Weekend Wrap-up: Apple launches new iPhones; Google unveils new logo
Thanks for stopping by for this week’s edition of the Weekend Wrap-up, where we help you catch up on some of the more important tech stories from the past week. Without further delay, let’s get into it.
Apple launches the iPhone 5s and 5c
Even if you were able to completely avoid the Internet on Friday, you probably still heard about Apple’s two new iPhones, the higher-tier iPhone 5s and the low-cost iPhone 5c. We predicted that the gold iPhone, in all its douchebag glory, would be the most popular option and that wound up being the case. I myself went out and picked one up on opening day and, while it’s an obvious step up in terms of specs, the actual experience of using the phone doesn’t feel much different than the iPhone 5. I’ll have a full write-up later in the week.
Google unveils new logo and home page design
Remember that flat Google logo that was popping up a few weeks ago? It turns out that Google was going to use it, after all. Some users have reported that their Google home page has changed a bit and that old logo has been replaced with a newer, flatter design. It’s important to remember that this is for some users — a visit by me earlier today resulted in me seeing the Google home page and logo we’ve seen for a while.
YouTube plans offline viewing
If you get the itch to watch some YouTube videos when you’re without an Internet connection, you’ll soon be able to. Google plans to add add offline viewing to the YouTube mobile app, enabling users to download clips from the streaming video service to their mobile devices for up to 48 hours. Ads will still run on the clips and content publishers can set whether or not their videos can be downloaded for offline viewing or not. It’s already come out that VEVO music videos on YouTube will not be offline-capable.
Grand Theft Auto V does $1 billion in three days
The latest entry in the Grand Theft Auto series of games, Grand Theft Auto V, has sold a remarkable $1 billion worth of units in its first three days on sale. The game’s publisher, Take-Two Interactive, believes that those sales numbers are the most for any kind of “entertainment property” that has ever existed, including video games and feature films.