Author: Stuff writer

Just when we thought having a choice between two iPhone 6 models was going to mean making a touch decision, XtremeGuard drops a hint that there might actually be more. Four, to be precise. The accessory maker posted a listing on its website for screen protectors for the upcoming new range of iPhones. And apparently there’s going to be 4.7in and 5.5in sizes for both the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6c. It might sound too good to be true, but you can’t dismiss the possibility out of hand. When Apple took the wraps off the iPhone 5s and the…

According to a report by The Information, Apple may launch a mobile wallet service alongside its next iPhone this autumn. The service would essentially turn the iPhone 6 (or whatever it’s called) into a portable payments platform: you could use it to pay for a taxi ride or a shopping trip through touch-to-pay technology. The report claims Apple is in discussions with “payments-industry companies” regarding the setup of the service and has told partners that a user’s financial credentials could be safely stored in a tamper-proof “secure element” on a phone or tablet. NFC: Now For Certain? Apple has apparently…

Razer has announced that its first wearable, the Nabu smartband, will integrate with messaging app WeChat. Revealed in January, the Nabu smartband blends together smartwatch functions like notifications, as well as fitness-tracking features like step counting. The latest news from the gaming accessory giant means that the Nabu will now play nice with WeChat – China’s answer to WhatsApp – which has over 400 million daily active users. WeChat and Razer are exploring how users could exchange contacts by, for example, shaking hands, or giving a high-five. Nabu owners will also be able to compare fitness stats with fellow WeChat…

When Microsoft killed the Android-powered Nokia X phone series last week, it vowed to fill the lower end of the market with cheap Windows Phones. The Lumia 530 looks like a solid first step in doing so. Looking like a smaller version of the Lumia 630—which itself seemed like a bigger, sleeker version of the Lumia 520—the 530 features Windows Phone 8.1 and will sell in single SIM and dual SIM versions. As a budget device, it has some definite caveats, of course. It’s sadly just a 3G device, and the 4in screen runs at 854 x 480. A quad-core,…

LG has announced that it’s releasing the first game developed exclusively for its windowed G3 QuickCircle case. Called Puppy Pop, it’s designed so that you can play it through the QuickCircle case’s round window. It’s a “match-three puzzle” game, where players accumulate points by drawing lines through three or more identical puppies, removing as many from the board as possible before time runs out. Scores can then be shared on your social network platform of choice, if you want to profoundly irritate everyone in your Friends list. And admit to playing a game called “Puppy Pop”. Users of the case…

The long-rumoured Nvidia Shield Tablet has finally been officially announced – and it’s something of a gaming powerhouse. With the Nvidia’s hotrod Tegra K1 processor at its heart, the company claims the Shield Tablet is the first device of its kind built primarily for gamers. There’s an 8in 1080p screen, up to 128GB of storage, beefy stereo speakers, a companion gamepad and – thanks to the K1’s 192 (yes, you read that right) GPU cores – enough graphical muscle to handle Unreal Engine 4 games. The tablet runs on Android, giving it access to all the apps and games on…

An Apple patent has revealed details of a smartwatch device dubbed ‘iTime’. The patent is the clearest indication yet that Apple’s working on a wearable device to rival the likes of the Moto 360 and Samsung Gear 2. Apple’s patent application – filed in 2011 and unearthed by Apple Insider – describes two variants of a “wrist-worn electronic device”. The first version resembles a sixth-generation iPod nano; a dockable module that can be clipped into a strap, turning it into a smartwatch. Interestingly, the illustrations of this device refer to it as “iTime” – though Apple has already filed for…

Renders of a Sony Xperia Z Ultra successor have leaked online, and it’s a spec fiend’s dream. Assuming it’s real, that is. The Xperia Z3X, as it will reportedly be called, has a gigantic 22MP sensor on its rear, at least according to the source on Chinese site digi-wo. Other specs include a 6.14in display (smaller than the Z Ultra’s 6.5in screen), along with a 2560 x 1152 resolution, which is a little shy of the LG G3’s 2560 x 1600 display. The Xperia Z3X is also said to be powered by Qualcomm’s 64-bit Snapdragon 810 processor, which will rest…

HTC likes to show off its phones, but a recent design video from the company may have revealed something else entirely. In the video, which was released on 9 July on HTC’s official YouTube channel, a square watch face can be seen; it looks likely that it’s HTC’s new smartwatch, which the company has claimed will launch this year. The watch appears at the 35 and 43 second marks of the video. The first shot shows the device sitting on a designer’s desk, and the second is of a render of the watch on the designer’s computer screen. [youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHvbLkFbYJM”]…

The latest tidbit unearthed in the slow (official) trickle of news and updates coming from the Star Wars: Episode VII film set is a rather significant one: a first look at the new version of the iconic X-Wing fighter. In the latest clip to promote the Star Wars-themed Force for Change initiative for UNICEF, Episode VII director J.J. Abrams pleads for viewers to support the charity and have a chance to win a visit to the film set, not to mention a private screening before its release in December 2015. And as the camera pulls back, we get our debut…