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Poll: will you buy iPhone 6 full price or subsidized?

When Apple finally announces the iPhone 6 next month, I myself will be most certainly watching Tim Cook's pricing slide with great intent. There have been plenty of rumors indicating that Apple could actually hike iPhone 6 prices across the board.

Assuming the rumors are true, like most people I won't be happy about this change, though it won't discourage me from buying the handset.

The more suspicious watchers postulated that only higher-end models would command a premium. For instance, The Wall Street Journal just recently said that only the "more-expensive models" would get sapphire displays due to high production costs.

In the United States, T-Mobile is the only major carrier that fully separates device cost (fully paid upfront or via twelve zero-interest monthly installments) from wireless service plans. With other operators such as Verizon, the subsidy cost is not cut out of your wireless bill after your service agreement is over and your device has been fully paid off.

Which brings me to my question of the day: will you be getting your very own iPhone 6 unsubsidized, paying the full price of the handset upfront? Or, perhaps you'd be willing to commit your soul to a carrier for another 12/24 months, all over again, just to be able to pay the lowest possible hardware price at the time of your purchase?...

New Google app: Photo Sphere Camera for iPhone

Google has released a brand new iPhone photography application in the App Store. Dubbed Photo Sphere Camera, it provides functionality similar to the iOS Panorama shooting mode, and then some more.

By continuously taking images as you pan your device around, Photo Sphere Camera then stitches the individual photos together to create a nice sphere-like 360-degree image which can be published directly to Google Maps or shared with anyone on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and via email.

The app is a free download. I've included additional tidbits right after the jump...

Facebook’s Slingshot picks up new features

It's been nearly two months now since Facebook rolled out its would-be Snapchat-killer, called Slingshot.

Thus far, the software looks like it could be going the way of Poke, the social networking giant's pathetic take on the popular ephemeral messaging software.

Surprisingly enough, Slingshot currently enjoys a three-star rating out of five stars in the App Store.

Besides, the app doesn't seem to be languishing as the team released its first major update three weeks ago bringing out much-needed new features, including a My People tab and brand new reactions.

Today, a second major update has landed on the App Store. Available to download for free, Slingshot 1.2 improves your experience by letting you jump straight to the list of shots by tapping a notification and more...

Rumor: LG Display beats out rivals to become top iPhone 6 display supplier

If there's any substance to a new supply chain report Tuesday, LG Display beat out rivals like Samsung, Sharp, and Japan Display as Apple had reportedly selected the South Korea-based firm as its top display supplier for the upcoming iPhone 6.

Based on a massive amount of orders, analysts are expecting iPhone 6 shipments in the ballpark of 70 million units during a three-month span.

The huge order should be enough to keep suppliers such as LG Display busy in the months ahead. RBC Capital Markets in a note to clients yesterday cited latest supply chain data, upping its forecast of Apple's orders to as many as 80 million units of both 4.7 and 5.5-inch iPhone 6 variants.

This compares to the 60 million iPhones ordered during the same period of last year...

iPhone 6 could feature faster 150Mbps LTE-Advanced support

Apple's upcoming iPhone 6 could feature support for faster LTE-Advanced networking which promises theoretical download speeds of up to 300Mbps. A claimed iPhone 6 logic board photo suggests Apple may have opted for the slower 150Mbps LTE-Advanced by replacing Qualcomm's MDM9615 chip in prior iPhones with a MDM9625 part.

Originally announced back in 2012, the MDM9625 chipset supports upload and download LTE-Advanced data speeds of 150Mbps versus the MDM9615 chip found in the iPhone 5s, iPhone 5 and iPhone 5c which tops out at 100Mbps.

A handful of the world's carriers have only recently begun rolling out LTE-Advanced so Apple may have opted to support only the 150Mbps LTE-Advanced in anticipation of the faster 300Mbps roll-out...

Alleged reversible Lightning to USB iPhone 6 cable caught on video

Along with the many enhancements and improvements expected in the iPhone 6 this fall, the handset is also expected to ship with a new, reversible Lightning to USB cable. We've seen multiple photos of the alleged cable, and Apple even holds a patent for such a design.

Tonight comes more evidence of the theory, with frequent part-leaker Sonny Dickson posting a video showing the new cable in action. It appears to work similar to the Lightning side of the current cable, allowing the user to plug in the USB side, regardless of orientation...

Sprint announces new ‘Family Share Pack’ shared data plan

Sprint this afternoon announced the 'Sprint Family Share Pack,' a new shared-data plan that offers double the high-speed data of its two largest competitors, at a cheaper price. The plan, which will become available later this week, will enable customers to have as many as 10 mobile phone lines share 20 gigabytes of data for just $100 a month. More details below...

Xbox One SmartGlass now lets you install Xbox games remotely, live TV streaming due soon

Software giant Microsoft today pushed a nice little update to its Xbox One companion app for the iPhone and iPad, SmartGlass.

Version 2.8 is now available in the App Store, providing a handy new feature letting you buy and install Xbox games and other content remotely, from your iOS device.

Moreover, the application now supports in-app browsing of new and popular games, add-ons and bundles.

You can even rate your favorite Xbox game clips and activity feed entries, as well as view shared Activity Feed and Game Clips — all within the app. And in a future SmartGlass update due later this year, Microsoft will add ability to stream live TV locally to your iPhone or iPad...

Facebook testing the use of stickers in comments

Hope you like stickers, Facebook users, because it looks like you're going to start seeing a lot more of them on the social network. The company has been spotted testing the use of sticker graphics in post and page comments with select users.

Stickers have become a popular element for a number of social networks and messaging services, but until now (and still for most people) they have only been available to Facebook users via mobile Messenger apps and Facebook Chat on the web...

Camera+ picks up improvements ahead of ‘cool new things’ in forthcoming iOS 8 update

My favorite iPhone photography application, Camera+ by a developer called Tap tap tap, has received a few very nice additions ahead of an upcoming iOS 8 update.

Camera+ 5.2, a free update for existing users, contains several bug fixes while introducing a new adjustment to the Vignette effect, improvements to the Soft Focus and Film Grain effects and the Clarity Pro feature and more.

Oh, and this version has fixed broken Flickr sharing stemming from a recent change to the way third-party apps like Camera+ access Yahoo's photo-sharing service...

Flappy Bird developer teases upcoming game ‘Swing Copters’

Dong Nguyen, creator of the smash hit mobile game Flappy Bird, is back with a new title, set to be released later this week called Swing Copters. As you can see, the game features similar graphics to FB, and from what we hear, it has similar gameplay.

According to TouchArcade, who has been given an early look at Swing Copters, the game gives players the same "just one more try" feeling as Flappy Bird did, and is even more challenging. We've posted a video showing the game in action below...

Gazelle offering up to $350 for your old iPhone ahead of iPhone 6 announcement

Boston-based Gazelle, which lets you sell used electronic devices, is ramping up its iPhone trade-in offering ahead of the expected iPhone 6 announcement on September 9.

If you send them your used device, Gazelle may treat you to up to a cool $350 in cold hard cash, dependent on its condition. Under the terms of the program, users have up until September 9 to get a price quote for their device.

Even better, you don't need to send Gazelle your device until October 10...