When it comes to Microsoft’s mobile future, everything is on the table, including the possibility of running Android apps to fill in the ‘app gap’. Windows 10 for phone is not even out the door yet, but intel on Microsoft continues to keep this strategy alive.

A new report from Neowin sheds more light on this program’s status and obstacles.

As promised a few weeks ago, Microsoft will offer Xbox gamer a total of six free games to download in April if they are paid subscrbers to Xbox Live Gold. The April Games with Gold lineup includes two free games for the Xbox One and four free games for the Xbox 360.

A new start up company, Olio Devices, has just launched pre-orders for a limited run of its first product, the Olio Model One.

It’s a very slick looking smartwatch that’s compatible with the iPhone, with prices beginning at $595.

Olio Devices is headed up by CEO Steve Jacobs, who previously worked in product design for companies like Apple, HP, Beats by Dre, Google, and Amazon. In terms of its construction, The Olio Model One sound like it has been made to both look good as well as handle a lot of abuse. The company says:

The Model One cases are made from 316L stainless steel, cold-forged 9 times for hardness, milled, then hand finished with a fine hairline texture and mirror-polished highlights. The front and rear crystals are created using our custom guilloché texturing process on ion-exchange glass, to result in best-in-class impact and scratch resistance.

Like many smartwatches, the Olio Model One has been designed to handle messages and notifications from smartphones, but Olio Designs says it can handle even more with a feature called Olio Assist. It states:

Olio Assist is a cloud-based personal assistant that is solely focused on saving you time. It develops an understanding of your preferences, considers your current context, and offers insightful suggestions that let you stay focused on what matters most in the moment.

The battery life of the Olio Model One is suppose to last up to two days. The company is currently taking reservations for a limited run of 500 stainless steel watches for the price of $595, along with 500 black steel watches priced at $745. The first units are supposed to ship to those customers sometime this summer.

Source: Olio Devices

I love my Macs and my iOS devices, but I can’t help but feel like things are getting out of control.

When I look at the gadgets that my family and I take for granted, I feel like I live in the future. Smart tablets, smart phones, smart watches. Despite all these smart devices, though, there’s a basic dysfunction that I find frustrating, and that many others find overwhelming.

2015 is certainly not the cyberpunk mega-city I briefly fantasized about for a time in the 80s, but it’s the future regardless. And every day I talk to people who are overwhelmed by it. Exhausted by it. And need a break from it.

That’s why I think Apple’s on the right track with iOS and OS X, and I’m really interested to see where they go next. Continuity features iOS 8 and Yosemite have profoundly changed my workflow. I effortlessly make calls from my Mac using my iPhone, and don’t think twice when switching from Safari on my iPhone to the same page and browser on my Mac.

Until it all stops working, that is. Then I have to get out and fiddle — like a mechanic working on a mid-century car under a shady tree in his yard — to get it all to function again.

We at iMore recently took a look at iOS 8, six months later, and each recognized that there are still some unfinished parts to the software we’ve been using for half a year now. It seems like we frequently get to March or April wondering why things still aren’t as stable or polished as we want them to be.

Apple and many other consumer electronics companies have produced a very attractive, very seductive view of the future, but the technology can still be finicky in actual use. All those edges aren’t polished smooth yet, but I have faith it will be; each progressive release of Yosemite and iOS 8 has shown movement in the that direction.

That said, I don’t know a lot of people who have the patience to fiddle with things until they work. They just want them to work, the first time, and every time. When they don’t, they get upset.

That’s how I feel about my dishwasher and my car, and that’s how others feel about their computers or their smartphones. These are the customers I help every day I work in my local computer store. They have neither the patience nor the time nor — in many cases — the technical acumen to diagnose and fix problems with their smartphone or their computer. “It has a virus” has become an all-purpose mantra; the 2015 equivalent to 1620’s “He must be possessed by the Devil.”

So I’m earnestly hoping that in 2015, Apple’s focus is on ratcheting down all the loose, rattling parts of iOS and OS X and tightening things up. I talked in November about my desire to see Apple focus on the fundamentals: A Snow Leopard-style release for OS X this year (Snowsemite, perhaps?) and likewise for iOS 9 would be welcome.

Sure, Apple, throw us a few new features, but let’s get this ship a bit more seaworthy than it feels right now.

Am I complaining about nothing? Or do you feel as I do that iOS 8 and Yosemite are just a bit looser than they really need to be? Let me know in the comments.

Samsung has been at its most successful when filling voids in Apple’s iPhone lineup: It offered Verizon support up until 2011, large screens up until 2014. What voids are left to fill now?

The Samsung Galaxy S6 and Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge have to answer that question, starting with today’s pre-order and carrying over to April 10’s release date and beyond. It’s an answer I’m truly interested in seeing, because right now I have no idea to whom I could recommend either of those phones.

This is where I pause and give a trigger warning to all my Android friends. Part of my covering the iPhone is covering competition to the iPhone: How other companies choose to counter-program Apple fascinates me as a marketer, and how well they do it directly affects me as a customer. The better the competition, the harder everyone has to work. Cool? Cool!

Four or five years ago, I could have recommended the Samsung Galaxy to people who wanted an iPhone but needed to use Verizon. Two years ago, I could have recommended a GS4 to someone who wanted an iPhone but really needed a bigger screen. Last year, I could have recommended a GS5 to someone who wanted an iPhone but felt they absolutely had to have a replaceable battery, SD card, and/or waterproofing. The GS6, however…

With its newest smartphone, Samsung has gone back to the GS series looking like an iPhone — from multiple angles — complete with analogs for Touch ID and Apple Pay. They also got rid of everything they spent the last year advertising as a differentiator: the aforementioned battery, SD card, and waterproofing. The price is also premium, so there’s no money to be saved here either.

• Where’s the Samsung-shaped dent in the universe?

That means the only person I can think of recommending a Galaxy S6 to is someone who wants an iPhone, but hates Apple and iOS. Even then, they’d have to really want an iPhone without Apple or iOS. If they just preferred Android, I’d be tempted to recommend something else, like an HTC model (if camera wasn’t a priority) or Motorola, or a Nexus (unless it’s too big), or one of the increasingly interesting Chinese manufacturers like Xiaomi.

I get the feeling Samsung is having the same problem: The company doesn’t know who their customer is any more than I do. They seem to be hoping that it’s people who want iPhones… but instead, those people are getting iPhones, and in record numbers to boot.

To be clear, this isn’t Samsung changing: Samsung actually changing would be staying a course for more than a year. It’s also not Samsung listening to their customers: How do you listen to customers when you don’t know who they are? This is Samsung going back to a strategy that worked in the past, but for reasons that no longer exist.

Here’s why that concerns me: There are very few companies in the world that have the resources to compete with Apple, and Samsung is probably the best-equipped of all of them. They’re a manufacturer — they’re often Apple’s manufacturer — and that means they don’t have to worry about having access to technologies or components. They’re also incredibly well financed: They have, effectively, limitless funds with which to compete. They can make anything.

Give that, Samsung should be pushing Apple. Hard. Instead of playing catch-up, Samsung should be leaping ahead and forcing Apple to play that game. Instead of an iPhone 6 design complete with Touch ID and Apple Pay, they should have features that terrify Apple and make all of us in the media wonder out loud how Apple will respond to them.

There’s nothing terrifying about the Galaxy S6, though. We’re not anticipating any of the S6’s new features moving to iPhone — they’re already all there. Instead, most everyone in the media is anticipating Apple’s incorporation of its own technologies like Force Touch and Taptics into its smartphone and tablet line, with nothing from Samsung even close to being on the radar.

That’s bad for me, and for anyone who wants competition. It’s bad for Apple, which can always benefit from tough competition. Whether or not it’s bad for Samsung, though, we’ll have to wait and see. I’m sure the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge will garner favorable reviews from mainstream outlets. It’s a beautifully tailored suit, but ultimately it strikes me as an empty one.

How it does in the market, and how much it moves the needle for Samsung, is going to be really interesting to see. I know I’ll be watching Android Central’s coverage closely! But I don’t think it will make much of a dent in Apple’s plans or marketing. And that’s not a good thing.

• Complete Samsung Galaxy S6 coverage
• Complete Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge coverage

The HP Stream 7 is no stranger to finding itself on the Microsoft deals table and the UK store has yet another for prospective buyers to consider. Right now if you buy a top of the line, Intel Core i7 Surface Pro 3, Microsoft UK will throw in a Stream 7 completely free of charge.

Have you been using BBM Meetings? If so, you’ll want to make sure you grab the latest updates to the device and desktop apps. BlackBerry has released new versions for most of the supported platforms including BlackBerry 10, Android, Windows and Mac and all the updates contain overall performance improvements and bug fixes that will ensure meetings run smooth.

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Yet another Star Wars games has been released for mobile devices, including Windows Phone and Windows 8.1. This time, the game is Star Wars Rebels: Recon Missions, based on the current animated TV series on Disney XD that tells the story of the early days of the Rebellion between Episode III and IV.

Yet another Star Wars game for the iPhone and iPad, Star Wars Rebels: Recon Missions, has just been released for free with in-app purchases.

The game, now available from iTunes, is based on the current animated TV series on Disney XD that tells the story of the early days of the Rebellion between Episode III and IV.

While the game is free to download and play, in-app purchases do unlock some extra content. Here’s what players can expect:

For Everyone:

• BATTLE against the Empire as Ezra Bridger, the street-smart hero, and dodge TIE fighters
• DRIVE an Imperial AT-MP and activate boosts to take down the Empire’s legion
• COLLECT Hope and gift to citizens to earn boosts
• CUSTOMIZE your secret Rebel Haven with rewards like living units, towers, building mods, and art
• DISCOVER secret rooms, Stormtrooper helmets, and play to earn rewards from Chopper

With In-App Purchases:

• UNLOCK 30 additional levels, with more Empire enemies, boosts, secret rooms, and rewards to expand your Rebel Haven
• BATTLE STAR WARS BOSSES including TIE bombers, AT-DPs, and TIE fighters
• WIELD a Lightsaber as Kanan Jarrus, the cowboy Jedi, and battle with your twin-blaster as Sabine Wren, the explosive artist

Be aware that Star Wars Rebels is a 433MB download, so you might want to wait until you get to a Wi-Fi connection before downloading it

• Free with IAP – Download now

Codemasters has today confirmed more details on the next instalment in its Formula 1 franchise, F1 2015. The good news is that the game will be out in June and we’ll be able to play it on both the PC and Xbox One this year.

This marks the very first time that the F1 series will have graced the Xbox One, with the 2014 edition missing the cut and only going to the ‘last-gen’ consoles. None of that for 2015 with the PS4 also supported.