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For several months we've known that celebrated designer and Steve Jobs' right hand man, Jony Ive, has been heading the team redesigning the interface for iOS 7. It's been reported he's doing away with any signs of skeuomorphism -- that eye-roll-inducing design choice seen primarily in apps such as Calendar, Find My Friends and Podcasts. Current iOS 6 home screen (left), leaked iOS 7 home screen (right) iDownloadBlog has posted an image of what appears to be a redesigned version of the iOS home screen; a bad quality photo at best, but it clearly shows a flatter icon design, as rumoured. 9to5Mac went on to post a tweet with the image, claiming, however, that this was an early iOS 7 alpha, and "things have changed a lot since this was taken." iDB went on to note: Judging by the image, it appears that icons are more unified and carry a cohesive theme. Recently, iOS developers have been straying from the native iOS design, in favour of interface designs that exhibit decidedly flatter features. Apps like Clear and Google's iOS offerings favour a cleaner, flatter design over iOS' mixed up concoction of skeuomorphic apps. iOS 7 is sure to put the platform back on track if it can deliver a unique and usable interface, and it's a good time to do so given looming competition from Android and Windows Phone.

Samsung is expanding its Galaxy Tab 3 line, announcing the addition of 8 and 10.1-inch models to go along with the previously announced 7-inch device. This should help it better compete in the constantly growing tablet market, with more options to offer potential buyers. The 8-inch version of Samsung's Galaxy Tab 3 includes a powerful 1.5 GHz Exynos dual-core processor, 1.5GB of RAM, and a 1280 x 800 screen resolution that equates to 189PPI. It also comes with a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera, complemented by a 1.3-megapixel unit on the front for video chats, and a 4,450 mAh battery. The 10.1-inch variant is actually quite different in terms of specs. While Samsung didn't actually reveal the type of processor in its announcement, it's widely believed to be 1.6 GHz dual-core part from Intel. The tablet features the same 1280 x 800 resolution as the 8-inch model, which means it has a lower PPI at 149, and as you might expect it sports a bigger 6,800 mAh battery to support the power demands of a larger screen. The 10.1-inch model is actually lacking next to its smaller sibling in a couple areas. It has 1GB of RAM, down from 1.5GB, and while its front facing camera is the same, the rear unit is only 3-megapixels. Both tablets come with Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean installed and the latest TouchWiz applications from Samsung. They will be available in both 32GB and 64GB internal storage vartiants, with the option to expand storage via microSD, and come in Wi-Fi, 3G and 4G versions starting later this month.

Researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology are claiming that they have developed a method to inject arbitrary software into iOS via a USB wall-charger. This ostensibly innocuous charger, which the researchers have named “Mactans,” can be used to install malicious software without requiring the phone to be jailbroken or even any user input, and completes installation in less than a minute, Forbes reports. The announcement comes ahead of the Black Hat security conference scheduled for late July. The team from Georgia Tech has not released any details of their work, but plan to show off a proof-of-concept at the conference. The charger was built using a BeagleBone, a $45 open-source single-board computer. This small PCB measures 3.4 x 2.1 inches, so it’s not going to fit into a standard sized Apple charging unit, but could easily be installed into a docking station or external battery pack. The team warns that a group with more resources could potentially build a device that is more advanced, suggesting it’s possible to make it even smaller: “While Mactans was built with [a] limited amount of time and a small budget, we also briefly consider what more motivated, well-funded adversaries could accomplish." What’s more, the researchers say that the malicious software injects itself in a manner that disguises it similarly to the way Apple hides its own inbuilt software, so that the user cannot see or modify it. The hack can compromise iOS devices running the latest version of the operating system. One of the Georgia Tech researchers, Yeongjin Jang, said that his team reached out to Apple regarding the exploit on Friday, but they haven’t yet received a response.

In January 2012, Dell's Alienware division launched a new desktop PC, the X51, with a case design that looked much like a game console. Today, Dell announced the first major hardware update for the Alienware X51 since its launch, adding in support for Intel's new fourth generation Core (Haswell) processors. The Alienware website goes over the new hardware options for the X51, which include an option to put in an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 GPU, along with the choice of putting in a dual SSD/hard drive storage configuration and mSATA support. The Alienware X51 still has the option to have Windows 7, Windows 8 or even the Linux based Ubuntu OS. As we reported on in May, Alienware is holding an event in Los Angeles one week from today, June 10th, as part of their E3 2013 plans. It's more than possible that Alienware has more to reveal next week than just a refresh of the X51 but at the moment there's no word on exactly what the company will be showing off at the event. We will be covering the Alienware press conference next week and give you all the details on what they have up their sleeve.

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Acer has officially announced the Iconia W3 today at Computex 2013, packaging Windows 8 inside an 8-inch tablet for the first time. We have already heard a lot about the Iconia W3 through last month's flurry of leaks, but today we're getting all the official information on the Atom-powered device. As expected, the W3 is powered by an Intel Atom 'Clover Trail' Z2760 processor at 1.8 GHz, it has an 8-inch 1280 x 800 display and either 32 GB or 64 GB of internal storage plus microSD card expansion. You also get front and rear facing two-megapixel cameras, Bluetooth 4.0, microUSB, micro-HDMI and an optional full-sized keyboard dock that contains a keyboard similar to that of Acer's 13-inch notebooks. The Iconia W3 will be capable of eight hours of battery life, according to Acer, and the unit will weigh around 540 grams with 11.35 mm of thickness. The tablet runs Windows 8 Pro out of the box, and will also come with Office 2013 Home & Student bundled at no extra cost. The tablet will be priced at $379 in the United States with the keyboard costing an additional ~$90, but it's unclear at this stage whether that will net you a 32 GB or 64 GB model. It will be available for pre-order starting tomorrow, with general availability coming by the end of June.

Tony Scott, Microsoft's chief information officer for the past five years, left his role with the Windows maker last week, according to the former executive's LinkedIn profile. A recent media report indicates Scott left the company to pursue "personal projects." Microsoft CIO Tony Scott left the company last week to pursue "personal projects." Scott's departure was first reported by GeekWire on Sunday afternoon. GeekWire reported that Microsoft "announced the news internally to staff late last week." Scott oversaw security, infrastructure, messaging and business applications at Microsoft prior to his departure; he served in the same role at Walt Disney before joining Microsoft. Microsoft provided GeekWire with the following statement confirming Scott's departure: Jim Dubois, vice president of IT product and services management at Microsoft, will service as interim CIO until a replacement is named. Scott's departure marks the third executive to leave Microsoft in the seven months. Steven Sinofsky, the previous head of Windows development, left Microsoft in November amid speculation that he was forced out of the role. Peter Klein, Microsoft's former chief financial officer, announced his planned departure from the company in April. Julie Larson-Green has since taken over as head of Windows development, though Tami Reller, chief financial officer and chief marketing officer for Windows, has assumed more business responsibilities for Microsoft's flagship operating system. Amy Hood was named the company's new CFO last month.

Earlier this week, Razer announced two new Windows 8 laptops; the 14-inch Blade and the 17-inch Blade Pro that will go on sale next week. Both notebooks are very thin and fairly light for their sizes but are packed with high end PC CPUs and GPUs. Earlier this year, the company released the Windows 8 Edge and Edge Pro tablets, again with high end hardware that is normally not found on touchscreen portable devices. Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan sounds like an executive who isn't afraid to launch products in what can be a tough industry. In a new interview on The Verge, he stated that the reason why they wanted to get into the PC hardware space in the first place was to make products that "that we want ourselves". Tan doesn't reveal just how many of Razer's previous Blade laptops or Edge tablets have been bought by the public, saying only, " ... we’ve sold quite a large number of them. We can’t keep them in stock." He also takes the time to slam two of the biggest PC makers, Dell and HP, saying that he is "super disappointed" with how they have treated the industry. He says, "HP’s doing a horrible job with it. Dell’s doing a horrible job with it. They just don’t want to do anything with the PC anymore." And what about Windows 8, which some analysts claim has not helped the PC industry? Tan states: Tan also says that there are no plans to launch new laptops with touchscreens, stating they will add that feature in future notebooks "when it’s relevant"

Designs for PCs have gotten more and more creative over the years as companies move away from the dull looking black or white desktop tower case. This week, it was announced that a subsidiary of the BMW Group has created a rather interesting new design for a gaming PC that will be shown next week at the Computex trade show in Taiwan. BMW's press release has some of the details on the product, dubbed the M8, which the company's DesignworksUSA created for Taiwan motherboard maker ASRock. The small form factor PC was made so that it can be used in the typical desktop tower position or it can be laid flat, like a console (the images that BMW provided are obviously art pieces and not photos of the actual M8). Part of the case is transparent so that its owners can check out the motherboard and other parts of the M8, and the side panels on the PC are magnetic so they can be removed quickly; no screws needed, apparently. The press release states: There's little information about the M8's hardware specs, apart from it having 802.11ac WiFi and Bluetooth v4.0 wireless support and a Creative SoundCore 3D quad core processor. Hopefully we well learn more about the M8 next week at Computex.

Microsoft clearly loves infographics. Just this past week, the company has used the combination of data and illustration to showcase the low light camera features of the Nokia Lumia 928 and how many people would really like to have access to social networks at work. On Friday, Microsoft's Server and Cloud blog posted up a huge infographic, shown below, that is designed to showcase how the role of the IT worker has changed since the start of the personal computer era of the 1970s. Back then, working on PCs started off as a hobby but as we entered into the 1980s, desktop PCs began to be used more and more by businesses. That also caused the IT worker to became a new type of employee to help service those machines. IT employees continued to be important in the Internet and datacenter era of the 1990s. With today's emphasis on cloud computing, Microsoft claims that IT pros must evolve and change yet again. Even if you are not an IT worker, the infographic is still entertaining to read and certainly makes its point that the role of the IT employee will not diminish with the move to cloud computing but will simply be altered. Microsoft will reveal more about their future plans for their server and cloud divisions at next week's TechEd conference in New Orleans.

In the past few months we have covered everything from model names to performance and battery life claims. A key focus has been Haswell's graphics, with rumors suggesting its performance is set to be 2 to 3 times that of current HD 4000 integrated graphics. So what is Haswell exactly? It is Intel’s 4th generation Core architecture which will see a major refresh of the entire Core i3, Core i5 and Core i7 product lineup in 2013. Whereas last year’s Ivy Bridge was a "tick" release, Haswell is a tock and traditionally that's meant a more significant advance forward.

Earlier this month, Microsoft's Windows Phone evangelist Ben Rudolph and other members of the company went shopping to show that the value of the no-contract $149.99 Nokia Lumia 521 from T-Mobile, running on Windows Phone 8, was far superior to other phones that could be bought for the same price. Now Rudolph is back again with another video that shows how much you are getting with the Nokia Lumia 521. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XW-boe_-M4U&feature=player_embedded The new clip, posted on YouTube, this time goes in the opposite direction by showing Rudolph with a Nokia Lumia 521 and a Samsung Galaxy S4; the latest in the Galaxy S line of Android smartphones can also be bought without a two year contract but you have to pay $750 for that privilege. Rudolph goes into the Center City Microsoft Store in Los Angeles to show what can be bought for the price of the Galaxy S4. Rudolph already has the Lumia 521 in hand, but he uses the remaining $600 to buy a 16 GB microSD card ($19.99) a three month subscription to Xbox Music ($29.97), a set of Monster Nokia Purity earbuds (99.99) and finally a Asus VivoBook X202E touchscreen laptop, running Windows 8, for $449. Add it all up and Rudolph's shopping spree ended up costing him $4 less than the price of the no-contract Galaxy S4. Of course, an argument could be made that the Galaxy S4 has more powerful hardware inside than the Nokia Lumia 521 but there's no denying that getting a powerful phone without a contract costs a lot of money and the the Nokia Lumia 521 does pack a lot inside for the price.

For months, rumors have been flying on the Internet that Nokia is going to launch a new smartphone in its Lumia series, code-named "EOS," that would combine a 41-megapixel PureView camera with the Windows Phone 8 operating system. Today, a new story claims that phone is already being tested on AT&T's network in the U.S. The story comes from WPCentral, which cites unnamed sources, and also claims that AT&T's internal code name for the phone is "Elvis," though no reason was given for the name. The story also has some unconfirmed hardware specs for the smartphone, including word that its case will be based on the Nokia Lumia 920 but 1 mm thinner except for the big camera hump. The camera will take two pictures at the same time; one will be 35 megapixels and the other will be just five megapixels, according to the article. It is also supposed to have what the story calls Nokia Pro Camera, an advanced PureView mode that the article says will give the phone's owner more control over the camera's features. The phone, which is said to come in a yellow color, is also rumored to have a 768x1280 display, 32 GB of internal storage but no SD card slot, and an FM radio.

In January 2012, FBI and local police raided the New Zealand mansion rented by Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom. The raid was just part of the U.S. government's operation to shut down the file-sharing website on online piracy charges. During the raid, law enforcement authorities took a ton of documents and hard drives filled with files from the mansion as evidence in their case. Now, Reuters reports that a New Zealand judge has ruled that Dotcom and his defense team must have access to all of the evidence that was taken during the raid, including anything that was forwarded over to the FBI. Dotcom also mentioned the court's ruling in a Twitter post: The judge ordered all of the evidence that is considered to be relevant to the case must be copied and turned over to Dotcom's legal team. Any documents or files that are deemed to be irrelevant are supposed to be given back to Dotcom. It's a major legal victory for Dotcom, as he and his lawyers continue their long fight in court against the U.S. government. Dotcom's hearing on whether or not he should be extradited to the U.S. is scheduled for August, but Reuters stated that court date may be delayed.

Samsung has just announced the newest device to its smartphone lineup, the Galaxy S4 mini. As with the S3 mini, however, the little brother of the company's flagship phone promises equivocal performance in a more portable design, but delivers poorly on specs. The S4 mini is powered by a lesser 1.7GHz dual-core processor, with 1.5GB of RAM and a 1900mAh battery. An 8 megapixel camera takes up the rear, whilst a 1.9 megapixel shooter stares back at you from the front of the device. The 8.94mm-thick body weighs in at just 107g, making it perfect for those who favour portability over performance. Upgrade to the 3G Dual SIM version, however, and the device clocks in at a mammoth 108g -- but we're sure you can deal with the extra gram. A 4.3-inch, 16:9 qHD Super AMOLED display adorns the front, with a reported 800:1 contrast ratio. The device only has 8GB of internal memory, which shrinks down to 5GB of storage you can actually use. You can, however, insert a microSD up to 64GB to expand the space available for music, movies, apps, games and so on. The S4 mini has all the usual sensors and connectivity options of a modern smartphone that you would expect, including an accelerometer, digital compass, proximity sensor, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, GPS, Bluetooth v4.0, LTE, NFC and an IR blaster for controlling your TV. For such a slim and light device, the specs are nothing to be sniffed at, but Samsung's shameless marketing technique of smaller smartphones, as seen with the S3 mini, leads users to believe they're getting the same performance out of a much smaller device. This is, naturally, not the case. CEO and President of the company's IT & Mobile Communication Division, JK Shin, had this to say about the S4 mini: Samsung's new device runs Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean and packs all the same TouchWiz gimmicks features that can be found on its larger counterpart. The company will offer the device in "Black Mist" and "White Frost" -- that's just black and white to you and me -- and is yet to confirm pricing and availability. The phone is set to be shown off at the Korean tech giant's upcoming Galaxy & ATIV event in London on June 20th.

In January 2012, Razer launched its first PC hardware product with the 17-inch Blade laptop, with its unique Switchblade hardware and software user interface. Today, Razer announced the successor to its first notebook, the Blade Pro, along with a new 14-inch version of the Blade PC. Both laptops will run on Windows 8. Razer's press release states that like the original Blade, the Blade Pro will have a 17-inch screen but weighs just 6.5 pounds and is 0.88 inches thick. It will also include the latest version of the Switchblade hardware and software UI, featuring an LED trackpad and 10 Switchback keys that can change their appearance and functions depending on which game or application is running on the laptop. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FmQpTdAgJE&feature=player_embedded Inside the Razer Pro will be a unnamed 4th generation Intel Core processor (yes, the one with the code name Haswell that will get its official launch next week) along with NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 765M GPU, 8 GB of RAM and a 128 GB SDD, with options to increase the storage to 256 GB or 512 GB. Pricing will start at $2,299. Pre-orders begin on June 3rd and the first units will start shipping later that month. Razer is also pushing for the Blade Pro to be used by people who frequently access more professional apps such as Photoshop, Maya and more, including adding support for those apps in the Switchblade UI. Razer has also announced it will have a 14-inch version of the Blade notebook, with the same processor, memory and storage options as its larger 17-inch Blade Pro brother, but in a case that's just 0.66 inches thick. Razer says that it is thinner than a standing dime, which is what was teased in an earlier video. However, the 4.1 pound laptop will not have the Switchblade keys or LED trackpad. Pricing for the 14-inch Blade will begin at $1,799. Like the Blade Pro, pre-orders for the 14-inch Blade start June 3rd and it will start shipping later in June as well.

Google’s Sundar Pichai just confirmed at D11 what we suspected all along: a vanilla version of the HTC One is on the way. The handset, which will run on AT&T and T-Mobile’s speedy LTE data networks, is scheduled to debut on June 26 for $599 without carrier subsidy via the Google Play store. In a blog post on the matter, HTC said the response to the handset has been phenomenal with reviews praising the phone’s design and innovative features. The company said they are now excited to offer HTC fans a new experience running on what they feel is the best hardware available today. The smartphone will ship with 32GB of internal storage in silver and aside from the Android experience, everything else will remain identical. Additionally, Google will be responsible for issuing updates for the handset, not HTC. It will initially ship with Android 4.2.2 and an unlockable bootloader, we’re told. How the pure experience will affect certain key features of the HTC One remains to be seen. For example, the phone’s camera and audio system are both software enhanced. Will these perform up to par without the software? Or perhaps HTC left some key software in place? I suppose we will find out soon enough. HTC already offers a SIM unlocked version of the One as well as a developer edition on their website for $599 and $649, respectively. Both of these phones, however, run the HTC Sense overlay.

Welcome Follow the rules and have fun.

Welcome Follow the rules and have fun.