SlashGear Evening Wrap-Up: August 8, 2012
Conan O’ Brien had a little fun with the trial on last night’s show, so you should give that a glance.
It was a reasonably large day for NASA’s Curiosity rover, because it lifted its head for the primary time and sent back new images of the skin of Mars. It seems that the Galaxy Note II – that’s expected to be announced on the end of this month, remember – will come complete with a versatile display that makes it more resilient than typical smartphone displays. Speaking of the Galaxy Note, T-Mobile finally received the phablet today (together with the myTouch and myTouch Q), so in case you are a T-Mobile user, you’ll want to check that out.
Starbucks made a multi-million dollar investment in Square today, and we inform you all it’s worthwhile to find out about using Square to pay on your coffee. Tickets for Microsoft Build 2012 went on sale today, but don’t expect to get any now, as they sold out only one hour later. Between both of them, Android and iOS now make up 85% of the smartphone market, with Android taking 68.1% market share for itself. Apple did a few things to enhance security today, temporarily freezing over-the-phone password resets and announcing that it’s going to soon bulk up identity verification measures for iCloud.
Today OUYA announced that it’s far in talks with Namco Bandai as its Kickstarter winds down, it was revealed that Google voice search will soon land at the iPhone, and we caught wind of a rumor that says the hot iPhone could be 7.6mm thick. RIM’s stock enjoyed a bit jump after one analyst claimed that Samsung was considering buying the corporate, and Valve revealed today that Steam will soon begin offering non-game software, complete with support for Steam Cloud. Finally, Warner is considering holding limited showings of The Hobbit at 48 frames per second, which has us excited since we tend to go nuts whenever The Hobbit is mentioned.
That wraps up the scoop, but remember to look into our interview with Kate Beckinsale of Total Recall fame, and likewise spend a while with our review of the HP ENVY 4 Ultrabook. Benefit from the remainder of your evening, everyone!