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The LG Wine Smart is flipping insane, and I want it

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Yes, the flip phone is back and the Wine Smart has been given a modern day boost with Android Lollipop and touchscreen display. That said, the touchscreen is only 3.2 inches, so it's not something you'll be wanting to watch videos on.

Internal storage is also at a paltry 4GB, although you do get a microSD slot, but have we mentioned that it FLIPS OPEN AND CLOSED?

Wondering why it's called the 'Wine Smart'? Well so are we, but it comes in navy and… wait for it… burgundy. Ha! Good one. That's also a type of wine. Lol lol lol.

A phone for flipsters

The VGA – 3MP front and rear camera combos aren't going to capture you and your friends in the best light, but remember this is a clamshell. Imagine how boss you're going to look ending a call.

Under the hood a quad-core processor and 1GB of RAM are running the Lollipop show, and slip this 16.6mm thick beast into the pocket of your skinny jeans and watch jaws drop as you strut down the street.

"Is that a phone in your pocket?" people will ask. "Yes" you'll say. It's the dream.

It's not the best phone on the market, not by a long shot, but I sure as hell want one and the best news of all is it's coming soon. The release date and price are yet to be announced, but I can't flipping wait.

Corsair reveals new ultra-quiet Strafe RGB Silent mechanical keyboard

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The Strafe RGB Silent is the first keyboard in the world to feature Cherry MX Silent switches, which Corsair claims offer the precision of mechanical switches but with a significantly quieter typing noise thanks to “exclusive patented noise reduction technology”.

In fact, the company claims that the switches, in combination with the noise suppressing design of the chassis itself, means this keyboard is 30% quieter than rival mechanical gaming keyboards.

That's not exactly silent, of course, but it should be a whole lot easier on the lugholes of anyone within earshot (and of course the user himself, or herself).

The keyboard also boasts RGB backlighting which in conjunction with the Corsair Utility Engine software can create all sorts of groovy multi-coloured lighting effects including "cascading rainbows” and “dynamic ripples".

As well as the Strafe RGB Silent keyboard, there will be a plain Strafe RGB version without the fancy ultra-quiet mechanical switches – instead this will come with either Cherry MX Red or Brown switches.

Corsair also revealed a new VOID gaming headset (in wireless, USB and analogue flavours) featuring customisable RGB lighting and Dolby 7.1 surround sound in the wireless and USB models. The headset is also supposed to deliver a premium experience in terms of comfort, with ear cups which are specially shaped to fit the human ear.

Finally, the company also pulled out a new mouse, the Scimitar RGB gaming mouse that boasts a 'key slider' control system, which, according to the press release spotted by Tech Powerup, "provides 8mm of adjustment, putting every button within reach of most gamers' thumbs regardless of hand size for improved comfort and accuracy".

The mouse has no less than 12 mechanical side buttons, and offers 12,000 DPI in terms of precision.

The headset will be out in August retailing at $80 (around £50), with the mouse to follow in September at the same price point.

The Strafe RGB mechanical keyboards will be last to market in October, priced at $150 (around £95) for the vanilla version, and $160 (around £100) for the silent model.

Also check out: Gamescom 2015 – Microsoft's show hits the ground running

Image: Tech Powerup

Mac attack: OS X Yosemite hit by zero-day vulnerability

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This is another prime example of how with Apple's computers becoming more popular, malware authors are looking to exploit unwary users who still believe OS X is a safe haven never troubled by viruses and other similar nastiness.

How does this particular exploit work? As Ars Technica reports, it's down to new error logging capabilities which were added to OS X 10.10, with the programmers failing to use standard safeguarding measures when implementing them.

Security firm Malwarebytes said that malware pushers are modifying the 'sudoers' configuration file (a hidden Unix file) to get themselves root permissions via a Unix shell with no password necessary – simple and direct access to the machine.

The company explained in a blog post that the malware peddlers are using the exploit to launch the VSInstaller app, and then installing VSearch adware on the victim’s machine, as well as a “variant of the Genieo adware and the MacKeeper junkware.”

Clearly this flaw is bad news, as is the fact that Apple hasn’t patched it yet in the current version of OS X (10.10.4) according to Stefan Esser, who discovered the vulnerability (and rather hastily blogged about it before informing Apple, again according to Malwarebytes) – though apparently it has been fixed in a beta version of OS X 10.11.

To fix for the current incarnation of Apple’s operating system, you’ll need to install a patch produced by Esser, but applying a fix from a third-party like so will of course carry its own potential risks.

You’re better off waiting for the official fix from Cupertino, and remember you have to actually install a dodgy third-party program (which hasn’t been code-signed) carrying the script to be affected by this exploit.

Like this? Check out: OS X 10.11 El Capitan features: what’s new and what matters

Sony looks to be paving the way for Ultra HD Blu-ray classics

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The new series of Blu-rays will debut with Bram Stoker’s Dracula in October and will be resolutely 1080p, but they do feature a 4K restoration along with a Dolby Atmos soundtrack.

 

Sony is trotting out the traditional ‘ultimate edition’ line, stating the “Supreme Cinema Series is a premium, limited edition collection befitting beloved cinematic favorites and modern classics. Each film is presented with pristine high definition picture, enhanced sound and a collection of new and/or archival special features, creating an ultimate edition for first-time viewers and fans alike.”

 

But with the upcoming launch of Ultra HD Blu-ray later this year we will see actual 4K visuals being packaged on physical media for the first time and Sony’s Supreme Cinema Series looks to be the perfect fit. It could also indicate Sony will be preparing a wealth of classic 4K content available for launch.

 

Restoration project

 

Sony has been using the 4K restoration of celluloid classics to create its digital theatrical presentations, capturing far more detail and colour from the original source material than the existing remasters.

 

It has been working on the classics for years, and when we visited its studios back in 2013 it had already restored over 100 movies via its 4K scanners.

 

 

  On the traditional Supreme Cinema Series Blu-rays those 4K restorations will need to be downscaled back to 1080p to be played on standard HD TVs, but when it comes to Ultra HD Blu-rays on the latest TVs we’ll be getting closer to the actual experience of 4K cinema projection in the home than we’ve ever been.

What classic movies are you looking forward to seeing in their 4K remastered glory?

Refreshed iMacs incoming with higher quality screens to drool over

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MacRumors reports that an analyst from KGI Securities, Ming-Chi Kuo, a prominent participant when it comes to the Apple grapevine (so to speak), has said that new iMacs will arrive in the third quarter (i.e. next month).

These models will have Intel processors with more grunt (unsurprisingly), and moreover a higher quality display with better colour saturation.

Ming-Chi Kuo said: “We believe Apple will introduce new iMac models in 3Q15, which are expected to have key selling points such as more powerful processors and much better display quality. We predict the panel will use a LED phosphor material called KSF to notably boost colour saturation.”

So not only can we expect more striking colours, but also a “much better” quality all round – and let’s face it, Apple’s displays are no slouch as it is, so it’s pretty exciting to think about what sort of screen might grace these new iMac models.

Also, this has prompted further whispers of a Retina Display-toting 21.5-inch iMac, but the analyst had nothing to say on that matter. That would certainly be a crowd pleasing move, as would a boost from the not-so-speedy 5400RPM hard drives which currently nestle in the base configuration iMac models.

However, all possible upgrades have to be balanced against the price, naturally. The iMac range currently starts at £899, which nets you a 21.5-inch model with a 1.4GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of memory, and a 500GB hard drive (of the aforementioned 5400RPM variety).

In Apple’s recent earnings report, while revenue was largely driven by the iPhone (as ever), the company also noted that it hit record sales of Mac computers for the third quarter – and Cupertino will be hoping to build on that.

Also check out: Is the Apple Watch the best smartwatch around?