Kim Dotcom’s NSA-proof messaging, video chat service due in 2014

8:00 AM

It’s been months since Kim Dotcom triumphantly returned to the digital world with the launch of Mega and now the mercurial German-born Kiwi has set his sights on some even bigger ambitions for 2014. In a company blog post this week, Mega outlined its plans for new services next year that will include both encrypted messaging and encrypted video chat services aimed at helping users evade government intelligence agencies that cast a wide surveillance net across the entire Internet. Dotcom and Mega first started talking about launching encrypted email and messaging services this past summer after documents leaked by Edward Snowden revealed the National Security Agency’s vast data collection practices.

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Video: Apple fans around the world line up for the iPad Air

 

11:05 AM

Lines extend as far as the eye can see each time Apple debuts a new smartphone model, and the recent iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c launches were no exception. Apple’s new iPads are always a hot ticket as well when they debut, but they certainly don’t compare to new iPhones. Lines at Apple’s third-generation iPad launch were practically nonexistent though sales reached a new record, and lines were also comparatively scarce when Apple sold another 3 million combined fourth-generation iPads and iPad minis during their debut weekend. Lines this year are scarce in many regions just like they have been for the past couple of years, but there are still some major metropolitan areas where Apple fans can’t help but turn out to be among the first to own the company’s latest gadgets. And as always, Fortune’s Philip Elmer-DeWitt has compiled various videos from around the world. A few examples follow below and the rest can be seen in Elmer-Dewitt’s post, which is linked in our source section. Our favorite is the one from Amsterdam, where the crowd of tired Apple fans lined up down the block refused to cheer, clap or show any sort of emotion following Apple Store employees’ customary countdown.

Sydney:

Tokyo:

Amsterdam:

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Facebook reportedly puts off adding video ads until next year

 

8:30 PM

Good news for everyone who’s been dreading having video ads play when you log into Facebook: It seems Mark Zuckerberg and friends have decided to delay the debut of Facebook video ads until at least 2014. Unnamed sources tell AllThingsD that Facebook has told advertising partners that they shouldn’t expect any video ads to go up this year because Facebook is still trying to figure out how to make them work without annoying its user base. The good news is that Facebook has apparently decided that the autoplay ads won’t have any sound unless users decide to click on them and flip the sound on, AllThingsD reports.

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Video: Microsoft’s first Xbox One ad celebrates the glory of escapism

4:35 PM

With the console wars set to heat up again this holiday season, Microsoft has fired its opening advertising volley with a terrific Xbox One ad that celebrates the joys of escapism. The ad depicts several fictional characters, from a giant robot to a zombie to Mr. Spock, beckoning everyday people to leave their presumably boring lives for a bit of fun, either through playing games or watching their favorite movies. The ad deftly shows the new console’s voice activation capabilities and its ability to act as a set-top box for your television. The full ad follows below.

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Video: Microsoft ditches dancing, unveils a strong Surface 2 ad

 

4:35 PM

Microsoft’s marketing campaign for its original Surface was undoubtedly one of the worst for a major product launch in recent memory: Instead of showing people what the Surface was capable of doing, Microsoft literally had people break dancing while twirling the Surface up in the air. The good news is that the company seems to have learned its lessons and has produced a solid ad for its Surface 2 in which it explains why the Surface can do a lot more than an iPad. What makes the ad interesting is Microsoft’s framing — it first describes the Surface 2 as “not just a laptop” before also says that it’s “not just a tablet,” which indicates that the company is trying more to pitch the device as a super-portable laptop replacement more than a direct iPad rival. Microsoft’s full ad follows below.

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Video: BlackBerry unveils Z30 smartphone with 5-inch display and BlackBerry 10.2

 

7:55 AM

BlackBerry on Wednesday finally took the wraps off of the last new BlackBerry 10 phone expected to debut in 2013. BGR exclusively published the first ever photo of the BlackBerry Z30, then thought to be called the A10, so the handset shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. The fact that it’s yet another high-end phone from BlackBerry without an entry-level offering in sight is still a bit surprising though, even though we already knew that as well. Key BlackBerry Z30 specs include a 5-inch Super AMOLED display, a 1.7GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, microSDXC support, an 8-megapixel camera and the new BlackBerry 10.2 operating system. The Z30 will begin rolling out globally in mid-October and a U.S. launch will take place ahead of the holidays. Pricing has not yet been announced. A video showcasing the Z30 follows below along with the full press release.

BlackBerry Introduces the New BlackBerry Z30 Smartphone with 5? Display and BlackBerry 10.2 OS

Biggest, Fastest, Most Advanced BlackBerry Smartphone Lets You Take on Any Task and Always Be in Control

Waterloo, ON – BlackBerry® (NASDAQ: BBRY; TSX: BB) today introduced the new BlackBerry® Z30 smartphone, BlackBerry’s biggest, fastest and most advanced smartphone. Featuring BlackBerry® 10 OS version 10.2, the new all-touch BlackBerry Z30 smartphone comes with a beautiful 5? display and the largest battery yet on a BlackBerry smartphone. It is designed to keep you hyper connected, productive and always in control, and lets you share like you’re there and collaborate with ease.

“The new BlackBerry Z30 smartphone builds on the solid foundation and engaging user experience of the BlackBerry 10 platform with features like the powerful BlackBerry Hub, its exceptional touchscreen keyboard and industry leading browser,” said Carlo Chiarello, Executive Vice President for Products at BlackBerry. “The smartphone rounds out the BlackBerry 10 portfolio and is designed for people looking for a smartphone that excels at communications, messaging and productivity. Having apps like the full Documents To Go suite that comes preinstalled, together with its 5? touch display, the BlackBerry Z30 smartphone gives you a best in class productivity experience on the go.”

The new BlackBerry Z30 smartphone comes with BlackBerry 10 OS version 10.2, which includes hundreds of refinements plus many new features that help you be more productive. Among key features are:

• BlackBerry® Priority Hub – BlackBerry® Hub is the one place to manage all your conversations and notifications. The new BlackBerry Priority Hub can now learn what conversations and what people are important to you making it fast and easy to find the messages and information you need. It collects priority messages across your email, social networking and other accounts and gives you instant access to the conversations most important to you to help you stay organized and focused on the most important tasks.

• BBM™ Now in Any App and Message Previews Everywhere – BlackBerry 10 OS version 10.2 continues to refine the unique communications experience of the platform. You can now get a preview of any message as it arrives in whatever app you’re using, and immediately dismiss it or tap it to read the full content and respond. If a BBM message arrives, you can instantly reply to the message without even leaving the app you’re in. In addition, if your phone is locked, you can tap the various icons on the Lock Screen to see an instant preview of your most recent messages and notifications.

• 5? Super AMOLED Display – The BlackBerry Z30 smartphone features the latest in display technology with a 5? Super AMOLED display that makes whatever you’re running larger, clearer and more vivid. The smartphone also houses many top of the line components, including a 1.7 GHz processor with quadcore graphics that makes browsing web pages faster and games more detailed.

• Stereo Audio and BlackBerry® Natural Sound– The BlackBerry Z30 smartphone comes with stereo speakers that immerse you in your music, videos, apps and games, and makes conversations sound like you’re face-to-face. BlackBerry Natural Sound is new technology exclusive to BlackBerry and part of BlackBerry 10 OS version 10.2 that makes BBM Voice and BBM Video chats sound more natural and realistic. BlackBerry Natural Sound lets you hear nuances and variations in tone, making conversations sound like you’re in the same room.

• New Antenna Technology – The BlackBerry Z30 smartphone features BlackBerry’s new generation antenna technology that dynamically tunes reception to give you better connectivity in low signal areas. BlackBerry® Paratek Antenna can give you faster data transfers and fewer dropped calls in low signal areas, keeping you connected in more places.

• Longer Battery Life – The BlackBerry Z30 smartphone includes a 2880 mAh battery, the largest battery ever built into a BlackBerry smartphone. Combined with the battery enhancements in BlackBerry 10 OS version 10.2, you can get up to 25 hours of mixed use* to keep you moving from dawn ’til dawn.

The BlackBerry Z30 smartphone will roll out from select carriers and retailers around the world beginning next week in the UK and Middle East, and all other regions going into the holiday season. Specific pricing and availability will be announced by partners at the time of their respective launches. A variety of accessories including cases and chargers will also be available.

Subject to carrier approvals, BlackBerry 10 OS version 10.2 is expected to be available for the BlackBerry® Z10, BlackBerry® Q10 and BlackBerry® Q5 smartphones beginning mid-October.

For more information about the BlackBerry Z30 smartphone, please visit http://www.blackberry.com/blackberryz30. To view a video of the new smartphone, visithttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQVKISYQ31s and for “How To” videos, visit http://demos.blackberry.com/blackberry-z30/na/ca/gen/index.html.

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Video: iPhone 5s easily survives drop test – iPhone 5c, not so much

 

10:40 AM

The new iPhones have been out for less than a day but we already have our first drop test video. This particular video comes to us from the team at Android Authority, which bought both the iPhone 5s and 5c in Hong Kong early Friday morning and gave each device chest-high drop tests on a concrete sidewalk. The iPhone 5s fared remarkably well in the drop test and its aluminum body barely registered a scuffle when dropped on its back, side and front. The iPhone 5c, on the other hand, fared less well.

The plastic iPhone’s casing survived the back-end and side drops easily enough but its display cracked in multiple places when dropped flat on its face. The good news, however, is that the 5c still worked even with multiple cracks in its screen of course — though it’s advisable to get cracked screens repaired as quickly as possible despite the fact that you see people using iPhones with broken screens everywhere you go.

The full video follows below.

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Study: One-fifth of cell phone owners use video calling

9:00 PM

It wasn’t too long ago when video calling seemed like a superfluous feature that sounded cool but that was rarely used. But as the technology has improved and mobile data services have grown faster, video calling has slowly started to catch on. In fact, a study by Pew Internet released on Thursday found that 21% of cell phone owners “participate in a video call or video chat.” This is up from around 7% in 2011, when services such as FaceTime and Skype started to pick up steam on mobile devices. The study did not specify which phones were primarily used for video calling. The results of the study follow below.

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Video: Sony announces $100 PlayStation Vita TV for streaming video and gaming

4:25 PM

On Monday morning Sony held its pre-Tokyo Game Show press conference in Japan. Along with several relatively tame announcements, such as a slimmer Vita model and a belated PlayStation 4 release date for Japan — February 22nd, 2014 — Sony also gave us our first look at a brand new device: PlayStation Vita TV. Vita TV’s primary function is to allow gamers to play Vita games on their televisions. It has a slot for Vita cartridges and memory cards as well as HDMI and USB outputs. The miniature console will be compatible with up to two DualShock 3 controllers out of the box and will have access to streaming service such as Hulu, but future updates will give Vita TV DualShock 4 connectivity along with PS4 remote play. PS Vita TV will ship in Japan on November 14th for 9,954 yen ($100). Check out the new device in action in two videos below.

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Leaked video -- BBM for Android demoed for first time ever

5:15 PM

BlackBerry will certainly have an uphill battle when launches BBM for Android and iOS in the coming weeks; while the service might have been a smash hit a few years ago, it now faces intense competition from cross-platform messaging giants like WhatsApp and Line. Despite the fact that the messaging market is ridiculously crowded right now, there is still clearly demand for BBM on other platforms like Android, and now the world has its first look at the software thanks to a video posted by BlackBerryOS.com. There aren’t really any surprises but on the plus side, BlackBerry’s Android BBM interface certainly looks a lot nicer than several market leaders. Whether or not that will be enough to carry the service forward following its launch remains to be seen. The full leaked video is embedded below.

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Video: How Firefox OS will avoid the app discovery problems that plague iOS, Android

7:45 PM

In order for Mozilla to stand a chance in the competitive mobile marketplace, differentiation is vital. Samsung turned down the Firefox OS earlier this year, but Mozilla is showing signs of life once again with a demonstration of the customizable Firefox Marketplace posted on Wednesday. The Firefox OS app store is designed around a concept called “the feed,” which allows user to customize which apps appear on the front page by liking individual apps, groups of apps, or an entire page of search results by tapping on a heart. As a result, the app store learns your preferences and over time, the apps you see will start to be more in line with your preferences.

Mozilla admits that nothing is finalized yet as it continues to focus test the app store’s functionality. The company is trying to find a way to ensure that users aren’t simply receiving the same content every day, making app discovery outside one’s relevant interests more difficult. In fact, the post on its website even suggests that the feed might become an optional opt-in feature.

A video of the Firefox Marketplace in action follows below.

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