The SURFACE Reveal Case by Seidio is the ultimate low-profile iPhone 6 hard case; combining a super-slim design with a protective outer shell that reveals the apple logo on the back. The exterior features a custom soft coating that provides additional grip, too. Get yours in your favorite color today for only $17.95

Made from multiple thermoacrylics, this Lumia 1520 skin case is highly elastic and resistant to oils. Say goodbye to annoying fingerprints! The back features a matte finish with a glossy edging that enhances the grip around your device. Available in black or white today for only $4.95

YouTube (and the internet in general) can be quite the daunting place for parents to have their kids roaming free on. Google has released a new YouTube app, specifically developed for younger audiences. It’s a new portal for parents to have their children learn about various topics and discover exciting resources.

As one would imagine, the app is designed to make it easier for younger web surfers to check out the massive catalogue of videos tailored to children, whether they be hunting Pocoyo or the latest episode of Sesame Street’s The Furchester Hotel. There’s also no requirement to type and search as navigation sports big bold icons and images, allowing those who haven’t quite yet learned how to read and write to find new content.

Since it’s tailored for children, parents have access to a variety of settings to choose what their young ones can watch. Browse categories or search for videos in particular interest to your family. Then you have the smaller features like an app timer, sound settings, and more to really customise the experience for your child. It’s a neat concept from Google we’re sure many will appreciate.

The app is available on the App Store so go grab it.

• Free – Download Now

Source: Google

Gaming PC maker ORIGIN teased us at CES 2015 about their upcoming OMEGA line, but today it made it official. This new Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 PCs are designed to give hardcore PC gamers a way to play from their couch on a big screen living room television.

Fans of Marvel’s superheroes will soon have yet another mobile game to check out that pits their biggest characters against one another. Today, DeNA and Marvel Entertainment revealed that Marvel Mighty Heroes is coming soon to the iPhone and iPad. The free-to-play brawler will feature online co-op for up to four players in a game that has a cartoon-theme art style.

Marvel and DeNA stated:

Marvel Mighty Heroes lets players choose their favorite Marvel comic book characters, including Iron Man, Groot, Captain America, Star-Lord, Hulk, Thor, Black Widow and Spider-Man, and dozens of their allies and nemeses. Players will build a dream-team of Super Heroes and Super Villains, each utilizing different skills and special abilities to clobber, shoot, smash, and blast their way to victory. Multiplayer in Marvel Mighty Heroes will give players a chance to test their skills against competitors and earn a spot on the leaderboard or combine forces with friends to save the universe one battle at a time.

People who pre-register at the game’s official website can also vote to see if either Hulk or Rocket Raccoon will be a special free character for its launch. Mobile gamers can already check out the fighting game Marvel Contest of Champions, which launched in December via publisher Kabam. That same company will also release a Marvel-themed mobile role-playing game sometime in the fall of 2015.

Source: Marvel Mighty Heroes

Developer Silicon Benders has updated Sketchable, their drawing app for Windows 8.1, to version 2.20. The update overhauls several parts of the user interface, while also adding a number of useful new features, such as a three-fingered gesture for undo and redo.

If you’re used to using leaks, then chances are you’re fully aware of the ‘screen flickering’ issue that was present in early builds of BlackBerry 10.3.1 for the BlackBerry Passport. The bug, while random, would cause the screen to flicker off and on with no real pattern to it. When BlackBerry OS 10.3.1 started rolling out, that bug remained in the OS and since then, many folks have reported having the issue.

BlackBerry has spent the past few days looking into the matter, trying to pinpoint the exact cause and now according to BlackBerry Product Manager, Michael Clewley, BlackBerry may have a fix for it and they’re currently testing it to ensure it actually fixes the issue. While there’s no ETA for the fix to be sent out to customers, it’s at least in the works and hopefully will be resolved soon. In the meantime, he shared a suggested workaround as well.

Read More »

Apple Watch anticipation has reached a fever pitch, with folks speculating on costs, crown and band pairings, the Watch’s health sensors, and when the thing will actually reach our wrists.

As such, it’s no surprise the Watch has been on my brain, as well — specifically the Edition model. There’s been a lot of speculation on pricing and whether Apple will legitimately charge $10,000 (or more) for the gold models. To compete in the high-end watchmaker’s space, that kind of cost isn’t out of the question, but I do wonder: Can the company get away with selling a five-figure Apple Watch that’s obsolescent in two years?

The $10,000 Watch

I should preface this by saying I’ve never purchased, owned, or been given a piece of jewelry over $5000, and I don’t claim to speak for those who regularly seek out $15,000 watches and other jewelry items. But in my mind, when you eliminate the 1 percent of folks who have the capital to buy such a watch for everyday wear, you’re left with a very different subsection of customers: those who may not have the money to buy such an item every year, but save for a special present or to pass it down through the family.

Maybe the Edition isn’t designed to serve that market: At its core, it is technology, and as a society, we’ve become accustomed to regifting or recycling iPhone models every year or two for the next greatest thing. Maybe the people buying a five-figure Apple Watch are of a tier where they don’t mind dropping that kind of cash every 18 months. Maybe the old Apple Watches get thrown into a bin in a safe in the back of the Apple Store and get shipped off somewhere to be reduced to component parts, the gold melted and reformed for Apple Watch 2.0.

Maybe I’m naive. But the whole concept just rubs me the wrong way.

The cost-per-year of Apple Watch ownership

I understand the justification of replacing an iPhone or a Mac when they’ve become too slow or outdated for their task — at most, I’ve spent $2000-$3000 on such a device, and its cost-per-year averages out to something where I don’t feel wasteful in replacing the machine.

Watches are different. They’re jewelry. They’re as much a fashion accessory as they are a device. And watches can have a long lifespan, if treated properly. Watches have people trained in the art of repair, keeping someone’s $20,000 timepiece from becoming a useless paperweight.

Once Apple jumps into that price point and that industry, should it expect that users will pay $10,000 again 18-30 months down the line to replace their watch? Does the advent of digital mean we’re expected to replace our heirlooms now, rather than pass them down? I really don’t know. Maybe the Edition is truly just meant for those who look at $5000 cost-per-year of ownership as no big deal on their bank account. Companies like Vertu have made a living off those customers; why shouldn’t Apple?

But I’d like to believe Apple is better than that. If they truly want to command the watch industry, they might take another page from watch-makers: repairability.

A replaceable core

I doubt Apple will ever let you take an Edition to a third party repair shop, but if they offered Apple Store-replaceable cores in their Edition watches, that could potentially be a way around the upgrade process. When Apple Watch 2.0 comes out, instead of paying another $10,000 for a brand-new watch, you pay $500-$1000 at an Apple Store, and a Watch Genius replaces the S1 chip with an S2 chip.

For the lower-end Sport and Apple Watch models, it makes sense to upgrade to the newest model and recycle the old. For the Edition, an “update” price point allows you to keep your beautiful piece of jewelry without sacrificing speed or technology.

Unfortunately, I don’t know how practical such an idea actually is: Replacing RAM on a computer is one thing; replacing its entire chip is another thing entirely, especially one “encapsulated in resin” during the building process. And then there’s the question of screen resolution upgrades and additional sensors: It’s a bit hard to “update” those with a quick back-of-house fix. A trade-in program with heavy discounts isn’t out of the question, either, though you’d essentially be getting a new watch in lieu of updating your old one.

It’s a hard nut to crack. Apple has built their entire industry on devices that — while they last longer than their competition — are designed to eventually be succeeded by better devices. In contrast, I sense technology plays little role in convincing customers to buy a new Rolex for their collection: If you’re picking up a second Rolex 18 months after your first, chances are it’s for fashion reasons, not new and special timekeeping features, and you’re in the vast minority of consumers when doing so.

What to do?

Apple could solely go after the high-end fashion market, say “These customers have no qualms about paying $15,000 every two years,” and be done with it. Or the company could invest in some sort of long-term support for its Edition customers. And even after writing all this, I’m still no closer to figuring out which one the company will pick. The former model favors Apple’s traditional business model, just at a much higher income bracket. The latter feels more like an Apple move, to support its customers and give them the best experience possible.

I suppose we’ll see in April just what the company decides. Until then, let’s chat about it — is Apple going to abandon Edition customers in version 2.0 and expect them to upgrade like everyone else? Or do you think they might come up with some sort of update program?