T-Mobile Offers Free Week-Long iPhone 'Test Drives'

T-Mobile is launching a new program that will allow prospective customers to try out their network, with a new iPhone 5S, for a week — completely free of charge.

The program, which the carrier is calling Test Drive, is the result of a partnership with Apple. It's meant to give prospective customers a risk-free way to try out a new device with a new carrier, without leaving their existing contract.

People will be able to sign up for the service beginning Monday. Those who sign up will receive an iPhone 5S, equipped with an unlimited plan, to use free of charge for seven days.

The phone must be ordered online through T-Mobile's website and customers will be required to provide a credit or debit card number, along with a matching billing and shipping address, to receive the phone. A temporary hold will be placed on the user's credit or debit card for the amount of $699.99 during the test period, but customers won't be charged unless they fail to return the device at the end of the week.

Should they decide to switch carriers at the end of that time, T-Mobile will pay the termination fees on their existing contract.

“While the carriers ask you to buy blind, the Un-carrier gives you transparency," John Legere, T-Mobile's CEO, said in a statement. "Our network kicks ass, and now people can experience for themselves what a data-strong network can do with T-Mobile Test Drive.”

The network is also expanding its LTE reach to 16 new markets across the U.S, including Atlanta, Dallas, Orlando and Los Angeles.

Use Google Now To Remind You To Cancel Things Like Amazon Prime , Netflix and more

Google Now does a lot of neat things, but the way Google plugs in its wealth of data makes sure the functionality changes often and in unexpected ways. Case in point, it helps you set reminders for some oddly specific events. Need to cancel an auto-renewing membership? Try asking Google Now.

Simply tell Now that you want to cancel Netflix, Amazon Prime, or a number of other services, and the card will give you a direct link with no additional prompting. The link will be called "Cancel Subscription," and it will open the actual cancellation prompt for some services like Netflix. For others (Hulu Plus, for example) it appears to just link to the FAQ page on the site that directs you to the correct account page. Still more convenient than digging around yourself, though.

I've found this works (to varying degrees) with Netflix, Hulu Plus, Comcast, and Amazon Prime. There are likely many more services it'll work with, so let us know what you find.

Acer's Latest Smartwatch

Acer is the latest company with its sights set on the growing wearables space. The company debuted its first-ever smartwatch, the Liquid Leap, at the Computex conference in Taiwan on Monday, but it won't hit markets until this summer.

The device is part fitness tracker and part smartwatch, with the promises of keeping you updated on daily activity; it monitors steps taken, distance, calories burned and sleep while performing smartwatch-like tasks, including sending and receiving emails and text messages.

The device, which is available in various colors including orange, pink, white and black, resembles a fitness tracker more than anything else. The slim band is strikingly similar to theFitbit with a touch of the Jawbone Up, but features brighter (and better) colors, plus a beautiful display. Although it's also made of rubber, similar to the competitors, its slim form factor looks more like jewelry than other models on the market.

The Liquid Leap will only work with Acer's Liquid Jade phone, which limits the amount of consumers who will be able to get their hands on the smartwatch. It's unclear whether Acer will open this up to other smartphones in the future.

Acer hasn't announced the price, but said it will cost less than €99 in Europe ($135), according to Engadget. Because the company hasn't revealed much in terms of details and specs, it's hard to say at this point how it will stack up against competitors.

As of now, Fitbit accounts for 50% of the 2.7 million wearable bands, including fitness trackers and smartwatches, that shipped worldwide in the first quarter of 2014.It's no surprise that Acer is interested in the wearable market, as consumer interest is only heating up. Earlier this year, research firm Canalys reported that smartwatch shipments are projected to reach 8 million in 2014. That number is estimated to grow to more than 23 million units by 2015 and more than 45 million by 2017.

While Nike is closing up hardware production for its Fuelband, its software will likely be baked into Apple's long-rumored iWatch device, which is expected to debut sometime in the near future.

As for smartwatches, the Pebble continues to dominate market share with 35% of sales, followed by the Sony SmartWatch (29%) and the Samsung Gear (23%).

Google Wear : Smart Watches

Most of us are rarely without our smartphones in hand. These powerful supercomputers keep us connected to the world and the people we love. But we are just at the beginning - there is a lot more that can be done as far as mobile technology goes. The Smart Watches are just the first step towards adding a new dimension to your experience with android. 

The main advantages of using a smart watch and the features and conveyances that one could expect from these handy gadgets are :

Useful information accessed quickly :  Android Wear shows you info and suggestions you need, right when you need them. The wide variety of Android applications means you’ll receive the latest posts and updates from your favorite social apps, chats from your preferred messaging apps, notifications from shopping, news and photography apps, and more. 

Straight answers to spoken questions :  Just say “Ok Google” to ask questions, like how many calories are in an avocado, what time your flight leaves, and the score of the game. Or say “Ok Google” to get stuff done, like calling a taxi, sending a text, making a restaurant reservation or setting an alarm. 

Fitness monitor :  Hit your exercise goals with reminders and fitness summaries from Android Wear. Your favorite fitness apps can give you real-time speed, distance and time information on your wrist for your run, cycle or walk. 

As a controller to the multiscreen world : Android Wear lets you access and control other devices from your wrist. Just say “Ok Google” to fire up a music playlist on your phone, or cast your favorite movie to your TV. There’s a lot of possibilities here so we’re eager to see what developers build. 

Some of the Smart Watches that are ready to flood the local markets

Earlier this afternoon, Google officially unveiled Android Wear, its new platform for wearables. Now both Motorola and LG have announced Android Wear smartwatches.

Motorola, Google's former-subsidiary apparently has big plans for Android Wear. It's calling its watch the Moto 360. The device is notable because it has a round face — something we haven't seen before in a smartwatch.

On the other hand LG is calling its device the LG G Watch and the company says it will be compatible with a variety of Android smartphones. LG says it expects to release the G Watch in the second quarter of 2014 — so we should see it in just a few months.

The company released a mockup image, which looks similar to some other smartwatches we've seen — including Sony's Android-powered SmartWatch 2.

LG says it will release more details on the LG G Watch in the coming months.

In the present scenario, it would be interesting to see which of these watches are able to satisfy the expectations of the people but it would be too early to predict anything.

Xperia Z2 : A Worthy Rival To Galaxy S5 and HTC One

Sony's two top-end smartphones of 2013 — Xperia Z and Z1 — were outmatched by rivals, despite decent configuration. Xperia Z was a good smartphone that was marred by a poor display and susceptible build quality, and its successor Z1 featured a sturdier body, but offered very little improvements in the display department.

The company started off 2014 with the unveiling of Xperia Z2 at Mobile World Congress in February. This device is an evolution of Xperia Z1, but features enough alterations and tweaks to make it a worthy competitor to the likes of Samsung Galaxy S5 and HTC One (M8).

Display
One of the key features of Xperia Z1 is its 5.2-inch display, and boy, is it good! Both Xperia Z and Z1 were plagued by displays that washed out as soon as you stepped in sunlight, and nothing you did could make the screen legible. Not so with this smartphone.

The change has been because of the screen panel used by Sony in the new phone. Instead of the TFT panels that Xperia Z and Z1 used, the new Xperia Z2 employs an IPS display. IPS displays are known for their vibrant colours and adaptability to extreme viewing angles.

However, a better display (than the predecessors) does not mean it is great. We observed that colours reproduced by the display were a bit over-saturated when brightness was set at highest levels, but that is something that happens with most phones, including Galaxy S5 and HTC One.

But the problem comes when the brightness is set at 30% (sufficient for indoor usage). At that time, colours seemed a little dull. Compared to the other two new top-end devices in the market, the colours at low brightness in Xperia Z2 are not as vibrant, showing that Sony still has work to do on this front.

Design
Sony Xperia Z2 carries on the Omnibalance design that was introduced last year, but there are enough subtle tweaks in the design to make it look better than its predecessors. The smartphone has the metal frame on the sides that made its debut last year with Xperia Z1.

The overall design of the smartphone is slightly updated, but largely remains unchanged. The Power button is smaller in size this time and the speakers are no more at the bottom. But apart from these, there are no apparent changes in terms of looks. A closer inspection, however, reveals that the frame has more rounded edges, which looks better.

Hardware
Sony Xperia Z2 has most of the key features that a top-end smartphone today must have. It sports a big, high resolution display, 2.3GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801 processor, 3GB RAM, 20.7MP camera, supports microSD cards up to 128GB and a big 3,200mAh battery. You get 16GB internal storage, with 10.6GB accessible to user.

Connectivity options in the device include 2G, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, microUSB 2.0 and NFC. Though the smartphone supports 4G connectivity, there is no official word yet whether it will support the TD-LTE band of India. Sony has also retained the magnetic pins on the right side, so you can use the charging dock to recharge the battery even as you watch a movie.

Software
When we talk of software, we can easily put Xperia Z2 and bloatware in the same category. The Android 4.4 (KitKat)-powered smartphone comes preloaded with a total of 59 apps. Fifty-nine!!! Thankfully Sony has given user the option to delete a few apps, such as BigFlix, Box, LinkedIn, Pixlr and NeoReader, among others.

The Japanese manufacturer has also added a few proprietary apps to set itself apart from rivals who do not have as rich a content portfolio. You can use the PlayStation Network app to connect with your friends and buy games.

Gaming
We played Asphalt 8 at the highest settings to test the chipset, but never once did we notice even a hint of a hiccup in performance. The gaming experience on all resource-consuming games we tried, such as Real Racing 3 and Dead Trigger 2, was consistently good and the smartphone did not heat up as much as we expected it to. There were no instances of the phone freezing or frame drops.

No novelty though

Nowadays, what features a top-end handset has does not matter as much as what special features it lacks. Samsung Galaxy S5 has a fingerprint scanner and heart rate monitor and HTC One (M8) has two rear cameras to add depth. Sony Xperia Z2 has... well nothing 'special'.

The only thing that this smartphone has and rivals don't is extra RAM (3GB in Xperia Z2 vs 2GB in One (M8) and Galaxy S5), and that's not something you can really show off.

This can be a point of concern for some buyers, who would expect a phone costing Rs 50,000 to have at least some feature that sets it apart in the crowd. So, if you are into showing all your friends what unique super cool feature your new (and expensive) handset has, then Xperia Z2 is not for you. Key differentiator it is not, but practically speaking, extra RAM may have its impact felt over a longer period of intense usage.

Verdict
Xperia Z2 is a big step forward for Sony and one would be hard-pressed to find many problems with this smartphone. In fact, it has enough chops to stand up against the two big Android smartphones.

However, the problem is that HTC One (M8) is indeed a better smartphone what with the beautiful all-aluminium body. If you are spending Rs 50,000, then why not spend it on the best smartphone. But if you plan to cover up the body with a back cover anyway, then we do recommend Xperia Z2 to you.

To make the deal sweeter, Sony is giving a fitness band worth Rs 5,990 and body cover priced at Rs 2,990 free with Xperia Z2. This makes the Sony smartphone a much better value proposition than the other two smartphones.

Samsung Galaxy K

The company's latest handset melds a pro-level camera with a mid-level smartphone in the hopes of creating a whole new product category.
Anyone who follows Samsung's fortunes or its ever-growing range of handsets may beg to differ. After all, less than a year ago, the company launched the Samsung Galaxy SIV zoom -- a pro-level camera that also works as a smartphone.
But, according to Sung Hong Lim, Senior Vice President of Mobile Communications Business at Samsung Electronics, the SIV zoom wasn't as good as it could have been in meeting the needs of consumers who are happy to compromise on smartphone specs but won't take second best when it comes to imaging and optics.
All of which makes the Galaxy K zoom not just a totally new product category, but a world-first too.