PhoneBloks

PhoneBloks is a brand new idea by Dave Hakkens. He felt strongly about something, something that is filling the world’s landfills at a massive rate and that is broken and outdated technology. He believes that most technology today is not made to last, that it breaks so easily and becomes outdated so quickly. The solution to this problem may be his idea; PhoneBloks. This is a brand new type of mobile phone, unlike anything the world has ever seen.

It consists of a simple base, with a screen that can be attached to one side and “blocks” that click on the other side. Each block would add a single ability to the phone. For example, one block for mobile network, a camera, storage, battery etc. All these are held in place by two simple screws, placed in the bottom. When one part breaks or gets out of date, it can be replaced in a matter of seconds, effectively allowing the phone to last forever.

It is entirely customisable and as he explains on his video, someone who mainly uses their phone as a camera could trade out some connection blocks for a bigger camera, or if someone uses cloud for storage they could replace storage for a larger battery. I’m sure the possibilities are endless and people around the world could do great things with their PhoneBloks. The blocks will be purchasable online and will be bought from the website and delivered. You may even be able to design your own blocks and buy them from companies you wish to support.

However, this is still an idea and needs help and funding to be a real thing. You can do so by sharing on Twitter and Facebook, as well as on the Thunderclap website. The price has not yet been confirmed yet but that will obviously depend on the blocks you choose.

Ben McNulty

Grand Theft Auto V

As most of you know GTA5 (Grand Theft Auto 5) has been recently released. This new addition to the GTA series had already sold many thousands but will it be the game of the century?

Well, the GTA series as a whole has sold more games than the 60's rock band The Who have sold records. As one of the most played games that the Microsoft console Xbox has released, many game and technology reviewers believe that the GTA series has not only changed the development of games but the whole entertainment market.

This game may seem to be a great hit in the gaming market, but will it beat its rival COD (Call Of Duty) in sales? Within 15 days of release, COD Black Ops 2 made £627,463,000. Can GTA beat that?

By Adam Plumb

YouTube to charge for subscriptions

Most people use YouTube to watch game commentary, music videos and other random stuff. Some people though produce original content and are lucky enough to be a YouTube partner. This means that they get money from advertisements from the videos they upload. However, it was rumored earlier this week that some YouTubers might start charging you a small fee to subscribe to their video.

YouTube geek and member of the Wyvern team, Ewan said:

I wouldn't use YouTube as much to watch videos because it wouldn't be worth it and I think most people would just find a free alternative. 

As you can see above there is an image of some of the channels that you can now browse for a small charge. One thing about this image is that it is TV programs from your first 5 channels on TV and all of the first 5 channels have there own catch up TV and all you have to do is wait a couple of days for them to go onto the websites for no charge.

There is also a bit of confusion about the amount you'll have to pay and how long this payment will last a quote from the Daily Mail says "a single-channel subscription is expected to cost £1.28 ($1.99) a month" which sound reasonable.

By Ewan Barr, Jack Barker and Liam Pape

5 Best App Games

Smartphone have become a large part of people lives whether it be for a good or bad reason, whether its keeping in touch with everyone, anywhere or passing time on a journey. But near enough everyone can admit to an unhealthy obsession to something or another at some point in their lives and many of them will simply be a Smartphone app. So here’s a rundown of the five most addictive apps.

5. Jump, jump, jump. No doubt everyone has heard of doodle jump from friends or relatives and heard good things about this game and rightly so. Its simplicity in both controls and game play make this game creditable in every way.

4. The name cut the rope is very self explanatory, a piece of candy is extended on a piece of rope which a little animal wants to eat. The only way to get it there is to cut the ropes. This game has hundreds of levels with each set having its own twist. These twists make this game instantly re-playable.

3. Temple run is a relatively new game which took the app store and android store by storm. It has a slight Indiana Jones influence, you’ve stolen a golden idol and the protectors are not happy and chase you till they catch you. Your aim as the thief is to run away whilst collecting more loot to boost your score. Though its sounds complicated this game does not let you simply put it down and walk away.

2. The second most addicting app is the mine craft pocket edition. Though there are many elements from the pc version which have been missed out in the pocket edition, the core elements of the game are still strong enough to make this game addictive no matter where you take it.

1. Top of the tree of addicting apps is Angry birds. Angry birds is the ultimate game for Smartphone’s. It was the first game app on the store which sold more than one million copies. It has had over twelve million sales on the apple app store alone not including the android or windows store. This alone is reason enough to be dubbed most addictive app of all time.

Vine

Vine is a micro-video sharing app for iPhone and iPod Touch. Vine is owned by Twitter and like how twitter only lets you put 140 characters into a tweet, Vine only lets you make video montages 6 seconds or less.
You can sign up to vine using your Twitter account or your email.

You click and hold to record and once you have captured what you want you can publish your vine to the app, Twitter and Facebook.
It has only been out less that a week and I have so far noticed only a few bugs. Such as when you are using the app offline it often works really slow and sometimes deletes videos when you reconnect to the internet. Just like Twitter you can follow people and use hashtags however you can also like and comment on videos.
The closest thing to this currently on the app store is Cinemagram. Cinemagram lets you record 2 second videos, add effects to them and you can upload to it straight from your camera roll. Cinemagram and Vine are extremely similar but Vine is a tad more simple.
Overall, Vine is an extremely good, well built app which will hopefully be coming to other platforms such as Android and BlackBerry soon.

DSMS snow vine.co/v/b5FH7hvABXe
— DSMS Wyvern (@DSMS_Wyvern) January 25, 2013

Originally posted: 28/1/2013

Consumer Electronics Show 2013

The Consumer Electronic Show is a huge technology show in Las Vegas which takes place every year. Big brands like Samsung, Sony, Lenovo, Panasonic and many more use CES as an opportunity to launch new products. Most of them are slightly crazy and therefore impractical however every blue moon there is something useful launched. PAPE"R"MAIL has been writing about some of the best products and devices from the last few days.

iPhone 5 with contract from parents

OK, so imagine this, it's Christmas morning and you rush downstairs to find a brand new iPhone 5 with your name on it however before you are allowed to use the phone you need to agree to 18 terms and conditions which your mum has made. Well this happened to a 13-year-old boy and he had quite a decision to make.
Here are the conditions, would you agree to them to get an iPhone 5?