In terms of shipment volume, Samsung’s Galaxy Note 3 is likely the current king of the phablets. Unveiled last fall, the Note 3 was and still is our favorite Samsung handset to date. After spending some time with the Galaxy S5, it seems increasingly likely that the Note 3 will remain our favorite Samsung handset for some time to come — at least until the Galaxy Note 4 launches later this year.

And according to one supposed insider, that launch will come on September 3rd.

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Many iPhone 6 dummy units have appeared in a variety of leaks, possibly revealing the final design of the upcoming 4.7-inch iPhone, but MacRumors has obtained images of an aluminum mold that case makers apparently use to create their accessories for Apple’s upcoming smartphone.

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Google is apparently working on a special tablet that’s going to be far better than regular Nexus-branded Android devices, and said device may be unveiled before the Google I/O developer conference kicks of in late June, The Wall Street Journal has learned.

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Even though the acquisition still hasn’t been announced, the Beats deal is apparently very much in the picture and appears to be a critical move for Apple’s business, TechCrunch has learned. Speculation has run wild surrounding Apple’s reasoning behind a major $3.2 billion Beats purchase, but the publication appears to have learned exactly what Beats brings to the table for Apple.

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eBay on Thursday acknowledged that some of its customers’ personal information may have been compromised following a breach, advising users to immediately change their passwords. The announcement has apparently been enough for some creative individuals with malicious intentions to advertise online “full eBay database dumps,” masquerading as the hackers that conducted the cyberattack. However, TechCrunch reports that eBay says those databases are fake, and the for sale lists do not contain “authentic eBay accounts,” which is very good news for eBay consumers whose personal data may have been exposed.

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The high-end tablet market is becoming increasingly crowded with each new release, but there’s still plenty of room for more affordable devices. HP just recently launched the HP 7 Plus in the US for a paltry $99.99. HP is known for its almost secretive cheap tablet launches, such as the release of the HP 8 earlier in the year.

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LG on Thursday decided to do something handset makers rarely do, which is to launch an accessory for a device that doesn’t exist yet. The QuickCircle folder case that was shown in many leaked LG G3 images in previous days has been confirmed by the company, with LG saying that it wants to offer a preview of the upcoming G3 with the new, interesting case.

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Founded by two ex-Googlers, Tangible Play is a company that has figured out a clever way to force children not to play on the iPad excessively. What the company has developed is an accessory and applications set that encourages kids to play using physical objects according to a set of instructions on the screen, thus preventing them from playing regular iOS games.

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Siri still has plenty of issues that need to be ironed out in order to help improve usability, but one thing is certain: Apple kicked voice controls into high gear with Siri’s debut. Now every smartphone and tablet maker includes voice controls in devices, and consumers are growing accustomed to having voice controls as an option.

Of course, voice controls aren’t only useful on smartphones and tablets.

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In 2012, Samsung launched the Music Hub, which combined features from iTunes, Spotify and Pandora. The Hub has since expanded to include videos, eBooks and apps, and it comes preinstalled on Samsung phones. In other words, it was pretty clearly a Google Play competitor.

Google has recently been pressuring Samsung to tone down its Android customizations and to cut back on its bloatware, and last week, Samsung’s Marketing Manager for Technical Media Philip Berne tweeted that “Samsung Hub is going away,” a tweet which has since been deleted.

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