That’s all folks. BlackBerry has confirmed that it won’t be releasing a BlackBerry 10 software update for its 7 inch tablet. Despite the fact that the BlackBerry PlayBook already runs software that looks a lot like BB10, CEO Thorstein Heins says the company has’t been satisfied with the way the new operating system performs on the […]
June 2013
Lilbits (6-27-2013): Creeping toward Ubuntu 13.10
Ubuntu 13.10 isn’t due out until October, but one of the nice things about open source operating systems is that most of the development takes place in public. (I know, Ubuntu’s been getting some flak for working on skunkworks projects, but let’s ignore that for a moment). Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that […]
TrickDroid ROM lets you turn a standard HTC One into a Google Edition device
Google now sells versions of the HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4 which come with stock Android software (and no HTC Sense or Samsung TouchWiz features). But you don’t need to buy a phone straight from Google to get that experience. Independent developers have already started to take the software from those phones, tweak it […]
MintBox 2 coming soon: Tiny Linux Mint desktop PC with Core i5 for $599
CompuLab and Linux Mint are getting ready to launch a new line of tiny desktop computers designed to run the Linux Mint operating system. Last year they teamed up to launch a line of MintBox devices with AMD processors, but the new models will have faster chips, more storage, and a much longer warranty. The […]
Reports: SmartQ U7 tablet with built-in projector is a surprisingly decent video player
Smart Devices introduced a 7 inch Android tablet with a built-in projector last year, and now that the SmartQ U7 is available in the US, a handful of reviews are starting to pop up. While the basic tablet specs are nothing to write home about, GigaOm’s Kevin Tofel and TIME’s Jared Newman both seem moderately […]
Deals of the Day (6-27-2013)
One of my favorite tips for finding a cheap laptop is to wait until the manufacturer announces the next-generation model. Now that Lenovo’s IdeaPad U330 ultrabook with a Haswell processor is on the way, prices for the IdeaPad U310 with an Ivy Bridge chip are dropping fast. Right now you can pick up a new […]
Netflix moves toward HTML5 video for Windows 8.1, still nothing (official) for Linux
Netflix is taking a big step toward moving away from Microsoft Silverlight technology to stream videos to your web browser. The company has announced that you can now stream videos in HTML5… if you’re using Internet Explorer 11 on Windows 8.1. While HTML5 is a web standard used by most modern web browsers, Netflix relies […]
Foxconn smartwatch prototype syncs with an iPhone, shows Facebook, phone updates
As smartphones get bigger (and presumably more inconvenient to pull out of your pocket when you just want to check the time or weather), a growing number of companies seem to be betting that smartwatches are the future of mobile devices. While you can still use your phone for in-depth web surfing, messaging, or more, […]
CyanogenMod 10.1 for the HTC One XL returns, breathes new life into last year’s phone
Before the HTC One, there was the HTC One X (and XL, and S, and V… I think someone forgot to tell the company what “one” means). Launched a few months before the Google Nexus 4, last year’s crop of HTC smartphones featured good displays, speedy processors, and nice design, if you don’t mind a […]
Lilbits (6-26-2013): Chromebooks with Haswell chips on the way?
When the first Chromebooks hit the market, they were powered by Intel Atom chips designed to keep prices relatively low, battery life relatively long, and performance relatively poor. OK, that last bit might have been the unintended consequence of going with Atom rather than a goal. But Google recently showed that Chromebooks don’t have to […]