Want a sleek Windows 10 phone? Go to Japan

Just last week, Microsoft began selling the Lumia 950, the first Windows 10 mobile phone, and though the software showed promise, the hardware itself was lacking in charm. Now, Japanese design firm NuAns is set to release the “Neo,” a sleek handset that should make for a nice alternative to the Lumia (if you’re okay to trade design for customizability). It sports an interchangeable upper and lower half that can be swapped out, with 64 possible combinations available. The phone is set to retail for around $350 with lower-end specs to match, including a 5-inch, 1,280 x 720 display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 processor and 16GB of storage (expandable via microSD slot). If this handset sounds like something you can’t live without, there’s one problem: it’s exclusive to Japan. So, unless you want to fly over to pick one up, it looks like you’ll have to get creative when custumozing a smartphone available in your market.

[Image credit: NuAns]

Via: Engadget Japan

Source: NuAns NEO

AT&T hiking price of unlimited data to $35 a month

AT&T customers who’ve managed to hold strong to their $30 unlimited data plans since the carrier ended that option back in 2010 are about to get a bit of a surprise. According to 9to5 Mac, AT&T is seeking to increase that $30 a month fee to $35 a month (CNBC and CNET have also corroborated this story). That isn’t much of a jump, but it is the first price increase of the grandfathered plan in years. Still, AT&T is hardly the only culprit here. T-Mobile has increased its unlimited data plan from $80 to $95 a month for new customers (older customers will still pay $80 a month), Sprint is now charging $70 a month for it and Verizon has upped its own grandfathered unlimited data plan by $20 a month. The unlimited data price increase for AT&T customers will go into effect in February of next year.

Source: 9to5 Mac

No, SoundCloud didn’t remove a silent track for violating copyright

On November 22nd, DJ Detweiler posted a screenshot of a message from SoundCloud that said his track, “John Cage – 4’33 (DJ DETWEILER REMIX),” had been removed because it appeared to contain copyrighted content. The joke here is that the original “4’33″” is completely silent and a remix would supposedly be just as soundless. Detweiler shared the image with the caption, “MADE A NEW REMIX TODAY, SOMEHOW THIS HAPPENED,” and he tagged a handful of music publications. The story was picked up online with headlines decrying SoundCloud’s over-reach of copyright law and the absurdity of content-protection algorithms.

However, Detweiler’s “remix” wasn’t silent at all, according to SoundCloud. “The upload referenced in the screenshot was not a track of silence and was taken down because it included Justin Bieber’s ‘What Do You Mean’ without the rightsholder’s permission,” the company says.