Line buys Microsoft’s MixRadio app

Japanese messaging app Line buys Microsoft’s MixRadio app, which Microsoft gained from its acquisition of Nokia. The music streaming app was already meant to be spun off with Microsoft supposedly focusing on “productivity.” Now, we have a face or company willing to integrate the music service into its fold. MixRadio’s service will continue to function as third-party app on Lumia phones. It will still provide personalized music to the Windows Phone platform but with the Line acquisition, you can expect it to make its way to Android, iOS, BlackBerry, etc.

Click to read more ...

Muse Art app for iOS and Android has 100k paintings by thousands of artists

Making full use of those gorgeous and pixel dense smartphone displays to enjoy some of the most inspiring works of art, Muse Art features 100,000 paintings by over 2,000 artists ranging from old masters to contemporary visual artists.

Turning your phone into a travelling exhibit, Muse Art allows anyone to discover new artists, learn about their work and find out where paintings are currently being shown. Users can save their favorite paintings, build their own Private Gallery, and share it to Facebook, Twitter and more. Check it out here.

Review: Kyocera DuraForce tough smartphone

Text and photos by Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

This is the Bear Grylls of smartphones and while its middling specs are more than enough for most applications, build quality and design really make this the only tough Android smartphone worth considering for serious outdoor and construction applications.

The tough-smarphone market isn't all that big. Aside from great looking devices that happen to be dust and water resistant like Sony's Xperia Z line, we also get tough variants of existing smartphones like the recently reviewed Samsung Galaxy S5 Active. These devices pale in comparison with smartphones designed from the ground up for use in extreme conditions. Kyocera's DuraForce isn't a slim phone pretending to be a tough device, it is clearly a bruiser that's built to survive.

Click to read more ...

Eggtronic adds Qi wireless charging to HUB IT

Here’s one more reason to consider getting a HUB IT Sync & Charge Station: Qi wireless charging support. Eggtronic introduced a Qi wireless charger cartridge for Hub IT. It joins other different cartridges such as those for micro USB devices, Apple lightning, Galaxy Tab, and the like. The Qi wireless charging cartridge will work with all devices that support the Qi standard. You can even add more Qi wireless cartridges to recharge more devices at the same time.

HUB IT delivers a sleek and compact power source package with a 2.5A powerful output per port at a speed of up to 5Gbps. This high-speed seven-port desktop syncing and charging station has three USB 3.0 SuperSpeed ports and four retractable cartridge connectors, which can be changed and upgraded with the latest connection format. The HUB IT cartridge connectors are available on Amazon.