Mac Pros won’t be available in stores until March or April

Got production issues with your Mac Pros Apple?

The Mac Pro may not be available to in store customers until March or April due to production issues.

The only way to purchase a new Mac Pro desktop computer will be via the Apple online store until March or April, according to an Apple Australia business sales specialist.

The specialist has been advised to direct all Mac Pro sales to the Apple online store, as the high street stores will not have any stock for several months.

Apple started marketing its shiny new Mac Pro models in June, but customers could only start ordering the desktop Macs in December.

So far only a handful of customers received their Mac Pros by December 30, Apple’s self-imposed shipping deadline and these were seemingly the basic configuration models.

Online, the Mac Pro deliveries have been delayed until February, having been originally scheduled for a January delivery window.

The new Mac Pro is the first huge design overall the desktop PC has had in several years, with new models featuring a cylindrical aluminium body just 9.9-inches tall. In fact, the new model takes up an eight of the space required by the previous iteration.

“It’s not a stretch to say people have been blown away by this incredible new design,” said Phil Schiller when unveiling the Mac Pro. “It is a computer that packs an incredible amount of power into one-eighth the volume of the previous model. It is our vision of the future of the pro desktop. There are so many innovations, it is simply remarkable.”

It seems Apple is having major production issues with its new Mac Pro, something that has plagued the iPad mini 2 and iPhone 5S as well.

Read more: MacBook Air 2014 Haswell vs 2013

Via: Electronista

readmore »»  

Archos to launch its first smartwatch and connected home devices at CES 2014

It's going to be a busy CES for Archos

Archos is poised to launch a host of new products at CES 2014, including its first smartwatch.

The French company has posted an Archos smartwatch teaser picture on the official website, suggesting the company will launch the new device next week at CES.

Sources suggest that the Archos smartwatch will be compatible with iOS and Android devices like the Pebble smartwatch.

Unlike its Samsung Galaxy Gear and Sony SmartWatch 2 rivals, the Archos offering will also come with a price as low as £50. This may well be the key to its success.

From the teaser image, it seems the Archos smartwatch will have a black and white e-paper display like an eReader or the Pebble smartwatch too, rather than the full colour displays of the others.

The display on the Archos smartwatch also hints at a launch date for the device – January 5 – suggesting Archos may opt for an early CES unveiling.

A new “connected home” section on the Archos website, and an accompanying YouTube video also state that the company will launch a range of new devices at CES 2014.

There will be an Archos Activity Tracker, Archos Blood Pressure Monitor and an Archos Connected Scale capable of recognising four different users.

As the centre point for all the devices will be the Archos Connected Self App, which will also provide eight users with health tracking, activity graphs and other key metrics.

“Mobile devices have become the centre of our life and our demand for instant access to information creates the need for even more interconnectivity,” said CEO of Archos Loic Poirer. “Archos’ new line-up of connected objects exemplifies the ability to share and access information and represents our vision of creating a universe where all devices complement and work together.”

There’s also an Archos Smart Home App or a Smart Home tablet to be had, which offer a gateway to your connected devices. You’ll be able to customise actions depending on your habits and various activities to address security issues.

Archos will also launch an Archos Weather Station temperature and precipitation gauge at CES 2014.

CES 2014 starts on January 6 and TrustedReviews will be there to bring you all the news as it happens.

Read more: Sony SmartWatch 2 vs Samsung Galaxy Gear

readmore »»  

Snapchat hack sees data from 4.6 million users stolen

A major Snapchat hack has been reported, with the picture messaging service confirming the personal details of some 4.6 million users have been stolen.

Just days after Australian firm Gibson Security warned of potential vulnerabilities in the globally popular Snapchat service, the usernames and personal phone numbers of millions of users have been stolen and posted online through a website entitled SnapchatDB.

Although the website has since been pulled, a cached list of all the hacked Snapchat user details is still doing the rounds online.

Available as an iOS and Android app, Snapchat allows users to share images for free, with all pictures being automatically deleted once they have been viewed.

With Gibson Security having warned that a vulnerability in the Snapchat ‘Find Friends’ service could be exploited to discover users’ phone numbers, those responsible for the hack have claimed this is exactly the method they used.

“We used a modified version of gibsonsec’s exploit/method,” the hackers are reported to have stated. Looking to avoid responsibility, Gibson Security has claimed it has no involvement with the hack.

"We know nothing about SnapchatDB, but it was [only] a matter of time till something like that happened,” the company Tweeted.

In a recent statement Snapchat spokespeople claimed the service had implemented a number of safeguards to combat against hacks.

They stated: “We recently added additional counter-measures and continue to make improvements to combat spam and abuse."

Although this hack marks the first major security breech, Snapchat has courted controversy, with parent and child protection groups expressing their concerns at youngsters being exposed to potentially inappropriate and exploitive images.

Snapchat has yet to announce any new measures which will be enforced to help secure users’ data from potential hacks.

Read More: Best Android Apps

Via: BBC

readmore »»  

Best PSN Games: 10 best indie games on PS4 and PS3

With the PS4 launch not yet a distant memory, we've taken a tour of the PlayStation Network to find out which games you need for your PS3, PS Vita or brand new Sony box.

PlayStation owners are lucky to have such a vast amount of games available on the PlayStation Store, so sometimes it's helpful to have someone to do the trawling for you.

We've picked ten of our favourites from PSN for you to choose from, but of course there are some older favourites we've missed out like Flower, to keep things fresh.

Hopefully, we've been helpful, but if there's a great game we've missed out, please feel free to add it in the comments below.



Read more: Best PS4 Games

readmore »»  

PS4 outsold Xbox One in UK in 2013

The PS4 wins in hardware sales in the UK

The PS4 has proved to be more popular than the Xbox One in the UK since both launched at the tail end of 2013.

Both Sony and Microsoft posted impressive sales figures for their next-generation consoles for their respective opening weekends, but the PS4 has proved stronger overall.

PS4 sales have passed 530,000 units in the UK in the five weeks since it launched on November 29 in the UK. The staggering figure was recorded by the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA) using Chart-Track data.

Xbox One sales on the other hand only amounted to 364,000. This is obviously still an incredible figure but pales in comparison to the PS4.

Both sales figures are significantly higher than any other console launch, including the Xbox 360 and PS3 launches.

“Games continue to deliver digital sales strongly, but it was disappointing that Xbox One and PS4 came so late in 2013 and then huge demand meant stock sold out quickly,” said ERA Director General Kim Bayley. “Retailers will be working hard in 2014 to maintain the sales momentum of these two great new pieces of kit.”

In hardware sales alone, the PS4 generated £181.8 million on the UK high street, and the Xbox One made £144.5 million.

This means the UK market gained £326 million from next-generation console hardware sales. This doesn’t take software sales into account at all.

The majority of online retailers now have Xbox One consoles in stock, but most are still showing the PS4 as out of stock. A few select bundles are available, but these tend to be the highest priced options.

Read more: Xbox One vs PS4

Via: MCV

readmore »»  

LG Lifeband Touch leaks ahead of expected CES 2014 unveiling

Images of the LG Lifeband Touch, a new wrist worn fitness tracker from the Korean manufacturer, have leaked online ahead of the device’s expected CES 2014 unveiling next week.

Although LG has yet to formally announce the Nike FuelBand SE rival, Twitter-based serial tech tipster @Evleaks has teased an image of the upcoming fitness tracker, suggesting the gadget’s release could be imminent.

While images of the FitBit Flex challenger have surfaced, concrete specifications and details on the device are still few and far between. According to latest reports, however, it has been suggested that the wrist wear will play host to an integrated accelerometer and a swipeable LCD display.

Far from the company’s first efforts at a wearable fitness-tracking gadget, the LG Lifeband Touch looks set to follow the LG Smart Activity Tracker unveiled during last year’s CES.

A prototype fitness tracker that was capable of being synced with LG branded TVs to make use of bespoke fitness programming, the LG Smart Activity Tracker failed to make it to a consumer release. Now, the new LG Lifeband Touch is believed to be an extension of this early prototype.

With images of the mooted LG Lifeband Touch showing a green circular button, it has been suggested that this will act as an integrated heart rate monitor, with users able to read their pulse by simply placing a finger on the sensor.

One of a number of wearables expected to be unveiled during CES 2014, the LG Lifeband Touch will reportedly share the stage with a separate LG smartwatch.

CES 2014 will be held in Las Vegas between January 6 and January 10. TrustedReviews will be on hand to bring you all the latest from the tech industry’s biggest players.

Read More: LG G2 review

readmore »»  

LG WebOS TV interfaced leaked

Our first look at the LG WebOS TV

The first image of the LG WebOS TV interface has been leaked online, ahead of an official reveal at CES 2013.

LG is due to launch its WebOS powered TVs at a press conference at CES 2013 next week, but the first screenshot of the device has been leaked online.

Coming courtesy of the prolific tipster, @evleaks, the image suggests LG is keeping the original “cards” system of the original WebOS incarnation.

The south Korean electronics giant acquired WebOS from HP in February, 2013 and will seemingly be retaining the software’s initial layout.

From the image, we can see WebOS apps for LG TV will include YouTube, Facebook, Skype, Twitter and other services.

LG bigwigs already indicated the company is throwing a lot of weight (and money) behind the open-source JavaScript development framework.

The WebOS operating system was developed by Palm Inc to power smartphones at first. HP bought Palm and WebOS with it in 2010 and used the software in its smartphones and tablets.

However, the WebOS system failed to attract developers, but LG was drawn to the software because of the technology it contains.

LG will officially showcase the WebOS TVs at its press conference on Monday January 6, along with the recently rumoured LG G Arch smartwatch.

The LG G Arch could well offer a curved touchscreen display, similar to that featured in the LG G Flex, the first consumer available flexible smartphone.

LG could also announce a second smartwatch offering at MWC 2013, supposedly aimed as a Nike FuelBand or Fitbit Flex rival. This LG G Health smartwatch will probably be a fitness and wellbeing tracker.

Read more: Best TVs of 2013

readmore »»