Budget iPhone reportedly leaks again in multiple colours

iPhone colours

More evidence to suggest a colourful budget iPhone is on the way?




It has long been suggested that Apple's so-called 'budget' iPhone will arrive in a range of colours and a number of purported leaked photos have emerged in the last week to back that up.


Those leaks were supplemented on Wednesday by Apple enthusiast SonyDickson on Twitter, who posted a photo showcasing the purported plastic device in various colours.


The post follows multiple reports and leaks that have showcased the rear casing of the device. Each time the snaps have depicted the device in shades of yellow, pink, green and blue as well as white.


Although there's little to corroborate the authenticity of the photos, the appearance of different snaps from different sources, should be noted.


Previous leaks from, the NowhereElse blog and the Taiwanese Apple Daily site over the last week all showcase the same colours, while the Apple logo and iPhone name tag appears in the same position, helping to lessen the possibility of fakes.


Apple is certainly no stranger to livening up the look of its devices with a bright splash of colour. Most of its recent iPod lines have been available in a range of vibrant hues.


It has also been suggested by some observers that the multiple bright colours reflect the new design aesthetic of the new, Jony Ive-influenced iOS 7 design.


Confirmation one way or the other is likely to come before the year is out, probably at a special Apple event in around September or early October where we expect to see the iPhone 5S/iPhone 6 revealed.


Would you be into a cheaper, multi-coloured iPhone handset? Let us know in the comments section below.


Via Engadget



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Instagram goes web-wide with new photo and video embed feature

Instagram

Instagram posts can now be embedded all over the web




Instagram has added a new share option to its desktop website, allowing users to embed photos and videos around the web for the first time.


The company announced the update on Wednesday afternoon, and in doing so hopes to make content more visible beyond the standalone mobile app, Instagram.com website and Facebook and Tumblr where photos can already be shared easily.


The new Share button, which appears to the right of single photo pages (not within the timeline), beneath the like and comment buttons. Clicking it serves up an embed code which can be posted to blogs like Tumblr (beyond direct uploads) and on websites with content publishing software that allow media embedding.


Users aren't limited to sharing their own photos, they can also publish those belonging to other users of the service.


In a blog post, Instagram says privacy settings still apply so if your photos are private then no-one will be able to post them around the web. However, if you're happy for your photos to be viewed within the app and not happy for them to potentially be plastered all over the web, you may want to think about setting that profile to private.


Unfortunately there's no middle ground. Your posts are either completely private and viewable onto to those you wish to see them, or they're totally open to all and sundry.


The company wrote: "As always, you own your photos and videos, and we want to make sure that’s understood no matter where your content appears. Whether you want to embed your video on your blog or a friend wants to feature your photo on a website, everyone will clearly see that your content belongs to you. Your embedded photo or video appears with your Instagram username, and clicking on the Instagram logo will take people to your page on Instagram.com where they can discover more of your photos and videos."


The embed option has been present within Twitter and the newer Vine video app for some time, allowing content curators to showcase interesting items to their audience in a native form.


It seems the Facebook-owned Instagram is determined that there are no features offered by Vine that it cannot.



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Linksys EA6700 802.11ac router Review


What is the Linksys EA6700?

The EA6500 is Linksys’ new flagship 802.11ac wireless router. It replaces the EA6500, Linksys’ previous top of the line model and its first router to support the next generation ac wireless standard.


The EA6500 is our current pick of the 802.11ac routers available, so given the EA6700 will replace it on shop shelves it has big shoes to fill.


Linksys EA6700 3


Linksys EA6700 - Design

From first glance the EA6700 looks identical to its forebear. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Much like a ThinkPad, Linksys’ premium routers have had a consistent design for some time now and the EA6700 retains this same rectangular, wall mountable shape. Plenty of thought is behind it: the matt grey finish resists dust and fingerprints and the metallic band adds to its discrete stylish look and opens up to make space for a ventilation grill.


Interestingly the EA6700 still sports the Cisco logo, despite Cisco selling Linksys to Belkin a few months ago. Belkin has already announced it will keep the Linksys branding, but whether it will also add its own logo to the EA6700 in time is unknown.


The first sign that changes are afoot is along the rear of the EA6700 with the EA6500’s pair of USB 2.0 ports replaced by one USB 2.0 and one welcome USB 3.0. The layout of the ports has also been tweaked. Running left to right you now have USB 3.0, USB 2.0, 4x Gigabit Ethernet ports, an Internet port (for connecting to your modem), a reset pinhole, power socket and power switch.


Previously the USB ports had been sandwiched between the Ethernet ports and power button and the new arrangement makes them more accessible.




Linksys EA6700 2

Linksys EA6700 - Features


Aside from USB 3.0, the EA6700 ticks the same primary boxes as the EA6500. Its headline feature remains its 1300Mbit 802.11ac and this is augmented by 450Mbit 802.11n for the misleading ‘1750Mbit’ figure punted by most ac wireless routers. These bands are powered by six internal 3D antennas with high power amplifiers.


The other talking point with any new Linksys router is the company’s ‘Smart WiFi’ (previously ‘Connect Cloud’). Smart WiFi is a Cloud platform which enables you to access your router from any location by logging in at linksyssmartwifi.com or using the company’s official Android and iOS apps. Smart WiFi lets you remotely add or remove devices on your network, adjust privacy and parental settings, control guest access, prioritise devices or applications, change passwords and even the router SSID and broadcast bands. It also has an API for third party apps and their numbers are growing.


Connect Cloud actually had a contentious launch as it unilaterally imposed itself on all the latest pre-Cloud Linksys routers. But under the Smart WiFi banner it has matured into by far the most attractive, intuitive and powered router control platform currently available. It won’t intimidate technophobes and advanced users can tweak minutiae to their heart’s content.


Linksys EA6700 5


Like the the EA6500, the EA6700 also caters for users with NFC enabled devices with a bundled ‘SimpleTap’ card. Just touch the card to your NFC device and it will be automatically connected to the EA6700’s 802.11n 2.4GHz wireless. Why Linksys chose to associate the card with this band is down to prevalence as wireless n 5GHz support still isn’t ubiquitous and of course 802.11ac support right now is rarer still. That said, SimpleTap is a great way to quickly add devices.


Not leaving out the more perfunctory elements, the EA6700 also supports IPv6, Dynamic DNS, port forwarding and there’s even an integrated broadband speed tester.



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Pirate Bay co-founder to release surveillance-proof messaging app

Hemlis iPhone and Android app

Hemlis app to prevent the government from seeing your chatter




Hemlis app for iOS and Android is an encrypted messaging service that will keep your conversations private.


Peter Sunde, co-founder of Pirate Bay is trying to raise funds for a messaging app that encrypts both ends of the conversation.


Hemlis, which is Swedish for secret, will prevent ISPs and the government from accessing the information. It also aims to keep your conversations so private that even the creators of the app will not be able to see what you are talking about.


The app will be free to download and will also have in-app purchases to unlock new features like the ability to send images. The creators also claim it has no plans to use advertising in the Hemlis app or sell user data to raise funds for the project.


Instead Sunde and his team are taking the crowdfunding route through PayPal, Bitcoin and the Heml.is website. Depending on how much you donate, you will be able to access unlock codes or pre-register user names.


The app appears to be a clear response to the recent Prism scandal. The Heml.is website makes reference to the surveillance program operated by the NSA (National Security Agency) that is alleged to have collected data from users of Facebook, YouTube, Yahoo and Google amongst others popular web services.


On the website it states, "Companies like Facebook, Twitter, Apple and Google have been forced to open up their systems and hand out information about their users. At the same time they have been forbidden to tell anyone about it!


"We're building a message app where no one can listen in, not even us. We would rather close down the service before letting anyone in."


You can watch a video of Peter Sunde talking about the Hemlis app below.


Do you like the sound of the Hemlis app? Would you use it? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.


Via: 9 to 5 Mac and Guardian


Read More: Best tech to buy this month



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Apple found guilty of ebook price fixing


Apple has been found guilty of “facilitating and executing” a conspiracy to fix the price of ebooks in an American court.


A further trial will be required to decide what damages the Cupertino company must pay, but Apple has been found guilty of ebook price fixing by Judge Denise Cote of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.


Judge Cote ruled that Apple had “conspired to restrain trade” in an attempt to undercut Amazon’s ebook market dominance.


“The Plaintiffs have shown that the Publisher Defendants conspired with each other to eliminate retail price competition in order to raise ebook prices,” wrote Judge Cote. “Apple played a central role in facilitating and executing that conspiracy. Without Apple’s orchestration of this conspiracy, it would not have succeeded as it did in the Spring of 2010.”


Five publishers have already been taken to court for the same offence and have been fined for their participation. Penguin was fined $75 million (£49 million) and Macmillan settled for $26 million (£17 million). The three other accused publishers, HarperCollins, Hachette and Simon & Schuster, created a joint fund of $69 million (£46 million) with which to compensate customers.


The apparently Apple-led conspiracy led to a “dramatic” increase in the average price of ebooks, costing consumers millions through the inflated prices.


“Apple seized the moment and brilliantly played its hand. Through the vehicle of the Apple agency agreements, the prices in the nascent ebook industry shift upward, in some cases 50 per cent or more for an individual title.”


The jury-less trial lasted three weeks during which Apple claimed the allegations were a “misguided story” without any substantial evidence.


However, Judge Cote maintained that some of the evidence against Apple actually came from the man himself, Steve Jobs.


“Compelling evidence of Apple’s participation in the conspiracy came from the words uttered by Steve Jobs, Apple’s founder, CEO and visionary. Apple has struggled mightily to reinterpret Job’s statements in a way that will eliminate their bite. Its efforts have proven fruitless.”



Next, read our iPad mini tips and tricks.



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GTA 5 gameplay trailer used footage from PS3 version


Rockstar Games has confirmed that gameplay footage from the brilliant GTA 5 trailer was taken from a PS3 console.


Clearing up any potential debate on whether the trailer was showing off next gen or current gen visuals, the GTA-makers cleared the matter up via its website in the comments section stating, "Just to clarify for those asking, this particular video was captured with footage from the PS3 version of the game,".


Damning proof that there is still life in current generation consoles, this should be a source of good news for those still weighing up the decision on whether to buy a PS4 or an Xbox One this year.


The GTA 5 trailer gave us our first taste of what we can expect from the gameplay which for the first time will allow players to switch between three main characters during missions.


The open world is expected to be around three times larger than the Red Dead Redemption landscape and will improve game mechanics including weapon aiming and driving.


In other GTA 5-related news, a Rockstar job listing could be evidence that a GTA 5 PC edition is in the works. The listing which was for a Graphic Programmer to help port the latest titles to PC, has since been taken down.


Grand Theft Auto 5 is set to launch on the Xbox 360 and PS3 on the 17th of September. You can enjoy the trailer all over again below.


Via: CVG


Read More: See our round-up of the hottest PS4 games to look out for



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Canon ImageFORMULA P-208 Review


What is the Canon ImageFORMULA P-208?


There’s a growing market for portable scanners, which can be carried alongside a notebook or tablet and scan on the fly, whenever the need arises. Canon’s ImageFORMULA P-208 is one of these and includes a full duplex scan head, unusual in such a compact device.

Canon ImageFORMULA P-208 - Design and Features


The textured, black case measures 313 x 77 x 40mm, so is only slightly wider than the length of an A4 sheet and small enough in the other dimensions to slip in beside a portable device in even a compact travel bag. It's only 600g, too, so it doesn't add much to the overall weight of your mobile technology.

There's only a single USB cable needed to supply power and data connections to the scanner, so no need for a separate power supply. There's an optional wireless adapter, the WU10, which gives you direct access to any Wi-Fi equipped mobile device. It also provides power to the scanner for up to 400 colour scans.

Canon ImageFORMULA P-208 - Optional WiFi

Opening the scanner ready for work takes no more than flipping down the front cover and swivelling out the two paper guides. These guides take the form of two small bars and you can load up to 20 sheets and have the scanner feed them automatically.

However, the support sections of the guides are very thin and it's actually more awkward to load paper between them than on some more compact guides with larger areas of location. They do ensure paper enters the scanner horizontally, but at the expense of some fiddliness when setting up a scan.


The top cover of the scanner also hinges, so you can clean the scan heads and deal with any paper jam, but the short, straight-through paper path makes jams very unlikely. When the scanner senses paper being fed, the feed rollers grab the top sheet slightly to hold it in place.


Canon ImageFORMULA P-208 - Controls and Software


There's only one control on the scanner, a large, blue-rimmed scan button which is intimately connected to Canon’s Capture OnTouch software, which can handle a complete scan automatically with default settings, but also enables you to adjust settings for your needs on a specific document.

Canon ImageFORMULA P-208 - Open

You can scan directly to pdf, bmp, jpg, tiff and, unusually, pptx formats. Pptx is PowerPoint, so you can create a slide directly. What you can't do, with the supplied software, is create editable text.

For some reason, Canon has decided not to supply OCR software with the ImageFORMULA P-208. While we can see the argument that this is a quick scanner for grabbing page images on the move, if you want to extract passages for research or quotes, it’s annoying not to be able to convert an image to text. You’ll have to rely on an online service or buy OCR software separately.



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