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For a while now, Google has been using Currys PC World stores across the UK to promote its latest Chromebooks, Chromecast and Nexus devices. The company normally takes over a small section of the shop with its own decor, demo stations and staff, which naturally attract the attention of curious customers. Google still hasn't built an Apple-style retail store of its own, but this week it moved one step closer with the launch of a new "Google Shop" inside the Currys PC World store on London's Tottenham Court Road. The company says it's the first "Google shop experience" to be opened anywhere in the world and will be joined by two more in Fulham, London and Thurrock, Essex later this year.

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Nokia's HERE Maps for iOS

Although Nokia is no longer in the smartphone game, it has remained committed to its other businesses. One of those is its mapping division, which almost six months ago debuted a new Android app capable of giving Google Maps a run for its money. At the same time, Nokia teased the launch of a completely overhauled iOS app, but its development has been shrouded in relative secrecy.

Nokia pulled its first iOS Maps app after admitting things "went horribly wrong," and its developers have had a lot of work to do to make sure it doesn't suffer a repeat this time around. The company believes it's ticked all the requisite boxes as it's now available to download on the App Store. Is it good enough to replace Google Maps or condemn Apple Maps to more misery? We took the chance to preview the app and find out.

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Apple's recently announced MacBook and Watch both understand the difference between a gentle press and a hard shove. It should surprise nobody that the company is likely to add this technology, dubbed Force Touch, to the next generation of iPhones. The Wall Street Journal has called around its circle of people familiar with the matter, who all say that it'll be the headline feature for the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus. In addition, those in the know believe we'll soon get a fourth color option to choose from: pink.

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Cyanogen's plan to offer viable alternatives to Google's stock Android apps starts with an email app. Specifically, Boxer's email app. The company best known for its alternative Android ROMs announced today that its next update, Cyanogen OS 12, will come with Boxer's software baked in as its default mail client. That should give its users something more polished than the community-built solution Cyanogen has been offering so far, and it gives it an email client that could eventually replace the Gmail app. And that's a big deal, as the company hasn't been shy about its dissatisfaction with Google's handling of Android, which has becoming increasingly tied to the search giant's services. (It even refused a buyout offer from Google.) If Cyanogen truly wants to create a more open version of Android, it'll need more partners like Boxer.

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Zackees turn signal gloves

Amazon is launching a new store section today called Amazon Exclusives that looks to highlight "up-and-coming brands." The store features products from Kickstarter successes like Jackery phone chargers, Zackees' clever cycling gloves and Olloclip phone camera lenses. The new store claims to offer "the best prices" on such items, and also includes products not born from crowdfunding. Tower's inflatable paddle board, for example, came from ABC's Shark Tank.

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It's always good news when a service that processes a lot of cash improves its security measures. PayPal, for instance, has just established a security center in Israel by acquiring a local company called CyActive. The company already has a Fraud and Risk Detection Center in Tel Aviv, but CyActive is a totally different beast: it "specializes in technology that can predict how malware will develop." It's sort of like Minority Report's PreCrime, except it uses predictive analytics instead of human precogs to foresee new cybersecurity threats. The startup's employees will now be in charge of implementing technology that will protect the payment platform from future cyberattacks.

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One of President Kaz Hirai's big "Sony One" projects was PlayStation Mobile, which offered games that worked on both PS Vita and Android devices. That dream of cross-platform synergy is now dead, as Sony has announced it will stop publishing all PS Mobile content July 15th. On September 10th the entire site will cease to exist, and previously purchased games will no longer be available for download. The shutdown only applies to PS Vita content, as Sony had already stopped publishing Android games for PlayStation Mobile last year. Regular, non-Android PlayStation Vita games are still available at the PlayStation Store.

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Minecraft After School

In a move of absolute ridiculousness, Turkey wants to ban Minecraft because its Family and Social Policies Ministry's deemed it too violent for kids. Yes, a game where you build fortresses and punch trees is getting called out for its content, because in Survival Mode, you have to defend yourself from the zombie-like Mobs and that sometimes means killing them. As the region's Hurriyet Daily News reports, the Ministry also says that some kids could confuse Minecraft's blocky, pixelated landscapes for the real world which would make them think that torturing animals was totally fine. Sure; okay. The reason for the outfit casting its gaze at Microsoft's $2.5 billion purchase in the first place? To see if the game encouraged violence against women. At least its heart was in the right place at the outset.

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