Google Nexus 9 blasts through AnTuTu with LTE on board

A couple of days after allowing us to catch a glimpse of its specs in CPU-Z, the yet to be announced Nexus 9 tablet showed up in the AnTuTu benchmark database. The HTC-made Android 5.0 tablet posted the impressive score of 45,923 in the popular benchmark.

 
Nexus 9 in AnTuTu (click to enlarge)

The data from AnTuTu confirms the Nexus 9 specs we already know. They include 64-bit Nvidia Tegra K1 SoC with top clock speed of 2.5GHz (it explains the higher benchmark score than the non-64bit version we tested in the Xiaomi Mi Pad 7.9).

The AnTuTu cameo of the Nexus 9 also reveals that the tablet will be available with LTE connectivity when official. The cellular connectivity was confirmed by the presence of an IMEI number on the device.

Rumored specs of the Nexus 9 include 8.9” display with 2048x1440 pixels, 16 or 32GB of built-on memory, 8MP camera, and built-in stereo speakers. The slate will likely debut at some point in Q3 this year.

Xiaomi launches Redmi 1S India sales with 40K units

Xiaomi is set to unleash the Redmi 1S on September 2 in India. The company is continuing its partnership with online retailer Flipkart and now we learn that there will be 40,000 units available from the first day.

That's not that many considering the staggering interest in Xiaomi phones in India.

The Redmi 1S will set users back INR 5,999 which translates to about $100. Xiaomi claims that some 100,000 users have already signed up through the registration form. Pre-orders for the Redmi 1S will open up midnight on September 1.

The Xiaomi Redmi 1S has a 4.7" 720p display, Snapdragon 400 with four 1.6GHz Cortex-A7 cores, Adreno 305 and 1GB of RAM, 8MP camera on the back and a 2,000mAh battery on the inside. The OS of choice is MIUI on top of Android 4.3 Jelly Bean.

International HTC One (M8) for Windows got Wi-Fi certified

The HTC One (M8) for Windows launched as a Verizon-exclusive but AT&T was quick to announce that this is a temporary exclusivity and put up a signup page. There's going to be an international version, which was certified with Euro LTE bands.

The international version has passed through the Wi-Fi certification body. The certification document doesn't reveal much – just the Wi-Fi spec, which is dual-band 802.11/a/b/g/n.

There's no word on how long Verizon's exclusivity will last but it's collecting all the necessary certifications. The Verizon version already got a price cut so we can expect the GSM model to launch straight at that price.

You can read our preview of the HTC One (M8) for Windows (the Verizon version) for more info on the device.

UEFA Champions League 2014/2015 Group Draw

Here is the group draw for UEFA Champions League 2014/2015 Below

Group A
Atletico Madrid
Juventus
Olympiacos
Malmo

Group B
Real Madrid
Basel
Liverpool
Ludogorets

Ricoh announces Pentax K-S1 DSLR

Ricoh has announced a new DSLR in their Pentax range of cameras. Called the K-S1, the new camera seems like a straightforward DSLR on paper, until you see the flashing strip of LED on the front and back.

The K-S1 has a 20 megapixel APS-C sensor with an ISO rating that goes up to 51,200. The camera also has built-in shake reduction, AA filter simulator, 100% field of view pentaprism viewfinder. 5.4fps burst rate, and 1/6000 shutter speed.

Olympus announces PEN E-PL7 mirrorless interchangeable lens camera

Olympus has announced the newest member of its PEN series of compact mirrorless interchangeable lens micro four thirds camera. The E-PL7 has some feature, many of which have been optimized for taking self portraits.

The E-PL7 has a 16.05 megapixel Live MOS sensor with TruePic VII processor. The camera features in-body 3-axis image stabilization, 81 auto focus points, 8fps burst mode (up to 20 RAW and unlimited JPEG images).

Lenovo X2 makes an appearance at TENAA ahead of IFA 2014

An unannounced upper mid-range Android smartphone from Lenovo has appeared on the Chinese TENAA website. Dubbed the X2, the smartphone has passed certification in the country and has revealed a decent sounding specs sheet in the process.

The Lenovo X2 will be available in two versions with model names X2-CU and X2-TO. The X2-CU is powered by an octa-core CPU, presumably residing in either a MediaTek or the company's in-house Kirin 920 chipset, while the X2-TO packs a 2.2GHz dual-core processor. This is the only difference between the two as both feature a 5" 1080p display, 2GB of RAM and 32GB of storage.

At the back, both Lenovo X2 versions feature a 13MP snapper with LED flash and a 5MP front-facing camera. Their dimensions are 140.2 x 68.6 x 7.27mm and the overall design is a bit reminiscent of Sony's Xperia Z-series of phones.

With the certification process done with, Lenovo should launch the Android 4.4 running phones soon enough. Nothing particular has been hinted by the manufacturer, but the IFA 2014 which is starting next week would be a convenient occassion.

Sony drops the Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact name yet again

Once again, Sony accidentally dropped the Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact name. This time around, the upcoming device’s moniker appeared on the official product page of Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet.

The Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact name popped up in the display section of its currently available full-sized sibling. This means that the new device will all but certainly feature similarly equipped IPS unit with Triluminos tech.

Sony Xperia Z3 tablet compact has been leaked on two occasions in the past. The device will make its debut during the manufacturer’s IFA press conference next week, on September 3.

CISCO OVERHAULS CCNP, ANNOUNCES OTHER NEW CERTS

Changes to CCNP and introduction of new certifications driven by changes in technology and evolving business objectives.

Once upon a time the internet was mostly a corridor to send data between computers and networks, with phones, tablets and other personal electronic devices entering the loop over time. With the internet increasingly playing a role, however, in connecting people to things and things to other things — televisions, vehicles, medical paraphernalia, heating and cooling systems — both businesses and IT professionals are racing to keep up.

The accelerating pace and accumulating challenges of connectivity are largely behind amajor announcement from Cisco Learning Network, which earlier today unveiled an overhaul of its industry-leading Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) credential. Not only that, but CLN, the certification and training arm of global networking giant Cisco, is introducing an additional six new certifications that will help train and deploy workers with the skills to meet emerging business demands.

TO CATCH A THIEF: CAREERS IN PENETRATION TESTING

Hackers live and work in the shadows, but you don't have to be a criminal to know — and use — the tools of an illicit trade.

Close your eyes for a moment and imagine a hacker. What picture appeared in your mind? If you’re like most people, it was probably a teenager, or maybe a 20-something, sitting in a messy room in the middle of the night surrounded by soda cans and empty pizza boxes. You probably didn’t think of a well-dressed professional sitting in a modern office sipping her morning coffee. The difference between these two individuals lies in their motivations and rewards. The teenager in his basement bedroom may be motivated by solving a difficult technical challenge and getting an ego boost, while the professional is motivated by career ambition and a lucrative paycheck.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF MICROSOFT OFFICE

Microsoft’s office productivity suite was launched 25 years ago this month, and went on to reshape business and the software industry.

This month, Microsoft is celebrating the 25^th anniversary of the debut of its immensely popular office productivity suite, Microsoft Office. The core programs that made up the first version of Office (Word, Excel and PowerPoint) existed as separate applications as far back as the early 1980s. It wasn’t until 1989, however, that Microsoft bundled these programs together into the product called Microsoft Office 1.0 (for Macintosh, that is; the first Windows version would follow a year later).

The first version of Microsoft Office, created for Apple's Mac in 1989. Microsoft would eventually drop the article "the" from its product name, similar to how The Pink Floyd eventually became Pink Floyd.

When MS Office for Windows was released in 1990, its chief competitors were both industry giants: WordPerfect (for word processing), and Lotus 1-2-3 (for spreadsheets). Both of these products already had dominant market positions when Microsoft Office was launched.

Microsoft Office quickly gained on the competition, however — businesses liked the idea of having their primary workstation apps come from a single software company, which hinted at greater integration between critical applications. More to the point, many of these businesses were using PCs powered by Microsoft Windows (running over MS-DOS), giving Microsoft Office even more perceived integration sparkle.

Photos: Tears As Nigerians Pay Tribute At Requiem Mass For Late Prof. Dora Akunyili In Abuja.

The body of late Dora Akunyili arrived at the  Holy Ghost Cathedral, Enugu, for Requiem High Mass today.  Mr. Akunyili said that on August 28, Dora’s body would leave Agulu to Nanka and to Madonna Catholic Church, Agulu,while interment would hold at the family’s Agulu country home.

May her soul rest in peace … amen!

Kinect for Xbox One will cost $150 when it arrives in October

Microsoft will launch a standalone Kinect for Xbox One in October. The device will be priced at $149.99 when available.

Microsoft will offer the Kinect with a free copy of the Dance Central Spotlight game, designed specifically for the device. It will be available as a digital download.

Earlier this year, Microsoft launched an Xbox One without Kinect for $399. The availability of a standalone Kinect will allow users who initially picked up a console without it to snag one up and enjoy the extra multimedia goodies it brings to the table.

Apple iWatch will reportedly debut alongside iPhone 6 on September 9

According to a report from re/code, we won’t have to wait long for the debut of the Apple iWatch. The hotly anticipated wearable device is tipped for launch alongside the iPhone 6 in less than two weeks, on September 9.

Unsurprisingly, the wearable device will likely be closely integrated with the built-in health-tracking suite in iOS 8. Another feature, likely to be available on the gadget is home automation via HomeKit.

LG G Watch R gets unveiled with round P-OLED display

After teasing it a couple of times, LG took the wraps off the decidedly premium G Watch R. The Android Wear device will be showcased at the company’s booth during the upcoming IFA convention in Berlin.

The main feature of the LG G Watch is its display. As the R letter in the name kindly suggests, the screen is a fully circular Plastic OLED display with a resolution of 320 x 320 pixels. The Korean manufacturer took a jab at Motorola’s Moto 360 by pointing that the screen of the G Watch utilizes 100% of its face (the screen of the competitor doesn’t).

Samsung Gear S smartwatch goes official with Tizen and 3G

Samsung officially announced the Gear S smartwatch with 3G connectivity on board. The Tizen-based wearable device will begin rolling out in markets around the globe starting in October.

       
Samsung Gear S official photos

Samsung Gear S features a 2” curved Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 480 x 360 pixels. The device is powered by a 1GHz dual-core CPU, coupled with 512MB of RAM.

Have y'all heard? Beyonce and Jay Z are expecting baby No.2

Of course I'm just being sarcastic. They are no longer divorcing, now they are expecting a baby? According to OK magazine, Jay Z and Beyonce are expecting their second baby. They even claim Jay Z has officially announced it to his staff. Really?

He's informed their entire entourage that they need to use relaxed voices, mellow lighting, and listen only to soft music, and he's said that all of the food Beyonce's eat should be organic. He's really doing his best to make sure that she's as comfortable and healthy as possible

Samuel Eto'o announces he's ending his international career

He wrote this on Twitter a few minutes ago...

‘Swing Copters’ for iOS and Android game review

After all the drama that followed the launch and success of Flappy Bird, one would have assumed the developer would never make another game. Yet here we are, with what is called Swing Copters.

Swing Copters is yet another masocore game from the evil mind of Dong Nguyen. Except this time it’s supposedly even more difficult. Because that’s what was lacking last time. More difficulty. Anyway, let’s see what this one feels like (other than painful).

WhatsApp now has 600 million monthly active users

Popular mobile messaging service WhatsApp crossed another major milestone recently. The company CEO announced on Twitter that WhatsApp is now service over 600 million monthly active users.

Google Slides is now available for Apple iPhone and iPad devices

Google released a standalone Slides application for Apple iOS devices. The app joined its already available Docs and Sheets relatives in the App Store.

As expected, Google Slides for iOS allows you to sync your spreadsheets with Android devices, as well as laptop or desktop computers. All you need is your Google ID.

Offline editing is available too. Your work progress will be saved to the cloud once you go back online. You can also edit and update already Microsoft PowerPoint files.

Fujifilm announces X30 premium compact camera

Fujifilm has announced the new X30 camera, the successor to the X20. The X30 retains the classic, retro camera style but brings with it many improvements.

The X30 has a 12 megapixel, 2/3″ X-Trans CMOS II sensor with an EXR Processor II. The lens is a fixed FUJINON 28-112mm, F2.0-2.8. On the back is a new 2.36M dot electronic OLED viewfinder with 0.005 second lag time and a tilting 3.0-inch 920k dot LCD.

Amazon acquired Twitch for $970 million

Amazon has announced that it will be acquiring gaming video broadcasting service Twitch for $970 million in cash. This move comes somewhat out of the blue, especially since there were pretty strong rumors of Google/YouTube acquiring Twitch a couple of months ago.

For those not aware, and I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t, Twitch is a popular online service for broadcasting gameplay video and for watching videos of other people playing games. Although it may not be as well known to the general public as something like YouTube or Vimeo, Twitch is extremely popular in the gaming community and is the fourth largest source of US traffic behind Netflix, Google and Apple.

Microsoft slashes Surface 2 and Surface 3 Pro prices

Microsoft has slashed the prices of its Surface 2 and Surface 3 tablets. The second-gen Surface 2 is getting ready to celebrate its first birthday and is now selling $100 off across its range for the occasion.

Currently, the 32GB Wi-Fi Surface 2 retails for $349, down from $449. The more versatile LTE model with 64GB storage costs $579. However, you might think twice before getting one when you see the Surface 3 new pricing.

Spotify gets free music streaming for Windows Phone

After being free for Android and iOS for quite some time, Spotify for Windows Phone is finally set to offer ad-supported streaming to users at no cost.

The app will bring in the functionality from its Android and iOS counterparts by letting users stream playlists and music in shuffle mode. Of course, Spotify users can still choose to subscribe to the premium service to avoid ads and sync online playlists.

You can also listen to playlists you’ve created or from people you know, as well as shuffle play from just a particular artist.

Spotify has also made additional improvements throughout the app, including better looking search results and the ability to browse favorite artists and related ones.

Get Spotify for Windows Phone 8 and 8.1 here.

Chrome 37 brings DirectWrite support on Windows

Google has released v37.0.2062.94 of the desktop version of Chrome for Windows, Mac, and Linux, and it brings with it a highly requested feature on Windows: DirectWrite support.

DirectWrite is a set of API from Microsoft for rendering text and glyphs on screen. It allows higher quality rendering of fonts that look noticeably better than the standard GDI or Graphics Device Interface method of rendering. This is something Firefox and Internet Explorer have had for years on Windows but Chrome is just getting now.

‘Swing Copters’ update makes the game playable

Last week when I reviewed Swing Copters, I complained about the inane difficulty level that not just made the game challenging but simply unplayable. It seems I wasn’t the only one though, as a lot of people uninstalled the game minutes after installing it due to the difficulty level.

That seems to have been a good enough wake up call for the developer, who has released an update that makes the game easier and actually playable.

Seagate announces the first 8TB 3.5″ HDD for enterprises

Following the launch of its 6TB hard drive, Seagate today announced its 8TB HDD. Unlike Western Digital,which uses helium for its high-capacity HDDs, Seagate has opted for an alternative method.

Sadly, the company is mum on the method in question. Seagate has been known to use a shingled magnetic recording technology to bump the areal density of its disk platters.

Updated Dropbox Pro plan ups the storage, improves security

Dropbox has revamped its Pro plan with more storage, improved link sharing and remote wipe. The Dropbox Pro plan remains at $10 a month (or $100 per year) but you get 1TB of storage for that.

Having a Pro account lets you share password-protected links. Sharing links is arguably one of the best features of Dropbox and now you won’t have to worry about the link getting in the wrong hands.

Archos unveils two Android phones, one WP handset

Archos put out one its traditional "here's what we'll announce" announcements. It details three phones, two tablets and additional gadgets that will be shown at IFA at the start of next month. Details for the first two Android phones are available in full, while the other devices are just outlined.

Archos 50b Platinum

The Archos 50b Platinum is a dual-SIM phone. It will have a 5" IPS screen with qHD resolution and run Android 4.4 KitKat. The phone is based on a MediaTek MT6582 chipset with 1.3GHz quad-core Cortex-A7, Mali-400MP2 GPU and just 512MB RAM.

  
Archos 50b Platinum

There will be an 8MP / 1080p main camera with LED flash and a 2MP front-facing camera. The 50b Platinum will come with an 8GB microSD card in addition to 4GB of built-in storage, a number of colorful cases and a 1,900mAh Li-Po battery.

LG Gx2 is G Vista for Asia, a 5.7" phablet with LTE-A, laser focus

The US-bound LG G Vista is going to Asia as the LG Gx2. It's a 5.7" phablet that replaces last year'sLG Gx but with less impressive specs. The screen is an IPS LCD with 720p resolution and the processor is a 1.2GHz quad-core (most likely a Cortex-A7) with 1.5GB RAM.

The phablet runs Android KitKat with LG's latest UX, Knock Codes and support for LG Quick Circle Cases. There's LTE-A connectivity and a 3,200mAh battery to power it all.

The camera on the LG Gx2 is an 8MP shooter with Laser focus, which uses IR light to achieve accurate focus quickly even in poor lighting conditions. There's also a 1.3MP front-facing camera.

The Gx2 measures 152.1 x 79.2 x 9.1mm and weighs 165g and comes in either White or Black. The phablet will launch on September 18 but pricing info will be revealed later on. This model will likely stay in Asia, there's no word on an international version.

Samsung Galaxy Mega 2 preview surfaces

The Samsung Galaxy Mega 2, the latest iteration in the company's Mega phablet lineup, has shown up across various Asian tech sites after being quietly launched in various Asian markets like Malaysia last week. A preview of the device has surfaced on Thai tech site DroidSans, giving us an in-depth look at what Samsung's latest phablet brings to the table.

Initial impressions indicate that the 6-inch 720p LTE device is a robust device thanks to quad-core 1.4GHz Exynos chip inside. The Mali-400MP GPU can handily manage the relatively low screen resolution, while the faux leather back panel is similar to the one introduced by the Note 3 last year.

New iPhone 6 images emerge, September 9 mentioned again

The Apple iPhone 6 rumors are starting to pour in frantically as the launch event nears. The latest one clings to the September 9 announcement date instead of the September 19 one and complements the statement with a list of the specs and a ton of pictures of the phone itself and the retail box.

By now we're tired of repeating this but here goes - take these with a grain of salt as they could be just a clever hoax or a dummy unit or just a pre-production hardware that has differences from the final units.

     
Alleged iPhone 6 images