APP OF THE DAY: VINE

There’s a good chance you are already on a variety of social networks. If you can handle one more outlet for sharing bits and pieces of your life, consider Vine. Instead of pictures or 140-character chirps, Vine is made for short video sharing. While it is still a bit buggy, it could be the next big thing. (iOS) (Android)

VIDEO: GOOGLE INTRODUCES PHONE WITH 3-D SENSORS

Google has unveiled a new phone that makes real-time, 3-D maps of its environments. Its “customized hardware and software” includes sensors that gives it the capability to make over a quarter of a million measurements every second. Its uses could include indoor mapping and navigation assistance for the visually-impaired.

“We are physical beings that live in a 3-D world,” Google says. “Yet, our mobile devices assume that physical world ends at the boundaries of the screen.”

VIDEO: WHAT’S YOUR LOWEST SUPER MARIO BROS. SCORE? WATCH THIS GUY BREAK THE WORLD RECORD

Call it over achievement through underachievement: getting the lowest score possible in Nintendo’s Super Mario Bros. while at the same time completing it.

YouTube maverick NotEntirelySure seems to have done just that, and he offers the video above (noticed by Kotaku) as testimony – a start-to-finish gallop through Nintendo’s most famous platformer using warp points to skip around and finish the game in a little less than nine minutes, with a paltry 500 points. Rock bottom high-five! See video of game play below

THE UNVEILING OF THE SAMSUNG GALAXY GEAR WATCHES:WELCOME TIZEN

The huge Mobile World Congress show is starting in Barcelona, which means that the next few days will be jam-packed with announcements of new phones, tablets, wearables and other mobile gadgetry. One of the first big unveilings: Samsung’s Galaxy Gear 2 and Galaxy Gear 2 Neo, the second-generation versions of the smartwatch which the company shipped less than six months ago.

 

There’s a lot that’s not radically new about the Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo. They’re a millimeter thinner than the first one and a big lighter, but the dimensions are similar overall, which makes them a wristfull. Like the first Gear, the Gear 2 has a camera, but this time it’s on the watch itself rather than the strap, so the watch can take swappable straps. The Gear 2 Neo is similar to the Gear 2, but doesn’t have a camera.

Both watches now sport heart-rate monitors and have the built-in ability to play music. They run a bunch of apps, such as CNN, Evernote, Expedia, Feedly, PayPal, Runtastic and ones for BMW, GM and Volkswagen cars. As with the first Gear, they work only with Samsung Galaxy phones, but the company says that “dozens” of models are supported.

APP OF THE DAY: MIXLR

If you’ve ever wanted to host a radio show or do a podcast but the entire process seemed a bit overwhelming, Mixlr is an easy introduction. The iPhone app lets you broadcast high quality audio over 3G, 4G, or WiFi. The social audio app eliminates the need for lots of cables and hardware and just gets you going. You can even save your broadcasts after you finish or export them to Dropbox, Soundcloud, and others. (iOS)

FACEBOOK TO BUY WHATSAPP FOR BILLIONS.

Facebook announced on Wednesday afternoon that it reached an agreement to buy popular mobile messaging startup WhatsApp for an upfront total of $16 billion, including $4 billion in cash and about $12 billion in Facebook shares.
Cofounder and CEO Jan Koum will join Facebook’s Board of Directors, but WhatsApp will continue to operate independently within Facebook, much like Instagram. The purchase price rises to as much as $19 billion once you factor in an additional $3 billion in restricted stock units that will be granted to WhatsApp’s founders and employees vesting over the next four years.

INTRODUCING: HP PAVILION x360 CONVERTIBLE

In preparation for this week's Mobile World Congress, HP announced a new consumer-oriented convertible laptop/tablet, the HP Pavilion x360.
The Pavilion x360 is a clamshell laptop with a screen that flips all the way around to convert the system into a PC that acts like a slate tablet. This is the same sort of concept as the Lenovo Yoga and Dell XPS 11 convertibles.

APP OF THE DAY: GOOGLE PLAY MUSIC

A dedicated cloud storage for 20,000 songs and a newly launched google music store, with more than 13 million tracks available to download. you can store music you already own, not just tracks downloaded from google, and it’s streamable across all of your android devices, even your desktop computer.

NEW GENDER OPTIONS ADDED ON FACEBOOK.

In a nod to the "it's complicated" sexual identities of many of its users, the social network on Thursday added a third "custom" gender option for people's profiles. In addition to Male or Female, Facebook now lets U.S. users choose among some 50 additional options such as "transgender," "cisgender," "gender fluid," "intersex" and "neither."

Users also now have the ability to choose the pronoun they'd like to be referred to publicly: he/his, she/her, or the gender-neutral they/their.

SONY PLAYSTATION 4 SALES HITS 5 MILLION WORLDWIDE

Sony's PlayStation 4 is still proving popular among gamers. The company announced on Tuesday that total PlayStation 4 sales to consumers reached 5.3 million units on February 8. 

ARCTICOR COOLERS: FREEZING OUT OF THE FREEZER

The Arcticor Cooler is the perfect solution to beating the heat. While any cooler will insulate your beverages while it is closed, the Arcticor provides built-in chilling cup-holders that will keep your drinks cold even after they have been removed.

APP OF THE DAY:PICMIX

Tart up your photos with frames and photo filters before sharing with Facebook, Twitter and the like, Pic Mix has now been upgraded and debugged for BB10 which means you can make the most of that decent Z10 rear-facing camera.

APP OF THE DAY: CLOSETOYOU PRO

Locate yourself via GPS, then bring up a list of everything around you. Select shops, restaurants or services and receive contact details and directions. It also supports Augmented Reality which means you can raise your smartphone in the air and see all the data laid out in front of your eyes.

APP OF THE DAY: KEEK

A BB take on Vine, capture a short video – no more than 36 seconds – and share it with your Keek mates or on more populated social networks.

APP OF THE DAY: WAZE

Become part of a 40 million-strong road news network. Report hazards, traffic jams or particularly cheap petrol stations if you’re feeling kind.

APP OF THE DAY: WEEBLY

Make your own mobile or HTML 5 website that can work across browsers, with site traffic stats to track your online dominance.

MTN MICRO SIM FOR APPLE IPAD & IPHONE4 USERS

MTN has introduced special Micro SIM cards compatible with the new models of smart devices and tablet PCs. These new micro-SIM cards are smaller in size than the standard SIM card and specially manufactured for devices including the Apple Ipad and Iphone 4.

APP OF THE DAY: SKITCH

Amend a PDF or add a Skitch stamp to give a report the seal of approval or disapproval. It’s more organisational fun from the folk behind Evernote.

NINTENDO: OUR GAMES ARE NOT ON SMARTPHONE

Nintendo will continue to focus on its hardware and software platforms and will not release its games on smartphones. The company's president Satoru Iwata said he remained committed to video game consoles despite disappointing sales of the Wii U. The comments came after the makers of the Super Mario games  revealed a drop in profits. Plans for a new health business were also announced. 

GOOGLE SELLS MOTOROLA MOBILITY UNIT TO LENOVO FOR 3$BN

Google has sold struggling US mobile phone company Motorola Mobility to Chinese computer maker Lenovo for $2.91bn (£1.8bn), in a surprise move.Google had paid $12.5bn for the company less than two years ago. Lenovo plans to build up its smartphone unit through the Motorola purchase, which may help offset its slowing personal computer business.However, Google will keep the majority of Motorola's lucrative patents, which include one for Android software.

ZYNGA BUYS UK GAME-MAKER NATURALMOTION FOR $527M

Social gaming firm Zynga has announced the purchase of UK game-maker NaturalMotion for $527m (£320m).Oxford-based NaturalMotion has had a string of mobile game hits, such as CSR Racing and Clumsy Ninja. Its purchase gives Zynga an entry into the lucrative mobile games market. As news of the deal emerged, Zynga also reported a loss of $25m for the fourth quarter. It said it would trim its workforce by 15% - equivalent to about 314 jobs. Zynga announced it will lay off 15% of its staff, or around 314 people

        

APP OF THE DAY: HASSLE ME

If you’re the forgetful type, Hassle Me will literally hassle you to get stuff done, from finishing up your work to picking up something for dinner. It’s quick, with a simple layout and you are able to customise the amount of times per day it will hassle you.  A handy notification will also pop up in the live tile, alerting you of any outstanding to-dos, meaning a quick glance will all but remind you.

SKULLY AR-1: AUGMENTED REALITY MOTORCYCLE HELMET

Skully AR-1 has a patented integrated rear view camera system with a 180 degree viewing angle. Similar to the way our maps are displayed in front of the rider, the rear view camera feeds video to the HUD to provide you with complete situational awareness. The Skully AR-1 watches your back (and sides) so you can enjoy the ride.

SMART GRILL: LYNX CONCEPT GRILL

The Lynx Concept Grill is a voice-activated smart grill that automatically cooks foods based on user commands. Operation of the concept grill is driven by a fly-by-wire system that drives primary functions of the grill such as ignition and burners via an automated system that cooks recipes that have been pre-programmed by Lynx's master grillers for a perfect meal every time.The Concept Grill incorporates voice recognition, online notification and seamless user interface to bring grilling into the 21st century.

APP OF THE DAY: i.TV

i.TV is one of the most popular mobile TV guide apps and used by millions of people every month. Our platform powers social TV and second screen experiences for brands.i.TV also powers social TV

and second screen experiences for...AOL TV, Huffington Post TV, Nintendo TVii.

2014: TECH TRENDS TO WATCH OUT FOR

Strap yourself in, it’s going to be a wild ride. Based on the trends we’ve seen so far in 2013, I predict 2014 will see many fledgling technologies mature and grow beyond what we could have imagined just a few years ago. Here are my predictions for technology that will trend this year: