Wednesday
May282014

Broadcom develops new chip capable of letting phones charge using any wireless charger

Wireless charging isn’t as ubiquitous as we’d want it to be, largely because of extremely fragmented standards. There are different companies that provide the technologies, including Qi, PMA, and Rezence, and there is no indication which one will last. Broadcom has found a solution for that with a new chip its introducing. The BCM59350 is designed to charge your devices using any of these existing wireless technologies. The chip also supports up to 7.5W of power (instead of the usual 5W), which means it can charge your devices faster, too.

Broadcom has kept mum about which manufacturers plan to use the chip and when it will be available out on the market. We can just hope it comes out real soon to help make charging an even more painless process.

Source: Engadget

Wednesday
May282014

Beats Music will still be available on Android and Windows Phone

Apple has a tendency to shut down services after they acquire a certain company. But they seem to be taking a different approach with their Beats acquisition. Tim Cook confirmed to the Financial Times that the Beats Music app will continue to be available for Android and Windows Phone users because “it’s all about the music.” We’re not sure how long this will last but for the meantime Beats Music users can still enjoy the service on their non-iOS devices.

Source: The Verge

Wednesday
May282014

LG introduces premium G3 accessories

Smartphones are generally the Swiss Army knives of the mobile device world but that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t need accessories to make them better. LG has introduced new accessories to complement its new G3 flagship device. One is the QuickCircle case, another is the Tone Infinim Bluetooth headset, and last is the Wireless Charger.

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Wednesday
May282014

It's official, Apple buys Beats for $3 billion, Iovine and Dr. Dre to join Apple

So, the premature celebration a few weeks ago was sort of merited. Apple has bought the Beats Music streaming service as well as Beats Electronics, which makes those insanely popular headphones. The deal cost Apple US $3 billion but aside from the established Beats brand and cache of hipness, they also get two of the most powerful players in the entertainment industry. Rap mogul and pioneer Dr. Dre as well as industry impresario Jimmy Iovine. 

“Music is such an important part of all of our lives and holds a special place within our hearts at Apple,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “That’s why we have kept investing in music and are bringing together these extraordinary teams so we can continue to create the most innovative music products and services in the world.” It will be interesting to see if the Beats brand will continue or if it will be turned into an Apple product. Hit jump for the full details of this blockbuster acquisition.

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