Announcement

Samsung has a bit of a tough act to follow in the Galaxy S4. The company’s flagship smartphone has been the top-selling Android smartphone since its release in 2013, it’s the biggest competitor to Apple’s iPhone and in many ways it set the bar for what other manufacturers brought to the table since then: bigger displays, more powerful CPUs and innovative software like S Health. Competition in the smartphone market is fiercer than ever in 2014, so the Galaxy S5 really has to hit it out of the park to stay on top. Based on what we saw at Samsung Unpacked today, it looks like the Galaxy S5 has the chops to keep Samsung’s winning streak going.

Live from Barcelona, the Samsung #UNPACKED5 press conference was expected to and did reveal the new Samsung Galaxy S5 smartphone. Packed with features, the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S5 also came with the reveal of a few new creative devices Samsung developed to pair with and expand on the capabilities of the newest smartphone, and all eyes were on the latest fitness tracker to hit the market – the Samsung Gear Fit.

Samsung got a head start on most of its consumer electronics rivals with the launch of the Galaxy Gear smartwatch in 2013. While the Galaxy Gear had many fans, it missed the mark in terms of mainstream acceptance. Samsung was obviously taking notes because when it announced the replacement —only five months after introducing the original— most of the issues noted with the Galaxy Gear had been addressed. A day before the start of the Mobile World Congress, Samsung unveiled a pair of new smartwatches: the Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo.  

For years, the basic smartphone form factor hasn’t changed much: a rectangular slab of plastic, glass and metal. As displays have become larger, some people have found that rectangle becomes a bit cumbersome to use as a phone and all the flat glass leads to a lot of glare. Enter the G Flex from LG. Canada’s first curved smartphone, the G Flex ups the display size to 6 inches and offers the high contrast ratio and deep blacks that only OLED can. Thanks to its innovative curved design, the G Flex feels much more natural to use as a phone than much smaller traditionally shaped smartphones, while the curved display reduces annoying screen glare. The G Flex offers even more technological breakthroughs than its unique form factor and it’s coming soon to Best Buy.  

With two HD remasters and a Vita exclusive, Sony is representing the month of February with a Trio of console exclusives. The PS Vita wins with a double helping with the giant demon hunting Toukiden: The Age of Demons, and murder mystery Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc. Tales of Symphonia Chronicles rounds it out, packaging two ‘Tales’ games and treating them to the full HD face lift.

Avani has taken a different approach to designing smartphone cases. They’ve used premium materials and combined them with stellar workmanship and attention to details. The results are fashionable, elegant and sophisticated cases that make your Samsung Galaxy , Samsung Note and iPhone  really stand out from the crowd. Here’s a preview of these stylish cases, now available at Best Buy.

Sony has just annopunced it’s latest camer ain the Alpha series; the A6000. With super quick autofocus and the abilty to shoot 11 frames per second, Sony is continuing to push the mirrorless camera category forward.   Today photographer Justin Morrison gives us his initial thoughts on the A6000

New Televisions were a big part of last month’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Vegas, and the big brands were all strutting their stuff trying to take a lead position by showing off their latest and greatest technologies.  Some of it was a bit of fluff, but fortunately there was a lot of great stuff too. I am going to give you my take on the “best-in-show.”

We all want to save money and VoIP (Voice over IP) technology is one of those great ways to cut your spending. It uses the Internet and its cheap data as an alternative to making voice calls using a telephone or cell phone. Great idea. When it comes to VoIP, netTALK is one of leaders in Canada and the company has just announced the launch of a new Android app that’s exclusive to Canadians. This netTALK app features a long list of benefits including a free Canadian number, free international calls between app users and free international radio streaming. Given the popularity of NetTALK’s Duo VOiP telephone hardware, this app is definitely worth checking out.  

You can’t have a Tomb Raider party and not invite the next generation to join in the fun!  Thats what Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition is all about, putting in the High Definition. One of 2013s gaming highlights, Tomb Raider was a reboot as they should be, great story, great gameplay, and bringing an old character into a new era, and now a new generation too!  For you folks with the Xbox One or Playstation 4, this tomb raiding adventure has been sharpened, honed, and nicely quaffed (it’s a hair joke, you’ll get it once you’ve read the article).