Smartphone makers are chasing new features like bigger screens, fingerprint readers, and motion sensors, but a consistent item I hear on ordinary people’s wishlists is longer battery life. Apparently somebody at Skype is listening. Microsoft on Tuesday released an update to its service for voice, video, and text chat that comes with “aggressive battery savings,” …

An Oppo spokesperson holding up the O-Band at the Oppo Find 7 press conference. Aloysius Low/CNET Oppo announced its entry into the wearable fitness market with the new O-Band. The wristband serves as a pedometer and can monitor your sleep patterns. It also works as an alarm clock since you’ll be wearing it at night when you sleep. Like the …

Most Android smartphones and tablets already use a custom interface; these are the icons, the layout, and the starter wallpapers that the phone-maker uses to create its own look and feel. However, fun things can happen when you take your Android’s icons into your own hands. Icon packs are a simple way to dress up your smartphone or tablet, requiring …

Apple has filed a patent for a remote control that will let you take photos from an iPhone without needing to touch the handset itself. (Credit: USPTO) The patent, as spotted by Apple Insider, details a remote control that communicates with an iPhone or iPod using Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. Apart from the expected controls for taking photos and videos, it …

Google is planning an 8.9-inch Nexus tablet for release later this year, IHS Technology tells CNET. The product is expected to be “high-performance,” said Rhoda Alexander, director tablet and monitor research at IHS Technology in an email to CNET. “Volume production is expected to start in July or August,” she said. “The expectation is [that] this will be a lower …

Could this be the beginning of a Fitbit rash-gate? After company apologies, medical investigations, a full recall, and putting an end to sales of the Fitbit Force activity-tracking device — some users still aren’t satisfied. A lawsuit against Fitbit, which is seeking class-action status, was filed on Monday in the Superior Court of California in San Diego County, according to …

Motorola’s upcoming Moto 360 smartwatch, which will use Google’s Android Wear, might not be readily available, a new report claimed. Related stories Samsung Galaxy Watch 5: Full Review Samsung Galaxy Watch 5: All the Fresh Features, Including Bigger Battery, Bezel Redesign Best Fitness Gifts for 2022 Google Pixel Watch: What We Know (and Don’t) So Far Samsung Galaxy Watch 4’s …

Jason Cipriani/CNET When Apple released iOS 7 late last year, the overhauled user interface included tweaks and changes throughout the entire operating system. One such change was the removal of the ability to view your daily agenda from the month view in the Calendar app. As it was in iOS 7’s month view, you simply saw a dot on each …

A simple kit currently seeking funding on Kickstarter allows you to use your smartphone’s camera as a 150x microscope. (Credit: Thomas Larson) One of my favourite activities as a kid was to muck about with my dad’s microscope, poring over ancient (in my mind) slides bearing legends such as “urea”, “bee pollen” and “spores of smut”. The teeny tiny worlds …

Three has revealed what it’ll be charging for the Galaxy S5, and — as expected — Samsung’s new toy is shaping up to be rather pricey. The numerical network says the S5 will be available with an upfront cost of £69 when it goes on sale on 11 April, with a choice of four different 24-month price plans. The cheapest …

Samsung may be setting its Gear free. The Korean electronics giant is reportedly working on a version of the Gear with its own cellular connection, according to the Korea Herald. The publication reported that Samsung and SK Telecom, Korea’s biggest wireless company, are in talks to release a variant of the wearable in South Korea with a universal subscriber identity …

Motorola and AT&T have commenced the Android 4.4.2 software update for the Moto X smartphone. Related stories: Moto X review Motorola’s new Moto X coming this summer? Motorola punches up phones with college colors, designs Available immediately, the update brings the handset current with the latest and greatest of Google’s mobile operating system. As is the case with the other …

Binge-watching is big business. But if you can’t face forking out for endless DVD box sets, you can catch True Detective, Game of Thrones, The Wire and loads more heavyweight TV shows on Sky’s Now TV on the cheap — and even get paid to do it. A monthly Now TV Entertainment pass currently costs £4.99. That buys you the …

Neil Young’s Pono has been in the news a lot recently, but not many people know that the new player is designed as a way to playback FLAC files, primarily those bought from PonoMusic. While you could wait till the Pono Web store comes online sometime in the next year, there are ways you can get your hands on FLAC …

Thanks to the ever-increasing popularity of wireless speakers, single-speaker sound is making something of a comeback. Sure, Bluetooth speakers can play the left and right channels of a recording, but since they’re just a few inches apart, stereo is a non-event. Ideally, for desktop stereo the left and right speakers should be at least 24 inches apart when you’re sitting …