'Super Mario Run' heads the Top Grossing category in the App Store already

Mere hours after its unveiling, Nintendo's Super Mario Run blockbuster climbed up the ladder to reach the top spot in the Top Grossing category of the App Store. 

Needless to say, it also tops the Free section chart, as it is free to play until 20 seconds into the fourth level. After that, the game is $9.99, which is on the steep side for a mobile game, but with 20 years of fame behind its back, this Italian plumber has earned his mettle. 

Apple will also stands to benefit from Nintendo's push into mobile, as it collects 30% of the App Store revenue in exchange for exposure to a billion iOS devices worldwide. The other title with Nintendo in the mix, Pokemon Go, is still high in the Top Grossing ranks, too, and the company has plenty of titles left to bring to mobile still.

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Gene Munster says goodbye with a final call for Apple to sell 170 million iPhones in fiscal 2018

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster has been quoted in many of our stories over the years. He is taking his analytical skills to a different part of the financial industry as he starts a Venture Capital firm. In his final note to Piper's institutional traders, Munster gave his expectations about what he believes will be in store for Apple over the next five-years. 

Munster's 874th note about Apple said that services are the next frontier for the tech titan. If the company cannot make that change, investors will once again be forced to focus on unit growth and innovation. Speaking of unit growth, Munster says that the March and June quarters next year will see Apple topping the Street's expectations for sales of Apple iPhone 7 and Apple iPhone 7 Plus. 

The analyst predicts that the tenth anniversary iPhone, with a rumored edge-to-edge OLED panel, will produce high single-digit to low double-digit growth next year. Calling the premium anniversary model the iPhone 10, Munster expects sales of 170 million units of the iPhone during Apple's fiscal year 2018 which starts October 1st, 2017.

To be considered a services company by investors, Munster said that Apple would have to produce 50% of its revenue or more from back end businesses. In addition, Apple would have to sell cheaper devices and accept lower profit margins. 

"The experience was rough, but using the iPod gave me a sense of joy I never had from any other product. They did it with the iPod and recreated that joy with the iPhone. That magic is a big reason why we've been unwavering bulls on Apple for almost the entire time we've covered it...the company can recreate that magical feeling with some future product and will enjoy watching the stock rise when they do."-Gene Munster, departing analyst, Piper Jaffray

Some time in the next five years, Munster sees Apple replacing the iPhone with a wearable device using Augmented and Mixed Reality. He also expects automobiles to be the next major platform that Apple will dominate.

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Microsoft plans to open Cortana to third-party developers to compete with Amazon Echo and Google Home

In line with recent rumors that Microsoft is going to harness the ubiquity of Windows and the smarts of Cortana to compete with Google and Amazon in the smart home niche, the tech giant has now opened its AI assistant to third-party developers and device makers. This way Cortana can be integrated into a plethora of non-Microsoft devices that will be connected in a vast and unified software ecosystem. One such device has already been announced, and it's a Harman/Kardon speaker in the vein of Google Home and Amazon Echo slated for a 2017 release.

Microsoft outlined its plans in a recent blog post, revealing that Cortana will be open for both third-party software and hardware developers. This means that third parties will be able to incorporate Microsoft's voice assistant in various devices, as well as write software that takes advantage of her capabilities. For software developers, Microsoft has prepared the Cortana Skills Kit, which is a set of tools that will allow developers to integrate the AI assistant into their apps, meaning users will be able to use voice commands to control large portions of the software. The preview kit is already available behind the curtains to a handful of partners and is expected to see a broader launch in early 2017.

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Galaxy S8: fingerprint sensor on the back and a Note 7-like iris scanner

The next flagship Samsung Galaxy will surely be one of the most significant smartphone releases of 2017 and after the demise of the Galaxy Note 7, there's added onus on the so-called Galaxy S8 and S8 edgeto deliver the goods. We've heard a lot about what The Next Galaxy might entail, and one recurring theme is that the fingerprint sensor mightn't be placed in its usual spot below the display. Hitherto, it's been suggested that this feature may be baked into the display itself. Conversely, a new report hints that the fingerprint hardware could be placed to the rear. 

A number of smartphones have adopted this tactic over the past few years. Generally speaking, it's comfortable and seamless to access the fingerprint scanner on the back plate, since tips of fingers are naturally within proximity when holding a device.  

A report from Korean publication Naver says that the fingerprint-dectecting component will find its new home on the back, presumably below the rear camera (or two cameras, if some reports are to be believed). It has been noted before now that the Galaxy S8 may include an optical fingerprint sensor but if this new report is correct, that will not be the case. 

The coverage also mentions the lack of a home button, which is nothing new amid the siege of Galaxy S8 rumors. The report notes that an iris scanner could be part of the package, which was a marquee feature of the doomed Note 7. 

With the next major Samsung handset(s) likely to be outed at Mobile World Congress in February, we're just a couple of months from a potential grand unveiling. Over the next couple of months, it's likely we'll be seeing a few leaks, renders and press images, which should offer a better grasp on what can be expected. 

Still, would you be a fan of a Google Pixel-esque rear fingerprint scanner? Let us know in the comments!

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Carriers start testing Android Nougat update for the Galaxy S7/S7 edge

Samsung's Android Nougat update for the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge might be in the final stages of testing, as some carriers have already been given final builds they can test.

Australian carrier Vodafone has just refreshed its software update weekly wrap and both the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge smartphones have been listed with the mention that Android N is now being tested.

If no issues are found during testing, then Vodafone Australia may go ahead and release the update to Galaxy S7/S7 edge units bought through its official channels. Otherwise, the carrier will inform Samsung about the problems and will wait for a new build.

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Scooch, Echo: creepy US-bound assistant traps a virtual girlfriend in a $2600 Gatebox

While voice-controlled virtual assistants like Siri, Cortana or Google Now never took off as the Silicon Valley giants hoped, Amazon struck a surprising gold with its household one, the Echo. It turned out that nobody wants to chat in public with their phone, but there are no such qualms within the comfort and privacy of your own home.

Amazon has so far sold more than 5 million of the Echo contraptions, and even issued a smaller, cheaper Dot version that may prove even more popular. This experiment proved a success, and, needless to say, all the big names soon followed suit with home-bound virtual butlers of their own. Google outed its Home gizmo, while Apple and Microsoft are rumored to be working on similar projects.

Leave it to Japan, however, to take the trend to a whole new level, twist it, and come out with something that may look creepy from an outsider perspective, but makes perfect sense in Japanese society. Yes, we are talking about a virtual girl... in a jar... that wakes you up, can't wait for you to come home, and is chatbot-ing your iPhone at every opportunity. 

The contraption looks like a coffee machine and is called the Gatebox, while the "home robot" is named Azuma Hikari. We'll leave the psychoanalysis for the specialists, but will just throw this video here, so that you can marvel at how advanced the society there is compared to our I-scored-my-girlfriend-drunk-in-a-bar routine. This genie in a bottle will be sold in Japan and in the US, and will cost $2600 when it starts shipping next year around this time, but you can preorder right now if you like what you see.

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Google updates Snapseed with many improvements on Android and iOS

Snapseed, the application developed by Google that should provide users with a complete and professional photo editor features, has just received the last update before the holidays.

According to Google, the new update includes many improvements for both the Android and iOS platforms. However, some of the change are only available on Android, while other may only be used on iOS devices.

But let's start with a new feature that's been implemented on both platforms. Snapseed users on either Android or iOS will now be able to center the text in the Text tool vertically and orizontally.

In addition, Google confirmed that it has updated the presets of the Face filter with more options for quick and easy enhancements.

Two new features have been included in Snapseed for Android, so they aren't available in the iOS version. The first one is called Perspective and it's a tool that brings back the old horizontal and vertical adjustment modes.

The Perspective tool was one of the most requested features that users have asked for, so Google has decided to bring it back in this update. It allows users to apply any kind of transformation and perspective adjustment.

Lastly, Snapseed for Android users will now be able to to choose the target for exporting a photo, so they can store it on an SD card or anywhere else. In order to enable this option simply head to the settings menu for exports.

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