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The ongoing Apple vs. Samsung wars have provided some interesting tidbits of information about the companies, including emails from late Apple founder Steve Jobs.

One such newly released email reveals that 2011 was set to be the year of the "holy war" against Google, and how Jobs and Apple were planning to fight.

At the time, the company was working on the iPhone 4S ("plus iPhone 4") and the iPhone 5, looking to have an LTE version of the iPhone in 2012. Additionally, the company was looking to build a low-cost iPhone model to replace the aging iPhone 3GS. All of the goals were hit with the exception of the low-cost replacement, which eventually became somewhat of a reality with the iPhone 5c.

The full 2011 strategy via the document:

- "plus" iPhone 4 with better antenna, processor, camera & software to stay ahead of competitors until mid 2012
- have LTE version in mid-2012
- create low cost iPhone model based on iPod touch to replace 3GS
- Business & competitive update
- show Droid and RIM ads
- Verizon iPhone
- schedule, marketing, ...
- iPhone 5 hardware
- H4 performance
- new antenna design, etc
- new camera
- schedule
- CONFIDENTIAL
- cost goal
- show model (and/or renderings) – Jony

On Thursday, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (only known as NASA), will release a full list of many software projects it has been running over the last forty years including how to gain access to the open-source code behind the projects.

Among the code being made available is software for PCs, robotics, climate simulators, running rocket guidance systems and much more.

The master list will include over a thousand projects with instructions to obtain the code. NASA wants developers and budding entrepreneurs to push the software in new directions, or to use the code as foundations for new software and ideas. A lot of the code will be hard to obtain (for example, the rocket guidance system will not be given to just anybody), but if you are approved, you can use it free of charge and without royalties. You can even adapt it into commercial projects.

After the list is released, NASA will build a searchable database for all the projects. By next year, the code will be hosted in its own online repository.

NASA has been offering up their code for some time now, but never on this scale and never with such ease to find. The code that has been available has already been used in many different projects outside of space, including helping to identify endangered animals and "our design software has been used to make everything from guitars to roller coasters to Cadillacs. Scheduling software that keeps the Hubble Space Telescope operations straight has been used for scheduling MRIs at busy hospitals and as control algorithms for online dating services."

As part of Windows 8.1, Microsoft is adding its own sliding/swiping text input, dubbed "Word Flow," which it promises will be the fastest such software available.

The virtual keyboard for Windows Phone has always been well accepted by critics and consumers, but the addition of a Swype-esque input should certainly make it more convenient. Android has native swiping input, but Apple does not.

Says Microsoft:

Microsoft has unveiled prototypes for an upcoming Windows interface built for cars that mirrors your Windows Phone and Metro-based devices.

Last month, Apple unveiled their CarPlay interface for autos, bringing the iOS experience you are used to on your mobile devices to your car. iPhone 5, 5C and 5S users can use CarPlay to control phone calls, use Maps, play their music, and have messages dictated to them.

Similarly, Microsoft's new system will use the connectivity standard known as Mirrorlink to sync your Windows devices to the in-car entertainment system. Volkswagen, Honda, Toyota, and Citroen have all confirmed they are working on new cars with Mirrorlink support, and car radio manufacturers Alpine and Pioneer are also on board.

As of writing, the prototypes are just barely usable, and Microsoft's demo at BUILD even crashed at one point when it was being unveiled. Developers will be open to build apps designed for the car, and the Windows Store marketplace will make its way over, as well. Just like Windows 8 and Windows Phone, you can swipe between different tiles and sections.

Fans of Reddit most certainly know about the image-sharing site Imgur, as do millions of others, but a new funding round should help make the site an even more household name.

Imgur sees 130 million unique monthly visitors, 1.5 million images uploaded daily and 1.3 billion images viewed.

Despite the massive popularity, the site is infamous for being "bootstrapped," and run as lean as possible by its founder. The founder jokes that the only investment he or others have made to the site was registering the domain name for $7.

As of this week, tech investment firm Andreessen Horowitz has raised $40 million for the site, the first step in a potential long road to going public. "Being bootstrapped is great," added Alan Schaaf, the founder and chief executive of Imgur. "You own 100 percent of it. But the downside is that you aren't able to move as fast as you want."

"We've talked with over a dozen VCs and angel investors over the years," he noted. "But we've never clicked with any of them until Andreessen. During our initial meeting, we were bouncing ideas around about where Imgur could go."

The company will use the funds to hire more salespeople and engineers and eventually move to a larger office. Additionally, the company will build new mobile apps.

Will.i.am, famous for his time with the Black Eyed Peas and more recently as a major producer and tech investor, has shown off a new smartwatch that does not need a separate phone to be useful.

The project was unveiled on the Alan Carr show, and will.i.am himself funded and founded the project.

Via his own Twitter, the producer says the device should be available on sale by July.

"I don't carry my phone anymore. This is my phone," will.i.am said on the show. The device can make phone calls, can hold music, has Twitter/Instagram/Facebook integration and can be linked up with Bluetooth headphones.

The device is certainly intriguing, but there is a lot left to the imagination here.

Google appears to have moved on from their failed Google TV endeavor with a new TV interface that should make fans of content very happy: Android TV.

A new report from the Verge, citing exclusively obtained documents and pictures, claims Android TV is already in the works, with video app providers already building for the platform. "Android TV is an entertainment interface, not a computing platform," writes Google in the documents. "It's all about finding and enjoying content with the least amount of friction." It will be "cinematic, fun, fluid, and fast."

While Google TV tried to change how we watch TV and content, Android TV will just make it easier to find what you are looking for, using the Google formats popular to a billion Android device owners.

The platform will rely on simple TV apps (Netflix, Amazon, Hulu Plus, Crackle, VUDU, Plex and plenty more) and scrolling cards (think Google Now) that show off apps, movies, games, TV, etc.

A remote control with a simple D-Pad allows you to scroll through the content, which will include curated suggestions. Each category will have its own up/down/left/right options. Additionally, the controller will have "enter," "home" and "back" buttons for navigation and in the future there will be game controllers similar to Amazon's newly unveiled Kindle Fire TV.

Thanks to the new Wolfenstein: The New Order FAQ, we know the upcoming DOOM beta will only be available for the PS4, Xbox One and PC, leaving out older consoles like the PS3 and Xbox 360.

Developer Bethesda snuck the news into the FAQ, along with the news that codes for the beta that are included with pre-orders of Wolfenstein will be codes for the console you bought the game for. For example, if you pre-ordered Wolfenstein for the PS4, the DOOM beta code will only be good for the PS4.

Bethesda also says that pre-ordering is the only way to guarantee access to the beta. That guarantee does not include also retailers though: "Other digital retailers' processes and/or participation may vary. We suggest contacting your preferred retailer directly for additional information."

While Wolfenstein: The New Order releases May 20th in NA, it is still unclear when the DOOM beta will launch.

Source:

'DOOM' Beta Only Available on PC, PS4 & Xbox One Gamerant

According to a new leak, it appears that Amazon's oft-rumored unlimited streaming music service could launch as early as next month.

Sources have posted part of a licensing agreement, claiming it was obtained from a major music publisher, which states that Amazon is planning to launch "one or more digital music subscription service(s)."

In addition, the services would be made available as part of a "bundle with one or more other Amazon products or services." This suggests the service will be bundled with Prime, the $99 subscription package that gives access to the free Prime Video catalog, free 2-day shipping on millions of items, and free Kindle books and more.

The contract also says that Amazon could offer free access to the streaming music, but with limitations, likely if you do not want to be a part of Prime. The limits could be as low as one play per free track.

If accurate, the sources claim that the contracts must all be signed by May 1st, meaning the service could be available starting next month.

Amazon has unveiled its "Dash" shopping accessory this week, a stick that includes an LED scanner and microphone for voice search with the ultimate goal of helping you build a shopping list.

After using the accessory, the Wi-Fi enabled device will connect to your home network or your phone and allow you to view the items and purchase them via Amazon.

For the time being, the stick is available to AmazonFresh users, which means you are in Southern California, San Fran or Seattle. Amazon Fresh offers same-day delivery of groceries to your home.

The device works similarly to the Amazon smartphone app which allows you to scan barcodes but it could facilitate the process with one-click access and voice search.

Check the getting started video, and the promo trailer:

Following the resignation of Brendan Eich from Mozilla amidst a backlash over a donation he made to the California Proposition 8 campaign, Mozilla has come under fire again.

As you would expect, opponents of gay marriage in the United States sympathize with Brendan Eich, and are lashing out at Mozilla after he resigned from his position as chief executive, which he held only for a number of weeks.

One such group is the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), which is calling on consumers to uninstall Mozilla's Firefox browser as a protest.

Facebook has published an interesting research paper on its site surrounding new facial recognition technology called "DeepFace".

In a paper, eerily titled, "Closing the Gap to Human-Level Performance in Face Verification," the researchers detail a system that can confirm that two pictures show the same person accurately 97.25 percent of the time, compared to humans who have been recorded at around 97.53 percent accuracy.

The interesting thing about the technology detailed in the paper is that unlike other facial recognition systems (such as one Facebook currently uses itself), this system does not require a detailed frontal picture of the face.

Instead, it uses "3D modelling" to help it confirm an identity even when a head is turned somewhat in a picture. The DeepFace system conducts its analysis based on more than 120 million different parameters.

"We don't currently use the techniques discussed in the paper on Facebook," said Facebook spokeswoman Lydia Chan, reports CNN.

Intel has also developed technology that can use facial detection cameras and software to determine a person's approximate age and gender, and retrieve information, like ads, that suit.

The specs for Samsung's Galaxy S5 Zoom smartphone have been revealed in a SamMobile report.

Following on from the Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom, Samsung seem to be releasing a Galaxy S5 Zoom for those who want even better image quality than the Galaxy S5 can offer. The details were leaked in benchmark details, and SamMobile has revealed them.

• SuperAMOLED HD (1280x720) display
• SoC: Six Core Samsung Exynos 5 Hexa (5260), two 1.7GHz Cortex-A15 cores and four 1.3GHz Cortex-A7 cores
• Quad-core ARM Mali-T624 GPU
• 2GB of RAM
• 20.2-Megapixel (5184×3888) camera sensor with Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS)
• 10x optical zoom
• 2.1-Megapixel (1920×1080) front facing camera
• MicroSD
• Android 4.4 KitKat & TouchWiz
• 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct
• DLNA
• Bluetooth 4.0
• NFC

Microsoft's Larry Hryb (Major Nelson) has confirmed that the Xbox One console will get support for game storage through external devices in an update coming soon.

The Xbox 360 console got support for external storage in an update back in 2010. Since then the support has expanded to allow external devices up to 32GB in size.

Hryb confirmed that the Xbox One console would also get support for external storage in a comment made on the Xbox One subreddit.

"External game storage is coming soon....I need to check on media support," he said. When asked for details on the limitations for the storage devices, he could only respond, "When I have details on that , I'll let you know."


Sources:
Major Nelson: Xbox One getting external data storage support 'soon': www.joystiq.com
Xbox one - momentum, single comment: www.reddit.com/r/xboxone/

The new Xbox boss Phil Spencer took time out to talk to Larry Hryb (Major Nelson) about how the Xbox brand and technology will be shaped and used in the near-future.

In the interview, Spencer admits that he read plenty of articles and posts from forums about the things that he needs to change at Xbox after the news about his appointment went public. From those, and from gaming forums and social media, he said he received plenty of good ideas, and when asked if he copy and pasted them to his to-do list, he replied: "It sounds corny.. but yes."

As for the immediate plans, Spencer is focused on Microsoft's message and demonstrations for E3, because this year's event will be extremely important to use as an exhibition of changes.

In the interview, Spencer admits that he felt Microsoft made some bad decisions last year but there was plenty of moves in the right direction from the company too.

Check out the interview below...