Samsung Galaxy S4 Accessories Hands-On Review

We’re still slowly trying to wrap our heads around last night’s Samsung Galaxy S4 reveal as there was just an insane amount of information dumped onto the public all at once. But Samsung did not only unveil the Galaxy S4 as they also showed off a number of accessories that will work with their newly announced smartphone, as well as some other Galaxy S devices.

S Health Scale

One of the first accessories for the Galaxy S4 we saw was Samsung’s scale, that would be used as a companion accessory to the S4′s S Health application. As you would expect, the scale can help you keep tabs on your weight loss or gain and input it into S Health via Bluetooth. We weren’t informed if the scale would do anything outside of simply weighing you and helping you record that number to your Galaxy S4, which we would hope it does more since that can pretty much be done manually with any scale you own.

Wireless Charging Pad



Wireless charging is slowly starting to become the preferred method of charging mobile devices in recent years, and Samsung is finally introducing its first wireless charging pad with the Galaxy S4. The Galaxy S4 is equipped with Qi wireless charging capabilities and will be able to charge itself by simply placing it atop the wireless charging pad. A Samsung representative made sure I was aware the S4 could charge itself regardless what angle it was placed on the pad by flipping it around in a number of directions. This would probably be most helpful to people who tend to empty out their pockets all at once, hoping their S4 will land on their wireless charging pad.

Samsung Wireless Gamepad

As we mentioned last night, Samsung’s wireless gamepad features dual analog sticks, a D-Pad, shoulder buttons, runs on 2-AAA batteries and connects to the Galaxy S4 via Bluetooth. The gamepad feels comfortable in the hands as it feels just right in the hands. Both analog sticks mimic the analog stick found on the Nintendo 3DS, which is less of a full-analog stick as it hugs the controller more. The controller’s D-Pad didn’t click as much as I would like in a D-Pad as it rolled around to input the directions I was having it perform. If I had to relate it to a console controller, it definitely reminded me of the Xbox 360’s D-Pad, which is a D-Pad I’ve despised for years because of its rolling nature.

The game that was demoed with the wireless gamepad was Sonic The Hedgehog 4: Episode II, which ran super smooth on the Galaxy S4. The delay between inputs on the gamepad to the actions performed in the game were nonexistent as every input resulted in an immediate response, which is crucial in a game like Sonic where responsiveness is crucial. And with the wireless gamepad promising to allow for up to 100 hours of gaming on just 2-AAA batteries, you can be sure you’ll be using it for a while before needing a fresh set of batteries.

Samsung Teams Up With HP To Offer Seamless Printing With Galaxy S4

Printing a document from your mobile device could be more of a hassle than its worth as the majority of us don’t even know what the first step would be in order to make such a magical operation occur. 3rd-party applications may work, but they often require dedicated applications to be used, which certainly doesn’t make the process seamless by any means. HP is looking to make the process as painless as possible now that it’s partnering up with Samsung’s Galaxy S4.

HP has teamed up with Samsung in order to deliver an easier and more efficient way of printing documents from your mobile device with a built-in mobile print technology inside of the Galaxy S4 that will make it possible to print documents to most HP inkjet and LaserJet network printers. Best of all, there won’t be any need for any dedicated applications to be downloaded. Galaxy S4 users will be able to print directly from the device’s email client, photo gallery and brewer applications as those applications will have the HP printing function built into them.

Resident Evil 6, Left 4 Dead 2 Crossing Over In Free Update This Spring

There aren’t many games that could make you jump while playing them, even if you’re playing during the middle of the day. Two games that could do this are Capcom’s Resident Evil series and Valve’s Left 4 Dead series. That’s why today’s news of both games crossing over makes complete sense. Sort of.

Resident Evil 6 PC players will be in for a special treat this spring as they’ll be able to play as the survivors from Left 4 Dead 2 in the game’s The Mercenaries No Mercy mode. Those won’t be the only characters from L4D2 to cross over to RE6 as the infected’s Witch and Mini Tank will also be adding their strength to the hordes of infected you’ll need to battle through.

On the other side of the spectrum, Left 4 Dead 2 will also be allowing Resident Evil 6 characters to crossover, namely three enemies from the game: Lepotitsa, Napad and Ogroman.

The RE6 crossover will take place on April 5, while Valve has marked the L4D2 crossover to occur in the “spring.” Best of all, the crossover will come as a completely free update for both games. So now you have no reason to not pick it up when they’re both released. That is, if you have both PC versions of RE6 and L4D2.

HTC President Bashes Samsung Galaxy S4 Event

If you didn’t watch last night’s Samsung Galaxy S4 unveiling in New York City, we can tell you the entire experience was rather…. interesting. Much of the event was spent highlighting a number of fictional scenarios where a specific S4 feature would be perfect in said scenario, and less about the actual device itself. While the entire experience was meant to entertain, it made HTC President Jason MacKenzie feeling pretty good, though actually feeling bad for Samsung.

“I went from laughing to actually feeling embarrassed at some of the acting,” said MacKenzie to CNET. “Watching the presentation, it looks like they invested a lot in marketing instead of innovation.”

As you would expect, MacKenzie believes the HTC One should be considered ahead of other Android smartphones, including the Galaxy S4, since many of the features Samsung highlighted in its device weren’t new, such as the S-translator.

Considering I was able to poke around with both devices, both the HTC One and the Samsung Galaxy S4 have their own pros and cons. Both devices will probably be geared towards a different Android demographic, but considering how massive the Galaxy S brand has become over the years, it’s safe to say more people would probably pick up a Galaxy S4 than an HTC One.

Cheap iPhone Rumored To Have 4-Inch Display, Multiple Color Options

The latest rumor for the cheaper iPhone, which itself has been a rumor for several months now, shines a light on the possibility of the device featuring a 4-inch display as well as a plastic case that’s available in an assortment of colors.

According to KGI Securities’ Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple is expected to deliver a cheaper iPhone with the same screen size as the current iPhone 5, which is a 4-inch display. In addition to that, the iPhone’s case will be a “super-thin plastic casing mixed with glass fiber.” How super thin? Kuo believes it’ll measure between 0.4 and 0.6 millimeters.

Kuo also believes multiple colors will be available for the cheap iPhone with Apple expected to offer anywhere between four and six color options, which of course includes the iPhone’s current white and black colors. Considering how long Apple has been offering multiple colors for its iPod brand of devices, we’re not sure why the company has yet to offer something for its iPhone brand.

Texting Could Make You Smarter

 I don’t know about you, but where I grew up, we were taught the Queen’s English, and abbreviations were very much shunned upon in our writing. The advent of text messaging on mobile phones and via IRC (yeah, there was no such thing as Skype back then, and to have an ICQ account was the “in thing”) helped evolve the English language, as short forms and the removal of vowels became the norm in an effort to be more concise in communications (as well as to save money by not passing the 160 character mark in a SMS). Most folks would lament that this makes modern day kids and adults less proficient at communication, but linguist John McWhorter begs to differ, touting that texting is actually a “linguistic miracle happening right under our noses.”

McWhorter said, “If humanity existed for 24 hours, writing only came around at 11:07 p.m.” In a nutshell, he figures out that being bidialectal (one in “texting mode” while the other is natural writing and conversation) would help you exercise different parts of your brain, and eventually, that might help increase your IQ. Who knows?

Google Play Books App Updated

 Google has recently updated their Play Books application, throwing in a bunch of new improvements of course. After all, what good is an update if everything else remained the same? Users who have given the new Google Play Books app on Android would most probably have noticed speed increases in addition to a new list view when it comes to your purchased digital tomes. Apart from that, you are also able to filter based on book type, which would be ideal if you have built up quite a reputable collection in order to narrow down a story in a long list.

Flipping through pages is now easy peasy, and is touted to be the smoothest on the platform, where it will make use of RenderScript and OpenGL in order to mimic the careful fold of a page. Thing is, the Google Play Books app still cannot import your own books, which is a bummer considering how iBooks for iOS has that feature. You can give the updated Google Play Books app a go here if you are interested.

Logitech Announces Layoffs In Order To Focus On Its Mobile Accessories

Fans of Logitech’s accessories will probably be bummed to hear the company has announced it plans to lay off 140 of its employees, or nearly 5 percent of its non-direct workforce. The layoffs are being implemented as part of an organizational alignment which the company hopes will help make the company become “a faster, more profitable company.”

Logitech plans to focus more on its mobile accessories such as the Ultrathin Keyboard Cover for iPad as its PC accessories business hasn’t been performing as well as the company would hope.

As a result of the realignment, Logitech expects to save between $16 to $18 million in its 2014 fiscal year.

The shift makes complete sense as we’re sure the introduction of worthwhile accessories for smartphones and tablets have made computer accessories less sought after. I mean, why would someone need to buy a Logitech webcam when their laptop, smartphone and tablet already has a camera? The same could be said for keyboards, although mice would probably be one of the only computer accessories that still sell well considering it’s nearly impossible to use a computer these days without a mouse.

Wacom HD Mobile Tablet In The Pipeline

 So, the dust over at Mobile World Congress, Barcelona, has settled, and we are done with the second big show of the year, and are looking forward to what CeBIT has to offer next. Since we have reverted to regular programming, so to speak, how about a little teaser from the likes of Wacom? The famous digitizer tablet manufacturer has decided to use Facebook as the avenue of choice, posting a teaser that claims they will deliver a mobile tablet to the masses later “this summer” that will sport a pressure-sensitive professional pen (no surprises there), alongside a multi-touch capability and an HD display.

Other than that, Wacom had remained mum on other more functional details, including the kind of operating system that the upcoming tablet will run on. Just what kind of tablet do you think Wacom has up their sleeves this time around? Will it be evolutionary in nature, or would it be revolutionary instead? I personally prefer the latter, as it will increase the curve of innovation more than gradual improvements.

A Million Times Spells Words With 288 Clocks

 The analog clock will never go out of vogue for sure, but to turn it into an art piece will definitely require a fair amount of creative juices as well as resourcefulness. Case in point, the A Million Times project is an art installation by Stockholm-based studio Humans since 1982. You can say that A Million Times was inspired by their previous work, the Clock Clock project that boasted of two dozen analog clocks which functioned as a single unit. This time around, the A Million Times project will see the use of 288 clocks, and all of them are controlled by custom software on an iPad.

All 288 clocks will move and ripple in order to create art that is different, in addition to telling the time and spell out words, if it needs be. The undertaking is definitely an enormous one, but there is nothing quite like sheer grit and determination to see things through. It is always interesting to see how the contrasting black hands on the white faces move in order to create numbers, spell out words and form shapes.

HTML5 Exploit Can Allow Websites To Fill Up Your Hard Drive

Browsing websites on the Internet could be a great experience, depending on what kind of content you’re searching for. Conducting research for a term paper may not be as rewarding as browsing Reddit, but the process is still the same: input a website address, get to said website. But a recently revealed HTML5 exploit shows some websites can fill your computer’s hard drive with junk data. A lot of junk data.

Web developer Feross Aboukhadijeh created FillDisk.com in order to demonstrate the exploit in HTML5. The Web Storage standard used in HTML5 allows any website to place large amounts of data on your computer’s drive, which could result in a lot of frustration as the user will probably continually wonder why their hard drives are completely out of disk space.

Web browsers have the ability to limit just how much space websites can dump onto your hard drive, with Mozilla Firefox being able to intelligently know how much a website should be loading onto the hard disk at a time. Other browsers, such as Google Chrome, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Apple Safari and Opera currently have no storage limits, although we hope now that this exploit has been publicized, the developers of these web browsers would look into patching their software so our computer hard disks can stay from being clogged up with junk data.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkScSMIr_00&feature=player_embedded

Wii Playing Doctors More Skillful In Surgery

 The next time you drop by the doctor’s for your case of tennis elbow that might require surgery to fix it, don’t be surprised to hear that your surgeon plays tennis as well – except that he does so on the Nintendo Wii, as it is possible that surgeons who actually play on the Nintendo Wii could end up with better performance in the operating room, at least according to a new study that hopes to find out ways to improve the training regimen for surgeons who perform laparoscopic procedures.

It seems that playing Nintendo Wii has had a positive effect on hand-eye coordination and spatial attention, where post-graduate residents were asked to play Wii games throughout their month long training in laparoscopy techniques. A control group did not have the Wii to “train” on, but those who spent time on the Wii was said to have shown “a significant improvement over the other group.”

Well, what do you think of such research? Does this mean as a doctor, you finally have a legitimate excuse to tell your wife that you have to get that Wii console after all these years, for work purposes so that you can “level up” in your career?

Facebook Showing Off News Feed Changes To Media Next Week

Facebook is once again calling all media to its offices on March 7 at 10 a.m. PT as they have plan to announce a redesign to the service’s News Feed, which many are speculating will be to Facebook’s mobile news feed. Invites have started to be sent out to media, which you can expect to hear the latest on what changes Facebook has made to its News Feed right here.

Earlier today, we reported on some new design changes Facebook is testing out in New Zealand that would change their dual-layer Timeline layout into a single-column layout with the left side of a person’s Facebook page dedicated to displaying information from their “About” page. We don’t believe next week’s event will have any relation to the company’s testing of a new Timelines profile, although we wouldn’t be surprised if it was mentioned.

Facebook also announced yesterday it purchased Microsoft’s Atlas ad business for an estimated $30 to $50 million. Maybe Facebook is planning on throwing more ads to its mobile News Feed, which we’re sure you’ve noticed have been completely out of hand lately.

Angry Birds Developer Releasing The Croods Mobile Game On iOS, Android

Rovio, who you should know by now as being the developer behind Angry Birds, announced today they’ll be teaming up with DreamWorks Animation to deliver a new mobile game for iOS and Android devices for the company’s upcoming film, The Croods, on March 14.

In addition to the mobile game, an exclusive animated short clip will also be published on March 14, just a week before The Croods is released in movie theaters on March 22.

Details in regards to how The Croods’ mobile game will play are scarce at the moment, but the game’s page on Rovio’s site shares the following information:

“Meet the world’s first modern family: The Croods! These cavemen are breaking out of the Stone Age with the use of a new r-evolutionary tool: the IDEA! The Croods will Hunt & Gather their way through spectacular new landscapes as they tame fantastic and never-seen-before creatures. Help The Croods survive the wild…and each other!”

Hunting? Gathering? Ideas? As long as we’re not flinging cavemen at trees in order for their fruit to drop, then we’ll give the game a try.