| Ubuntu Edge breaks crowdfunding record, still sits far shy of ultimate goal Aug 16th 2013, 15:41, by Robert Nelson Canonical has recently shared some news in regards to the Ubuntu Edge Indiegogo campaign. It seems they have crossed the $10 million milestone, which means they now have the “world's biggest ever fixed crowdfunding campaign.” Or for those curious, this means the Ubuntu Edge smartphone has now raised more than the $10,266,845 that was raised by Pebble. 
The interesting thing here, while raising that amount brought success for the folks at Pebble, it probably doesn’t mean quite as much for the folks at Canonical. Simply put, despite breaking this record the Ubuntu Edge campaign is still sitting way short of the ultimate goal of $32 million. This Indiegogo is showing a total raised of $10,448,195 with 6 days remaining. It still remains to be seen whether they will reach the ultimate goal, however in the meantime there was some word on where those backers were coming from. The Canonical team has said the top contributing nations include the US and UK followed by Germany, Canada, Australia, Netherlands, Sweden, France, Switzerland and Norway. The campaign also made some adjustments to the pledge levels. Looking back and we saw the price for individual backers drop to $695. This came as a result of “major industry backing” and included the smartphone as well as a listing on the Ubuntu Edge Founders page and a one-year subscription to Last Pass Premium. That industry backing looks to have been Bloomberg who pledged $80,000 for the Enterprice 100 perk. While that pledge level may have been good for a larger business, it looks like an option for a smaller business has also been added. This latest is the Enterprise Starter Kit and includes 10 phones with access to an online workshop and 14 days of online support for $7,000. With that, it looks like the next few days will be a deciding factor in terms of whether the Ubuntu Edge will live or die. SOURCE: Ubuntu Edge Indiegogo |  | Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch unveil tipped for September 4 Aug 16th 2013, 15:04, by Robert Nelson This isn’t the first time we have heard talk of a smartwatch coming from Samsung. In fact, the watch has been tipped as the Galaxy Gear and once again rumors and leaks have us looking towards September 4th for an announcement. This latest round is arriving by way of Bloomberg who are reporting that Samsung will “introduce a wristwatch-like device named the Galaxy Gear next month.” 
These details have yet to be confirmed by Samsung and instead are coming by way of “people familiar with the matter.” According this report, Samsung will unveil the Galaxy Gear during an event on September 4th, which is a few days before IFA officially kicks off in Berlin. Further details point towards this wristwatch-like device being able to make calls, send and receive email and also surf the web. While some details have been rumored, it looks like there is still quite a bit to learn about the Galaxy Gear. The watch looks like it will be powered by Android, however unlike some of the other smartwatches already available, this one is looking like it will function independently of the smartphone. Or in other words, the Galaxy Gear should be able to get incoming alerts and even make calls without being paired to a smartphone in your pocket or bag. Despite some of the earlier rumors suggesting the Galaxy Gear would arrive sporting a flexible display — it doesn’t look like that will be the case. Details from this latest report include how Samsung is “continuing to work on developing a bendable screen” but that it will not be included on the Galaxy Gear smartwatch. Aside from the Galaxy Gear, Samsung is also expected to announce the Galaxy Note III during this same event. As far as the Galaxy Note III goes — there has been plenty of rumor and speculation. One of the more recent reports has the Note III arriving with a few processor options. These are expected to include the Exynos 5 Octa 8-core and the Snapdragon 800. Other still rumored specs point towards the handset having 3GB of RAM, a 5.68-inch 1080p display and running Android 4.3 Jelly Bean. With that, September 4th is looking like it will be a busy day in the mobile world. Not only do we expect goodies from Samsung, but also from Sony. | | Moto Maker hands-on with Moto X: the customization begins Aug 16th 2013, 14:52, by Chris Burns This week we’ve had the opportunity to create our own customized Motorola Moto X with the company’s first edition – pre-release edition, that is – of Moto Maker. This is Motorola’s customization engine for what may very well be a variety of devices in the future, but for now is centered on Moto X, a device which you can also see in full effect in our Moto X review. This process is simple – colors, letters, and specifications are but a click away, and the UI to back it all up is as simple as it is smooth. 
As we saw back at the launch of Moto X, the user – us, in this case – gets to choose first a Back Color for Moto X. There’s three categories: Cool, Neutral, and Warm, with 6, 5, and 7 choices in each category respectively. At the moment this is the limit – we’ll be seeing bits like Parking Cone Orange and textured Wood Grain by the end of the year. The same goes for the front color choices – there’s just black or white for now (though we’ve not heard word of additional choices incoming). There’s also an accent color which sits most prominently around the ring of the back-facing camera. It’s here that you’ll be able to bring a splash of life to your otherwise conservative gray back color choice. Or you can choose to clash like mad with a green on top of a purple – whatever you do so decide. 
A signature are is also active at the moment – with one whole heck of a lot of choices for engraving the back end of the device. Limits appear to include words like “Apple” and “Android”, yet “Nexus” works just fine. At the moment it would seem that brand names are limited, but then again, some work, some don’t. In all you’ve got 20 characters to run with.       The same is true of the optional boot screen greeting – you can customize the start screen in the software build set for your unique Moto X, but don’t try to put a brand or a swear word in there: you’ll be called out on it. You’ll be able to add your own wallpaper and have yourself signed in to Google+ and the rest of your Google services right out of the box with this interface as well. 
Essentially you’ll be getting a device that’s ready to jump right out of the mailbox into your pocket. This includes jumping with a pair of earbuds and a case, if those are the sort of accessories you’re all about too. SOL earbuds and Incase are Motorola’s chosen partners on this adventure. 
The ability to choose what size of internal storage you’d like to pack inside the Moto X is here too, be it 16 or 32GB, while at the moment we’re limited to 16GB for this test run. The whole time we’re selecting colors and accents here and there, we’re also able to see the device from all angles – quite a nice simple touch added with HTML on one end and Flash on the other – it’s all quite seamless. This service will be launching with the AT&T version of the smartphone, but chances are you’ll have your shot with any carrier in the near future. Stick around as we get this device in the mail to see how our creation turned out up close and personal!                         | | Verizon HTC One release date and price officially confirmed Aug 16th 2013, 14:24, by Robert Nelson Arriving as a nice follow-up to the recently posted HTC One teaser page, Verizon has confirmed the release date and pricing this morning. Similar to how we saw the handset confirmed in the first place, this latest HTC One news from Verizon has arrived by way of Twitter. In short, the HTC One will be available with Big Red on August 22nd. 
They will have it priced at $199.99 on a two-year agreement and available both online and in retail stores. The carrier has also re-shared the image of the One which just goes to further confirm the handset will not be overflowing with Verizon branding. As we saw earlier in the week, the front will be clean and the back will have the Verizon and 4G LTE logo sitting just above the Beats Audio logo. We suspect there are more than a few that are happy to have this news finally released, however this does bring a decision time. As we have learned, the HTC One will be arriving on August 22nd, but what that really means is that it will be arriving two days after the launch of the new line of DROID handsets. The Ultra, Maxx and Mini will be available on August 20th. Then again, while the dates for these devices have been revealed, there is one that is still missing. Verizon Wireless has yet to offer anything on the Moto X release. We recently learned that AT&T will have the Moto X available on August 23rd, however the latest Verizon Moto X news still points towards a rumored date of August 29th. That all being said, we have an earlier published review of the HTC One as well as a first impressions and unboxing post of the DROID Ultra. Bottom line here, as we had been expecting, August has shaped up to be a rather good month for those looking to upgrade their current device. Now if Verizon would confirm the Moto X release date so everyone could make a final decision. | |
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