First Look at Samsung Note 3 and Galaxy Gear

The third generation of the Samsung Galaxy Note - the Note 3, and together with the cool Samsung Galaxy Gear, was launched just a few days ago here in Malaysia. I was invited together with many others who were excited to see what's Samsung's latest offering. It was a grand launch and packed with many different media held at Sunway Convention Centre.

The event started off with many different videos. I wish I could've videoed them all but unfortunately my Galaxy S4 was not charged fully. Silly me. Anyway, by watching the intro videos on both the Note 3 and the Gear, I was very excited to play around with both products. The event was opened by Kwon Jae-Hoon, MD of Samsung Malaysia Electronics. Then Product Marketing's Luke Au did a presentation on the new features of Note 3, followed by a presentation by Product Marketing's Go Ben Lee, on the Galaxy Gear. There was a lot of information to digest, so here I break it down for you.

How to record your screen on Android 4.4 KitKat

There's a new feature that came with Android 4.4 KitKat – screen recording – and some of us appear to be more excited about it than others. The prospect of a non-laggy, native recording with decent quality appeals to us on more than a professional level, and it's something many have been looking for in the years past. Unfortunately, the only option one had was to rely on apps that only worked every now and then (and on a very limited number of devices), and even the rooted, paid versions supported restrictively low frame rate.

We've been testing the new built-in feature ever since we got our hands on an early build of Android 4.4 KitKat, and we're bringing you this guide so that you can realize the full potential of Google's new OS, should you wish to do so. 

Motorola patents neck tattoo that acts as a microphone and lie detector

Back in the dark days of March 2012, we told you about Nokia's patent application for a removable ferromagnetic ink tattoo that would send you haptic feedback whenever your phone receives a call. Different callers could be tied to different vibration patterns so that you could tell who is calling without having to look at your phone. Now, Motorola has received a patent for a similar, but functionally different idea.

Motorola's idea is to place a skin tattoo sticker on your neck to be used as a microphone, sending signals to your Motorola Moto X or the latest version of the Motorola DROID. The microphone would be able to send a clearer sound to your handset as it would eliminate background noise. The tattoo would come with its own transceiver, antenna, microphone and signal processor. For some reason not explained, the tattoo would also come with a screen even though the placement of the sticker would preclude you from looking at it.

The CIA pays AT&T for international call data

Earlier today, we heard about AT&T partnering with Lookout Mobile in order to bring better security to your smartphone. Unfortunately, that will only keep you safe from things like malware, and losing your device, and can't really help protect you from the snooping of the U.S. government. A new report is actually saying that AT&T doesn't try to protect you there, and may even sell call data to the CIA.

Government officials have told the New York Times that AT&T is receiving more than $10 million per year in order to supply the CIA with international call data, including data on calls made by Americans. This is not a situation where AT&T is compelled to comply, but a voluntary contract between the carrier and the CIA. However, this isn't a deal to get any and all data from AT&T, but more targeted data.

T-Mobile now allows MMS messaging to Google Voice users

It has been an extremely long and slow road for Google Voice. Google first launched Google Voice about three and a half years ago in March 2009, and since then has been constantly working with carriers to add support for MMS as well as bringing Voice to international markets. Well, today Voice is getting a bit closer on the MMS front with better support from T-Mobile.

As yet, the only way for a Google Voice user to receive an MMS was if it were sent by a Sprint user. Supposedly, if a Sprint user were to send an MMS to a Google Voice user, it would be routed to Gmail. Of course, in practice it hasn't always work that well. Today, a Google employee, Alex Wiesen, has said that the same support is coming to messages originating from T-Mobile users. The Google+ post said:

Google Keyboard gets update to 2.0; app brings a little KitKat to your phone

Android users not rockin' the Nexus 5 might be feeling a little jealousy about not having the latest and greatest Android OS build on their phone. On the other hand, if you own, say, the HTC One,you know that you're going to get that confectionery OS build on your device, so any jealousy should be short-lived. In addition, Android 4.4 was said to be designed to work on low memory models,including those with just 512MB of RAM. That compares with the 2GB to 3GB of RAM found on today's high-end Android devices. In theory, this means that older Android phones could receive the Android 4.4 update. But the ultimate decision about which phones will be updated lies with the carriers and most won't want to spend the money to test the new Android build on phones that are on the way out.

Verizon coming to Moto Maker on November 11th, and setting up multiple device releases

We've been getting more and more info on the expansion of Motorola's Moto Maker customization software to other carriers beyond AT&T. Word has always put the end of AT&T's exclusivity in this month, and recent reports have put T-Mobile possibly getting added as soon as tomorrow (November 8th), and Sprint on November 11th. Now, we're hearing that Verizon may also be getting into Moto Maker on the 11th as well. Given that both Sprint and Verizon are set to get in on the Moto Maker software on the 11th, it seems reasonable that the rumors about T-Mobile may have been off, and the 11th could be the universal date for ending Moto Maker exclusivity. 

The news about Verizon is coming from sources for Droid Life, and those same sources had more info on various releases on Verizon. According to the sources, the white version of the LG G2 will hit Verizon on October 14th; the HTC One max will launch on or around November 21st; and, the white versions of the DROID Ultra and DROID mini will be released November 22nd.