Mobile Social Startup CrowdOptic Raises Another $500K, Plans Consumer Launch

CrowdOptic, a startup trying to create a new way for people to interact via line-of-sight “clusters”, has raised another $500,000 in debt financing. CEO Jon Fisher says this brings the company’s total funding to $2.5 million (including $500,000 that Fisher himself invested in January), and that the round serves as a bridge to CrowdOptic’s...

Google Play Store tosses third party Reddit app for sexual content

Google Play Store has removed the app Reddit is fun for having explicit sexual content. The app brings the user stories from the Reddit web site where users post stories for others to respond to. The language is uncensored with plenty of four letter words flying around. That is why app creator Andrew Shu was surprised about Google's action. "I’m not sure how to go about appealing this," said the developer. "After all it’s true...

Check out the re-designed UI on these Nokia Windows Phone models

What have we here? Why it's a few pictures of a Nokia Windows Phone model with a re-designed UI. Gone are the Live Tiles, replaced with a scattering of photos, clocks and what can only be described as whimsical imagery. One of Nokia's Senior Graphic Designers is responsible for the work and he has already been shipped to Accenture to work on things for Symbian. According to the deal it has with Microsoft, the Finnish based manufacturer...

Company behind 'Draw Something' could be sold for $200 million

Zynga, the company that bought Alec Baldwin's favorite runway pastime Words with Friends developer New Toy for $50 million in December 2010 now has its eyes on OMGPOP. The former dating-gaming app company is the owner of one of the hottest properties on smartphones today, Draw Something. This is a Pictionary inspired game that can be played against one friend at a time in different parts of the world and currently has an inventory...

Slide shows more details about Samsung Exynos 5250

Back in January, we told you all about the Samsung Exynos 5250 chipset which is expected to begin mass production next quarter. Back in the beginning of the year, Samsung spilled the beans on the 2GHz, ARM Cortex-A15 set up which the Korean based company said could double the performance of A9 chips and even outperform current quad-core chips. It will have 2 CPU cores and 4 GPU cores. Thanks to a leaked slide obtained by Semi-Accurate,...

New iPad (3) Review Q&A: Answers

Right after we published our review of the new iPad, we gave you the chance to ask whatever questions you want about the device. We're now giving you the answers to those questions... 1. FayeznoorAnswer: If we take certain benchmark tests - yes, it does. In real-life performance, though, it won't be four times faster. You can find more details here. 2. e.wvuAnswer: If a higher-resolution screen, faster GPU, better camera and...

LTE iPhone could bankrupt Sprint

The relationship between Sprint and Clearwire is very dysfunctional. Ok, I understand the reasoning behind the WiMAX initiative. It was either allocate and use the spectrum before given date or forfeit the licenses. WiMAX was a ready technology. LTE was no where near ready. So Sprint made the right decision no matter how people look at it.However, With WiMAX up and running, Sprint and Clearwire should've remained as strong allies...

Android 4.0 User Guide released for European Samsung Galaxy S II

Over in Europe, the Android 4.0 update has been rolling along, bringing Ice Cream Sandwich to countless owners of the Samsung Galaxy S II. Not everyone knows all of the features and functions that have been added with the latest and greatest build of Google's open source OS. So what Samsung did was to make a PowerPoint version of a special User's Guide for the update and converted it to PDF for easier viewing. While Stateside...

'Fabricated' report on Apple factory conditions retracted

A highly-critical report on the working conditions at Apple's Foxconn plant in China has been retracted after the broadcaster admitted 'significant fabrications.'Back in January, the This American Life radio show featured a segment entitled Mr Daisey and the Apple Factory, which was narrated by theatre performer Mike Daisey.The original 39-minute report, which was heard over a million times, featured purported insight from overworked...

New iPad with Retina Display a boost for MLB sluggers

Major League Baseball players and coaches are eager to get their hands on Apple's new iPad, claiming the clearer Retina Display will help them 'break down the mechanics' of the game.The verdict comes from Cincinnati Reds manager of video scouting Rob Coughlin, who says that the majority of MLB players already use an iPad to study footage of their opponents.Coughlin says the improved detail on the new iPad's 2048 x 1536 screen...

Review: D-Link Network Video Recorder DNR-322L

The D-Link Network Video Recorder DNR-322L is a NAS (network attached storage) device specifically for recording network video. Although it works with other brands, it's best used with D-Link's own cameras (like the DCS-942L) via the mydlink service. The DNR-322L doesn't come with a hard drive installed, though it supports two SATA hard drives that can be configured for RAID 0 or RAID 1. If you already have a drive you want to...

7 Days in Cameras: Nikon D4 impresses in early testing

This week we've had the fun of tooling around town with a Nikon D4 strapped around our neck. Needless to say that we could probably cancel our gym memberships if this was a daily habit. The good news is that the D4 has impressed well in our early tests, both judging from the lab results and our real world tests. Elsewhere, we've been speaking to Sony and Panasonic to get updates on what they've been up to and we've had our eye...

In Depth: Can a £300 gaming PC compare to a £3,000 one?

Benchmark results are all very well, but can you feel the numbers? When it comes to PC performance and especially gaming grunt, that's the key question. Of course, everybody knows high-end PC components are piddle-poor value for money. You don't need us to tell you Intel's latest £800 six-core monster, the Core i7 3960X, isn't eight times...

Review Roundup: This week's hottest reviews on TechRadar

As well as the new iPad review, we've also got a whole host of other reviews awaiting your perusal on TechRadar. We've checked out several new Intel Ultrabooks including Dell's XPS 13 and the Samsung Series 5 as well as the thin-and-light but officially not an Ultrabook Samsung Series 9. And then there's the Panasonic DMP-BDT220 Blu-ray player among plenty of other cool kit. Check out the full list below. Dell XPS 13 reviewThere's...

Buying Guide: 5 best AirPrint printers reviewed and rated

AirPrint's real boon is that you don't need any extra drivers installed to print any more - you simply set up your printer on the same Wi-Fi network as your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch and use the print feature now available in many iOS apps such as Photos and Mail. Your device will automatically detect the printer on your network, and connect...

Tutorial: The beginner's guide to Amazon Kindle

The Amazon Kindle is by far the best e-reader on the market right now and, if you love reading, you want one. You might not realise it yet, but you do. In fact, we'll go one step further. If you've avoided it until now out of a totally understandable desire to hang on to traditional ink-and-paper books, you're actually the perfect candidate...

In Depth: How overclocking went back to its roots

The next generation of hardware will come with more overclocking options than you can shake a big stick atOverclocking has come a full circle. It started as a niche technical trick where shifting a jumper on the motherboard would let you run a processor's multiplier higher than it should. This soon led to Intel and AMD screaming about phantom...