer space gray iPhone 5S bezel color.
It's the same obnoxious bug through and through.
iOS 7.1 around the corner
This erratic iPhone behavior is likely to be rolled into iOS 7.1, though Apple didn't go as far as to confirm this timing.
That may be because the iOS 7.1 release date for the public consumption is currently unknown. Right now, the fourth beta is in the hands (or handsets) of developers for testing purposes.
The beta hints that the long-awaited iOS in the Car feature will jumpstart at the same time this first major iOS 7 update rolls out.
Other minor bug fixes and improvements are possible for iOS 7.1, with a more robust feature list being predicted for iOS 8.
It seems like Facebook is trying to be a good samaritan ... to advertisers.
The social media giant announced it will begin testing a mobile ad network with a small group of advertisers and app developers.
Similar experiments have been done in the past without any solid results, but this time Facebook will have a guiding hand in the matter by "working directly with a small number of advertisers and publishers, rather than an outside ad-serving platform."
The app companies in question have not been mentioned.
So what?
While the thought of "more ads" is enough to punch your computer screen or throw your phone at the wall, it seems like none of this will directly affect your Facebook news feed.
For now, it looks like the advertisers and the third party apps will simply be benefitting from Facebook's "rich targeting," with the social media site reaping the revenue.
But it may only be a matter of time until all the outside testing begins to trickle into Facebook's own mobile app to rake in more dough.
It's Samsung's predictive text system that's reportedly the problem
Samsung and Apple are about to go back to court, and Apple is already coming out ahead in pre-trial proceedings.
Judge Lucy Koh, who's been dealing with these two companies' bickering for years, has granted Apple two victories against Samsung as the March trial approaches.
One has to do with an autocorrect patent held by Apple; Judge Koh determined that Samsung's Android smartphones like the Galaxy Nexus and the Galaxy Note, which use a system that guesses which words users are typing and displays its guesses in real time, do infringe on it.
Samsung will now need to prove that Apple's patent is invalid in order to win in March.
Autocorrect this
The other blow relates to a Samsung patent for syncing media between devices, which Judge Koh ruled to be invalid.
She reportedly agreed with Apple's arguments that the Samsung-owned patent added too little to systems that existed before it to be considered valid.
That means Samsung will have only four claims left to fight over when the March trial arrives.
Alternatively, Apple and Samsung might find a solution when they duke it out privately in February, though considering how pointless their settlement talks have been in the past it's more likely this case will go to trial in March.
One of a kind
It's also come to light recently that Apple has been insisting that any settlement it reaches with Samsung has to include an anti-cloning provision.
What this means is that Samsung would be prevented from "copying" Apple products in the future.
Considering this years-long battle is at least partially based on Samsung's assertion that it doesn't copy Apple products, we're guessing that hasn't gone over well with the Korean company.
Check out TechRadar's review of the latest and greatest Apple phone, the iPhone 5S.
Mobile network Three is no longer permitted to use the term 3.9G to describe its 'Superfast' DC-HSDPA data speeds, following a complaint from rival network EE.
EE had taken umbrage with the use of 3.9G in Three's advertising and marketing materials as it gave the impression that the speeds were 'very close' to those offered on a 4G LTE network and took its discontent to the Advertising Standards Agency.
Three claimed its use of 3.9G was to inform potential customers that its speeds were one step down from 4G and even demonstrated instances where DC-HSPDA exceeded speeds offered through 4G
However, the ASA were having none, upheld EE's claim that Three's claim was misleading and swung a vicious ban hammer in Three's direction, prohibiting the use of 3.9G from now on.
Close but no cigar
The ASA said" "Three provided information on the differences between 3G DC-HSDPA and 4G LTE technology. [It] said it showed that DC-HSDPA was extremely close to 4G LTE in performance, and in some cases outperformed it. [It] said the 1, 2, 3 and 4 mobile phone generation technologies were not based on technical standards, but merely described the evolutionary nature of the user experience."
"[It] said that although they had not intended the term '3.9G' as a technical one, [it] believed it was not misleading because [its] DC-HSDPA network was very close in terms of capability to 4G LTE."
Presumably stood behind the ASA poking its tongue out at Three, an EE spokesperson said: "We're pleased the ASA agrees that this ad was misleading."
BlackBerry has maintained its position with the US government as the go-to choice for secure smartphones, thanks to a new deal with the Defence Department that sent shares skyrocketing.
The Defence Information Systems Agency (DISA) will be adding a whopping 80,000 BlackBerry phones to a new management network at the end of January, which will handle unclassified documents and employ a military app store. In contrast, only 1,800 Google Android and Apple iOS devices will be used.
BlackBerry, formerly known as Research In Motion, has traditionally been the company of choice for government contracts, largely due to its improved security such as email encryption, and a suite of enterprise and productivity features. Even US President Barack Obama is known for his use of a BlackBerry.
In recent years, however, Google and Apple have gained ground, threatening the very survival of BlackBerry, which has failed to attract customers in the booming consumer market. Shares at the company fell by a staggering 37 per cent last year, making it vital that it secures more lucrative government and enterprise deals.
The big business recovery
BlackBerry's established position with big businesses has given it a lifeline that it desperately needs to hang on to. It has attempted to expand beyond its comfort zone with the keyboardless Z10 and Z30, but its new CEO John Chen has promised to return the company to its roots by bringing more devices with physical keyboards to the market.
Bloomberg cited a report by Citron Research released earlier this month, which highlighted BlackBerry as a good investment with "a healthy balance sheet" and "ample liquidity." It said that shares should be worth $15 (£9, AU$17), just over one and a half times the current value, so there is clearly still room for growth.
The new government deal has given BlackBerry a major boost, with stock prices rising by as much as 12 per cent. Shares at BlackBerry were up by $0.85 (£0.51, AU$0.96) to $9.93 (£6, AU$11.20), an increase of 9.36 per cent, at the time of writing.
The battery technology that currently sits behind the screens of all our screen heavy smartphones and tablets may be in line for a revolution following research at Virginia Tech University.
With the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S5 round the corner, complete with its supposed 2900mAh battery that will charge in under 2 hours, it is clear that batteries are being heavily looked at.
Virginia Tech's breakthrough comes from using energies that occur in natural sugars, rather than using chemicals like Lithium that graces modern batteries.
Sugar based batteries are ideal for use in mobile phones as, unlike other bio-energies including Hydrogen and Methanol, the sugar solutions are non-explosive.
It's only logical
According to Professor Y H Percival Zhang "it's only logical that we try to harness this natural power in an environmentally friendly way to produce a battery."
This natural power is harnessed from starch, found in foodstuffs such as the humble potato, broken down "slowly step-by-step by using an enzyme cascade" said Zhang.
By using this process, significant qualities of electrons are released to generate a current.
Sugar solutions have been experimented with before, but the breakthrough has come with the research team claiming the new batteries produce significantly more energy, as well as storing up to 10 times more energy than their chemical based counterparts
The report submitted to Nature Communications suggests that these new batteries could be being used to power our modern gadgets within three years, so we could be set to see the technology debut in the Samsung Galaxy S8 or Apple iPhone 7S.
If the New Year has inspired you to get fighting fit, then you've hit the right page. Technology has the tools to help you get in the shape of your life but it's not easy to know which product is right for your goals.
We've enlisted the help of T3.com Editor-in-chief and ultra runner Kieran Alger to put together a four-part guide to help you uncover everything you need to go from couch slouch to marathon finisher.
If you're reading this we're going to assume three things. Number one, you've conquered the couch to 5k. Number two: you've successfully trotted out a 10k. Three: there's now a nagging question in your new runner's brain – could I go the distance and do a half or full marathon? The answer you're looking for is YES YOU CAN. You just need a little help.
In the final part of our four-step guide to getting marathon fit with your smartphone, follow our essential tips and we'll show you how you can use your phone to go the full 26.2.
Whether you're looking to walk your first half marathon or run your twentieth full 26.2 miles, WalkJogRun is a fantastic training app created by coach and RunnersWorld.com expert Jenny Hadfield.
It'll tell you exactly how far you need to run, walk or jog each to day to train to reach your marathon goal. There are 23 carefully crafted training plans to choose from, covering everything from the absolute beginner to an advanced runner trying to hit a new personal best.
We've mentioned the miCoach app before, but the level of detail you get makes it worthy of a second appearance. The app lets you plug in your goal, including distance, date and time, asks for details - like how many times you'd like to train - and your current level of fitness and then fires out your own personalised marathon training plan.
You can view it all on your phone and the app uses your GPS tracking to make sure you're doing each session at the right pace and intensity, delivering coaching advice direct to your headphones.
Different types of training sessions are essential for improving your running to marathon standard. You'll need a good mix of long slow miles, hills, intervals, tempo runs and speed work.
Putting in all those hours on the road, during the cold winter months, is the thing most people find hardest. It can be a lonely place out there at 7pm on a Monday night but it doesn't have to be dull. These apps will help you keep the training fresh and add a healthy dose of fun into the mix.
Fartlek is a form of training whose name comes from Sweden - the literal translation is 'speed play'. It involves breaking your run down into segments of varying length and then running them at different speeds.
A 100m fast pace followed by 50m recovery, then a 200m medium pace, and 300m recovery. You can do this on your own but Zombies Run recreates this for you by using your smartphone's GPS to create the feeling that you're being chased by hordes of the flesh hungry undead. Your job is to avoid them.
We recommended Strava Run as a good running app in part two and one of its strongest features makes it even more effective as a marathon training tool. The app works like any other GPS run-tracking app but lets you choose from a range of runs other people have completed and then go out to beat their time.
You can use this new form of competition as motivation for your tempo training, where you'll need to run a selected distance at a specific pace or heart rate.
It sounds obvious to say, but training and running a marathon is a whole different ball game to trotting out a 10k. You can't underestimate that. It means looking at what you eat to fuel your training, help you recover and actually power you on race day.
Myfitnesspal
A lot of people take up running to lose weight and see marathon training as the perfect motivation to drop a few pounds. However, it's vital that you're getting the right fuel for your training.
Myfitnesspal is a fantastic app that lets you track your daily intake, with detailed information on the main nutrient groups so you can ensure you're getting enough carbs, vitamins and all the vital fats. You can connect it with running apps like Endomondo to help make sure your calorie intake is at the right level, while the barcode scanner makes it a doddle to record almost any food.
Free, iOS and Android
Nom Nom Paleo
If you can get to the start line with more lean muscle mass and less of the blubbery stuff you'll run a better marathon. One popular eating plan for endurance runners is the Paleo diet that focuses on protein and getting your carbs from healthy vegetables rather than the gluten and wheat-filled pasta and bread.
The Nom Nom Paleo app gives you hundreds of fitness friendly Paleo recipes, taking the fuss out of fuelling your body with plenty to the right stuff.
£3.99, iOS
4. Motivation to make your journey social
We all know those people, the ones who constantly brag about their workouts and fitness. It's time to become one of them. Sharing your running progress on social networks is proven to keep you on the straight and narrow with your training.
Once your network of friends, family, colleagues and exes know you've signed up for a marathon, there's nowhere to hide. Failure is not an option. Plus you'll get some welcome pep talks along the way.
Blogging your journey is also a great way to stay motivated. It lets you track all the hard work you're putting in, helps you access advice from fellow marathoners and it brings the whole challenge to life. There are a few simple tools to make it easy to document your journey to marathon greatness.
Look up the Runblrs on Tumblr
Tumblr is a brilliantly easy blogging tool. Choose a URl, select from hundreds of free instant templates and with a few clicks you've got your own super-social website where you can add words, photos, video, quotes and links.
There's also a huge existing community you can tap into on #runblr or #fitblr, with thousands of runners and fitness types already sharing tips, keeping each other motivated and celebrating successes. It's like having a team of virtual running coaches, supporters and nutritionists.
Instagram
You're going to be putting in a lot of miles in a loads of new locations. En route you'll see things that amaze and confuse you in equal measure. Stopping to snap them not only offers a little breather from the run, but it's brilliant Instagram fodder.
You'll be able to show those lazy people still in bed at 6am on a Sunday morning what a beautiful sunrise over your local park looks like. Oh, and that cat with its head stuck in a bucket.
Essential Reading: Motivational e-reads to help you through the hard times
Running with the Kenyans
If you want to run faster, further and with better form, then why not learn from the undisputed world leaders? That's what runner and author, Adharanand Finn, decided to do.
This book tells his story as he heads to Kenyan running Mecca Iten for a slightly terrifying, intensive, six month training session with some of the world's fastest long distance athletes. Great tales, magical insights and the odd running secret are revealed.
What I talk about when I talk about running
Japanese novelist Haurki Murakami has been a lifelong runner. It's so much a part of his life that he has built the daily miles into his creative process, intrinsically linked to his ability to write.
This gripping and inspiring read follows this concept as Murakami discusses what it means to be a runner and push yourself beyond your limits.
Updated: A Sony spokesperson has told TechRadar that there are currently "no plans to make this available outside of Japan". Sorry folks.
Original story below...
Just as we'd finally come to terms with the idea of phablets, Sony's mixing things up even more by launching a "tablet" version of its large Xperia Z Ultra.
What does that mean? Simply, it's just a Wi-Fi version of the handset, but Sony is acknowledging this version of the super-sized phone as a tablet in the press release before you start the "is it or isn't it?" arguments.
The Wi-Fi version appeared in a leak on Sony's website earlier in the week but the announcement is now official, however the handset is only available in Japan for the time being.
Pha... tabulous?
The specs of the handset are exactly the same - 6.4-inch 1080p display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor and 2GB of RAM. It's still as waterproof as ever, too.
But coming in at around $499, £300, AU$560 it's a fair bit dearer than rivals such as the Nexus 7.
We asked Sony whether we might see this handset break out of Japan but it declined to comment. It wouldn't surprise us if we see this one closer to home in the near future, and hopefully with a more attractive price tag.
Is it finally time to abandon buttons? (credit: Credit: USPTO)
As the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S5 edges closer, we have been treated to leaks of what the UI may look like, yet what the handset will look like has remained a mystery.. until now.
A patent granted by the USPTO contains designs for a buttonless smartphone, first filed on July 20 2012, signalling a major design change for the Korean manufacturer.
Samsung handsets have traditionally incorporated a home button and soft keys below the screen, and while it's been said that Samsung is keen to move away from the design of the Galaxy S4 as many (including ourselves) saw it as too similar to the Galaxy S3 - the patent suggest the overall design won't be radically different.
What about retina?
More interestingly the patent doesn't seem to show any sign of the oft rumoured retina scanner, although the design eludes to the inclusion of a fingerprint scanner.
An unexplained rectangle appears in the back of the handset, conveniently sitting in an ideal spot to scan your digits as you hold the device - perhaps it's the volume rocker, but that appears to be in its standard location on the side of the device.
We'll have to wait and see just how much of this design actually makes it to the final Galaxy S5, so keep your eyes peeled here for the latest news.
It seems that Motorola isn't resting on its budget based laurels, as it looks to crush the Moto G in the price stakes.
Talking to TrustedReviews, Motorola CEO Dennis Woodside questioned a need for higher price points saying "why can't these devices be $50? There's no reason that can't happen so we're going to push that."
This would give the potential device a price tag of about £30 (AU$56), a saving of approximately 75% over Motorola's cheaper handset, leaving it to compete against the more expensive feature phones and super budget smartphones.
The Moto G was expensive?
Unfortunately, we might not see the baby Moto G reach our shores as it may be targeted at emerging markets, with Woodside commenting "in much of the world $179 is a lot of money so there's a big market at a price point of less than $179".
Details as to when we might be able to see this super cheap handset, or just what could be inside are also missing, but needless to say we're not expecting a massive HD display or a bundle of cores.
Woodside may also have let slip a few more details regarding further customisation and Motorola's Project Ara modular smartphone, saying "Today you have colours and beginning of materials but you don't have screen size and you don't have functionality and we're going to bring all that in in the next year or so."
