Bling it! Super-extravagant smartphones and tablets

Close your eyes and imagine money. Lots and lots of money. Stacks and stacks and bags and briefcases full of... oh, you get the picture.

Now, imagine you were to possess such vast sums of cash. What would you do with it? Update your antiquated wardrobe? Purchase a new home or 5? Bid on a space date with Leo DiCaprio? Write a check for a $15 million black-diamond iPhone? Yes, there is such a thing; you can find out more about it in the gallery below.

Over the weeks to come, we'll take a look at some of the most ultra-luxurious tech out there, starting with a few seriously blinged-out smartphones and tablets. Some of the grandiose gadgets you'll see in this week's collection might make you roll your eyes, while others might inspire you to pick up a few hundred extra hours at work. … Read more

Apple eyes NFC to sync data between devices

Apple apparently still has its eye on NFC, at least as described in a freshly won patent.

Awarded Tuesday by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, an Apple patent called "System and method for simplified data transfer" describes a way of automatically transferring data from one device to another.

Both devices would be configured to copy data from one to the other. The first device may be set up to save and transfer data associated with specific apps. Powering up the second device would automatically tell the first device to transfer the data. The devices outlined in … Read more

Apple to reach 600 million users by end of 2013, says analyst

Apple could see more than 600 million users by the end of 2013, up from 500 million currently, according to Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Hubert.

The 600 million figure assumes that 40 percent of Apple's device sales will be to new customers. If the forecast holds true, Apple stands to generate a healthy amount of revenue and free cash flow per account.

Following growth of an estimated 55 percent in 2012, Apple's current tally of 500 million users ranks second only to the number of people on Facebook. Each of those accounts spent on average $329 last year, … Read more

Foxconn taking Firefox OS to tablets, not just phones

Foxconn and Mozilla announced a partnership Monday under which the Chinese electronics manufacturer will build not just Firefox phones, as others have announced, but tablets, too.

The rumored partnership was confirmed as Mozilla and Foxconn announced their tie-up at the Computex show in Taiwan. By including software in its devices, Foxconn gets to sell a more complete and therefore potentially valuable product to those companies that actually will attach their brands to the hardware.

"We believe that the integration of software and hardware development will offer greater benefits to our customers and consumers," said Young Liu, the general … Read more

Intel amps up horsepower, battery life with Haswell chip

Intel's next-generation chips have officially arrived.

Developed under the codename "Haswell," the new line of chips has been engineered to enable thinner and lighter designs and longer lasting computers, and the company hopes it will reinvigorate a market that's in the doldrums.

The processor, the fourth generation of Intel's Core line, boasts double the graphics performance of the previous generation and a 15 percent raw computing boost, according to the company. That means the computer speed should be snappier, and users can perform more graphics-intensive tasks without always needing a discrete graphics chip.

Intel also … Read more

How to get the new Gmail on Android right now

Last week Google announced a revamped Gmail experience across both its Web and mobile services. The Web version rolled out later on that same day. We already covered how to activate the new tabs feature, and how to use it once you do, but Android version 4.5 was said to begin rolling out in the coming weeks.

Thanks to Android Police, who happened to grab the Gmail APK, you can download and install the revamped version of Gmail for your Android device right now.

You'll need to download the APK from one of the mirrors on the Android … Read more

How to use your voice to search with Chrome on iOS

Google on Monday released a small update to its Chrome app for iOS users. The update, which brings faster Web page rendering for slow or unavailable networks, also adds the ability to run a search on Google using your voice. And depending on the search, you may just get an earful back from Chrome with the answer.

To search with your voice in Chrome for iOS, make sure you've updated to the latest version, 27.0.1453.10, from the App Store. Once you've downloaded and installed the update, activate the omnibox as you normally would when you … Read more

Apple owes France $6.5 million in unpaid taxes

Apple appears to be delinquent on a hefty tax payment in France.

SACEM, a French society that controls royalties paid to authors, composers, and publishers, said on Friday that Apple owes 5 million euros ($6.5 million) in royalty taxes from iPads sold in France in 2011. The tax, known in France as a copie privee, is levied against all vendors of digital devices that use copyrighted content, according to French blog site The Rude Baguette.

That tax then goes to SACEM, which divvies out the money among the various authors, producers, and other creative folks.

Apple passed on the … Read more

Acer sees most of its products sporting touch screens in 2015

Acer expects to dive heavily into the touch screen pool over the next year or two.

The company said Monday it anticipates that up to 80 percent of its products will be outfitted with touch screens in 2014 or 2015, Reuters reported. Acer is eyeing new tablets and touch-screen laptops as the ticket to rejuvenate the sluggish PC market, which continues to suffer from slumping sales.

Touch-screen devices are expected to account for 30 to 35 percent of Acer's total notebook sales by the end of 2013, Acer Chairman and CEO J.T. Wang told Reuters. Last quarter, the … Read more