Samsung continues to dominate the global smartphone market, but they may soon find themselves with fewer potential buyers if they keep up with stunts like the one European Galaxy Note 3 owners have to contend with. Instead of being SIM-locked, owners are discovering their phablets are locked out of being used outside of the region where it was purchased -- a path we're hoping other hardware manufacturers choose not to follow.
Apple TV Adds Major League Soccer, Disney Junior Channels
9to5Mac reported Thursday [1] that Apple has added two more channels to the second and third-generation black Apple TV, this time for Major League Soccer and Disney Junior. As usual, owners will need a subscription (for MLS) or a compatible cable/satellite subscription (for Disney Junior) to get much use out of the new arrivals, but it's comforting to see that Apple continues to add new content options -- but personally we'd rather just see a full-on App Store that lets us choose what we'd like to install.
VLC for Mac 2.1 Delivers Ultra HD Support, More Formats
VideoLAN announced Thursday [2] a major new version of VLC for Mac and Windows which prepares the popular open-source media player for the future -- and more specifically, playback of Ultra HD 4k video files. VLC 2.1 features a new audio code, additional format support and hardware decoding and encoding, and the developers claim to have also squashed around a thousand bugs thanks to the work of 140 volunteers. As always, VLC is a free download, available direct from the VideoLAN website.
Facebook Now Allows Editing Posts, iOS Update Coming Soon
The Verge reported Thursday [3] that Facebook is finally allowing users to edit their posts on the web, as well as from an update to the existing Android app. iOS users, fear not: The feature will be made available soon on your favorite platform, but don't rush to start tweaking your older posts quite yet -- the social network is releasing the feature in a staged rollout, so even web users may not see it available quite yet. But hey, this is certainly worth waiting for… after all, each of us probably has a post or three that we'd like to revise in hindsight...
Skype for Mac 6.9 Adds Screen Sharing Enhancements
Microsoft released an update to Skype for Mac this week [4] , bringing the OS X version to 6.9, which adds the ability to selectively share a specific window of your computer's screen or the whole thing at once. The update also features a few smaller tweaks, including the use of a hand when the mouse cursor is over a clickable URL link, support for three new languages, toolbar search improvements and a fix for a bug that caused the name field to overlap the mood message on certain contacts. Skype users can download the update from their current version or head straight to the website instead.
Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Owners Up in Arms Over Region Locking
We're not quite sure how Samsung couldn't see that this wasn't going to be a popular option. According to AppleInsider [5] , buyers of the latest Samsung Galaxy Note 3 are shocked to discover that the manufacturer has implemented region locks on its latest big-screen phablet, preventing users from traveling outside of their territory -- even if the device has been SIM unlocked. That means European buyers can't bring the device to the U.S. (and vice versa) without racking up hefty roaming charges, but users can't say they haven't been warned -- the product has clearly been stickered with a disclaimer, not that it will be of much comfort to those who have chosen to buy one.
Follow this article’s author, J.R. Bookwalter on Twitter [6]
(Image courtesy of 9to5Mac)
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Links
- ^ 9to5Mac reported Thursday (9to5mac.com)
- ^ VideoLAN announced Thursday (www.videolan.org)
- ^ The Verge reported Thursday (www.theverge.com)
- ^ Microsoft released an update to Skype for Mac this week (blogs.skype.com)
- ^ According to AppleInsider (appleinsider.com)
- ^ J.R. Bookwalter on Twitter (twitter.com)
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