Your once daily stop for tech news! If it's important we've got it covered!
Our focus is on mobile devices such as phones and tablets, but anything goes!
ARM have announced new A12 architecture for their mid-range processors in the coming years. This will allow single-core processors to playback 1080p video at 60fps, and 4K video with a multicore processor at up to 120fps! Via PhoneArena.
Windows 8.1 will include native Miracast support, broadband tethering and WiFi direct printing amongst other things! Via TheVerge.
Turkey's Prime Minister has condemned social media as "the worst menace to society" after anti-government demonstrations over the weekend in his country! He especially dislikes the "scourge" of Twitter, which was used to share images of government crack downs and other protests. Via Engadget.
Vine is now available for Android handsets! It will work on all handsets with Android 4.0 ICS or better and you can find full details here! You can download the app here. Via TheVerge.
Asus announced a new WiFi router with transfer speeds of 1900 Mbps! You can check out full details here!
Sky have added Sky Sports highlights to their SkyGo offering! Via PocketLint.
Three UK have announced that they will carry the Huawei Ascend P2! The device will be £300 on pay as you go or will be free from £23 a month from the company! Via AndroidCentral.
Microsoft are offering free touch covers to people who choose to pick up one of their own Surface RT tablets! Via PocketLint.
Verizon have confirmed that they will carry the HTC One 'later this summer'! Via AndroidCentral.
And finally, Vodafone in the UK use this really sweet person tracking software to save money and the planet by only turning on temperature management facilities at their offices when their system detects someone's phone signal in a certain office! It's pretty sweet so check out full details here!
A report from Bloomberg today is claiming that Microsoft are looking at reducing the price of Windows RT licenses to boost the appeal of the platform to OEMs. The cuts are supposedly aimed at getting companies like HP to pick up the platform instead of opting for Google's free Android offering on tablets.
Obviously this is an issue for Microsoft at the moment because they want their RT platform to be successful, but there's very few apps and it's not a particularly compelling platform at the moment because you can't utilise Microsoft's legacy Windows 8 apps!
Indeed, Acer's J T Wang called Windows RT platform 'very immature' and as such said that:
"We have some R&D projects, but we will be very, very cautious in deciding whether we will do the launch and mass production."
It's probably fair to say that this is how the majority of OEMs are feeling when it comes to Windows RT! We'll have to wait and see whether there is a future for the platform., we think there is, but they'll need to do something about the apps, because this is seemingly a huge factor when people choose which operating system to go with! Via TheVerge.
Google's Sundar Pichai is the man in charge of both of the Android and Chrome divisions at Google and he is also in charge of Google's Chrome operation too. That was why the honour of confirming the HTC One Google Edition fell to him earlier on today and that announcement together with the Google Edition Samsung Galaxy S4 have had people wondering about the future of the Nexus program.
Turns out we shouldn't be worried because Pichai said today at the D11 conference that these Google Edition devices are similar to the Nexus program, but they're not the same:
"The goal with Nexus was to push forward hardware with partners. That will continue as well."
So theoretically that means we will still have hardware which will be sold at cost from Google and their partners in the coming months!
It's not just the hardware which Google are working on at the moment either with Pichai revealing that software enhancements are the order of the day too. Google are said to be looking for ways in which Chrome-like privacy can be brought to their Android operating system.
"When we did Chrome, we invested in incognito mode. Now you can do that on the phone [through the Chrome app]... You're completely not signed-in, and we don't know anything about you. We do want more things like that, though. From a security, child safety, etc. standpoint. Chrome OS lets you be a guest user. We're working on things like that on Android."
There was also a mention of the hoohar which Google and Microsoft have had lately over the lack of an official YouTube app from Google for the Windows Phone platform! The reason Google haven't made an app already is said to be down to a lack of "a critical mass of users... It's simply a function of reach," and instead Google were hoping originally that Windows Phone users could enjoy the "great HTML5 experience," which YouTube offers.
Via AllThingsD, PocketLint and TheVerge.
Microsoft have connected up their Skype and "the enterprise richness of Lync" by allowing users to sign into Skype with their Microsoft account on Windows or Mac or merge their contact lists together onto Skype. At the moment you can use instant messaging and audio calling, but video calling will be coming in later! Skype Via Engadget.
Facebook have launched verified pages and profiles! More details at TheNextWeb here.
ZDNet are reporting that the upcoming Windows 8 start button will not bring up the traditional start menu, instead it could load the all apps page which you see on Windows 8 at the moment!
Microsoft's new Office 365 Home Premium edition has passed 1 million sales so far making it second only to Instagram to reach 1 million subscribers and obviously Instagram is free! MicrosoftBlog Via TheVerge.
It's rumoured that the PS4 could require the PS Vita as a compulsory remote! Via Slashgear.
Microsoft will be bringing their Surface Pro tablet to Japan on June 8th and it'll set you back either 99,800 yen ($975) for 128GB of storage or a brand new 256GB version will cost 119,800 yen ($1,175)! Via Engadget.
SwiftKey have released an update to their keyboard and some of the changes include fixes in the Samsung email app, Google Hangouts, personalisation and theme fixes for Android 2.1. Via Tweet below:
We've released a bugfix update to SwiftKey today, check out the full list of improvements on our blog.swiftkey.net/en/blog/swiftk…
— SwiftKey (@SwiftKey) May 29, 2013
The hacking group Anonymous have published the names and addresses of various English Defence League (EDL) supporters online. Via Guardian.
Twitter for Android has been updated to version 4.1. The update brings with it a new composing window, richer notifications and a slight redesign. Via AndroidPolice.
Google are rolling out another update to the GMail inbox and the update will bring in a new interface with 5 tabs which will help to make sure your emails don't become over the top. Via Engadget.
And finally, Tim Cook spoke at D11 yesterday and while he didn't give much away it's still an interview with one of the most powerful people in the tech industry and you can check it out here!
The likelihood is that if you're a student or you work in a ig institution then you will already have a SkyDrive account from your institution. By default that service gives you 7GB of storage, which isn't too shabby, but if you're a student then you'll love what Microsoft is offering today!
If you're a college student then you'll have the really nice bonus of 3GB of extra storage with your .edu email address. The way this works is that you type in your email address on this page here and then Microsoft will email you a little code which you have to make the most of before the end of the year. The 3GB of extra storage only lasts a year, but we assume they'll run the same deal next year too and yes this is limited to your .edu account and you can only use your code once.
Obviously some companies offer you more free storage, but to be honest you'll be using SkyDrive a lot at college and every little bit of extra space will help! Fingers crossed us guys in the UK will have something similar to utilise too!
Via WPCentral.
It's not often that we feel sorry for Microsoft and we have a feeling some others amongst you might share that feeling, but with the troubles they're having getting people to make apps for their Windows Phone platforms, we do feel a little bad. There was a whole situation which came to a head during the week where Microsoft were essentially forced to announce an unofficial YouTube app which played without any ads or anything!
Obviously that wasn't exactly what Google wanted to hear, because that means no ad money for them and it was a little bit naughty because they knew they weren't meant to do that, the usual procedure is to link people to the mobile web version of YouTube, but by releasing the app Microsoft forced Google's hand. Google complained and outlined the changes which had to be made to the app and Microsoft implemented some changes to show that they were willing to collaborate.
That's why from today the pair will be working together on an official YouTube app for Windows Phone! Google have said:
"Microsoft and YouTube are working together to update the new YouTube for Windows Phone app to enable compliance with YouTube’s API terms of service, including enabling ads, in the coming weeks."
To be fair to Microsoft have said all along that they're happy to put ads into the app they've made assuming they're provided with an official API and with the week that's been it seems that Google gave Microsoft permission and all is now rosy in the battle of the tech giants.
In the meantime though Microsoft will "replace the existing YouTube app in Windows Phone Store with the previous version during this time," which sucks a little bit for Windows Phone users, but it is good to know that there is finally something official on the way!
Via TheVerge.
Today's Xbox reveal was relatively short and sweet and Sony, if you're reading, that is how you do a reveal! That means there's lots of specifics which we can bring you as well as a fairly large dose of hyperbole to boot! Lets get started on the Xbox One reveal!
Key Points:
The Xbox One will not be compatible with Xbox 360 games!
The new Xbox will let you play games, watch Blu-ray and TV offline!
The Xbox is being designed to "enable customers to trade in and resell games," but there might be a small fee involved.
The Kinect sensor is a requirement and the console will not work without one!
Microsoft said a few things today, but amongst them they promised that, 'You and your tv are going to have a relationship'. There's nothing untoward here, but they want the Xbox to learn things like personalised movements for your gestures and your voice for controlling the console. They also want to ensure that you have 'Groundbreaking technology and [the] power of the cloud' and that it's used to the full.
As a part of that the whole vision with the new Xbox One is that it ties together the various parts of your living room into one device which gives you sports, gaming, TV and movies and helps to 'harmonis[e] your experiences' in living room technology. The Xbox One is set to be 'An all in one system to light up a new generation of tv, games and entertainment... simple, instant and complete'.
Controlling the Xbox One:
This is always a tricky one because every one is a different shape, different size and every one has different voices. The best solution to this problem was to make the most of a refreshed Xbox Kinect. The new sensor is 'redesigned to respond to you.' There's support for 'the entire family,' it takes a 13 billionth of a second for the Kinect to spot you and more than 2GB of data per second is used to recognise you.The sensor is now a '1080p wide field camera', which is going to be used for Skype too!
There will be a combination of gestures and voice commands which are 'simple, obvious' ways to navigate between TV, sports, games and even things like the internet.
Smartglass will also be available for the new console so you can use your phone and or tablet as the remote control again!
Xbox One Guide:
The Xbox One Guide will show you what's on your local TV stations and there is a simple command; 'show guide' which will give you access to the menu and then you can tell the console to play whichever channel you fancy!
As a part of this there will be a favourites area for your TV shows whic you can pin things to, effectively creating your 'own personal channel'. As an extension there's a thing called Xbox trending which gives you the full run down of all the most popular shows in the community.
Instant 'Switchy':
We're 90% sure we got the name right on this section, but essentially the premise is that your gestures and voice commands will let you get to any part of the Xbox system instantly. That means we can jump from TV, to the internet, to movies, or to games as fast as you could switch between TV channels with a remote. If the demo is anything to go by it looks like it'll work a treat!
As an extension of this there will be the ability to 'snap' two things onto the screen at once, so if you want to check out the cast list of a tv show while the show is playing on one side of the screen then you most certainly will be able to! That's something which there's already a deal arranged with the NFL for!
Skype:
Skype will be integrated and the Xbox Kinect will let you make group video calls through the TV!
Xbox Partnerships:
Microsoft have signed an exclusive partnership with ESPN and there will be a secondary partnership with the NFL which will let users interact with their fantasy football as the action happens. So that means realtime updates to your team! Microsoft explained how something similar could be implemented through the Super Bowl, Golden Globes and other such events.
Technology under the hood:
The new Xbox One is considerably more powerful than the eight year old Xbox 360. There's now 5 billion transistors inside each console, 8GB of Ram, USB 3.0 ports, a Blu-ray drive, 64-bit architecture, variable power states and near silent performance. The harddrive will be non-removable, but you can add in external storage!
The architecture is interesting and Microsoft says that it pulled 'three into one'. So there's the Xbox operating system for games, the kernel of Windows for web and the new ability to instantly switch between tasks.
Controllers:
Let's not forget that this is a games console too and as such Microsoft have given the controller a
slight redesign and the key new feature will be feedback from triggers! That should make FPS' much more realistic!
New Xbox Live:
Microsoft said that the membership processor will be the same, but the service will be so much better. At the moment there's 15,000 servers powering Xbox Live, but for the Xbox One, Microsoft are planning on having 300,000 servers running, something which will provide more power than the whole of the internet in 1999. This should pave the way for bigger matches online with more players!
Electronic Arts partnership:
EA and Microsoft have a 'new strategic partnership' which will see four titles brought to the Xbox One within the next 12 months and they include Fifa 14, Madden NFL, NBA Live and UFC!
There's a whole new engine for those four games too called EA Sports Ignite. EA hope that this will help to 'blur the line between reality and virtual' games. The engine will offer four times more calculations per second and ten times more depth and fidelity. Key inclusions will be the use of 3D crowds and dynamic sidelines which impact the games as you play! There will be an exclusive deal on the Fifa 14 Ultimate Team as you can see from the Tweet below!
Microsoft Studios:
Microsoft are focusing on cloud powered games based on the actions of the community. As part of that there will be more than 15 exclusive games in the first year and 8 brand new franchises!
Halo TV series:
Yeah, you read that right! Stephen Spielberg will be directing a new 'live action' television series of the cult game!
And finally, if there's something we've missed, firstly sorry, secondly let us know what it is in the comments below and if there's something which we haven't tackled then Microsoft's Q and A page is a good place to start for information on it. We look forward to hearing even more at E3!
EA have told Kotaku that their company is no longer producing any games for the Wii U. EA spokesman, Jeff Brown, said that, "We have no games in development for the Wii U currently." EA's ex-CEO, John Riccitiello, had previously promised an"unprecedented partnership" but it seems that that won't become a reality any longer! Via TheVerge.
Blackberry have confirmed that when their BBM app goes cross platform that tablets of both iOS and Android varieties will not be able to use the app initially! Via TrustedReviews.
If you missed Google's keynote at I/O yesterday then head to this link here to catch up if you have a spare three and a bit hours! Via Phandroid.
Angry Birds Rio has landed on Windows Phone! The app will be available for both versions of the platform and is priced at $0.99! Via PhoneArena.
Sony's Xperia Tablet Z for NTT DoCoMo in Japan has started getting a new software version with the build number 10.1.E.0.265. According to DoCoMo there is only one change and that's touch panel improvements, but there's no specifics! The update is about 840MB in size so do this over WiFi! Via XperiaBlog.
Sega has announced that the OG Sonic the Hedgehog game for Android! The game which debut in 1991 will cost you $2.99 (USD and AUD), £1.99 or €2.69 depending on where you live and that's not a bad price for full 60fps gaming and a remastered soundtrack! Via TNW.
YouTube Live has expanded to all of the channels on the website with more than 1,000 subscribers! That's good news for people who don't like watching people stream on Twitch! Via TheVerge.
Android app piracy is still a really big problems with some games seeing piracy rates around 95% which is absolutely crazy! Via Slashgear.
And finally, Microsoft have confirmed that the ad you see below is actually from the company and that it was internal and was leaked. The idea is that the phone they're showing how Google does their business, but obviously it's designed to promote Microsoft's offerings, but that doesn't make it less interesting and it has a little bit of a point!
Microsoft have software, hardware in the form of their Surface tablets, the power to change the direction of the computing industry, they even have their own ad platform. The one thing which they're desperate to make a mark in is the internet search arena, where Bing is the relative newcomer seeking to challenge Google's dominance!
There's one thing which Microsoft are hoping will help them change the fortunes of their search engine and that's Facebook integration. The new feature essentially lets users like and comment on things which their Facebook pals have said which are related to their searches.
The way that this will all work is that after you log in with your Microsoft account you have the option to add your Facebook account to Bing. After that you have access to comments on Facebook posts in your search engine sidebar. After you see that you have the ability to offer your 'likes and comments' without the need to navigate to Facebook. Depending on what you search for Bing will offer up relevant Facebook comments and posts from your friends and the plan is slightly flawed because the relevance isn't determined by the age of the posts, so things from a few years back may well pop up.
The main thinking is that if you search for Black Eyed Peas tickets on Bing, the Facebook bar on the side will show you that one of your friends already has tickets and has one going spare if you want it. Obviously that's the ideal world scenario, but we're not sure if it will prove to be as useful as that in reality!
This is what things will look like!
It seems that at the moment Facebook and Microsoft are drawing ever closer. Some of you might remember that Microsoft will be powering Facebook's 'Graph Search' when that hits everyone's profiles at some point in the future. The real point here is whether or not Bing's new feature is actually what users want, we're not convinced, but what about you guys? Do you think Bing's Social Sidebar is a good enough feature to differentiate from Google and do you use the Facebook, Twitter, Klout and Foursquare integration at all? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below! Bing Via PCWorld.
According to Microsoft's Chief Financial Officer, Tami Reller, we shouldn't expect a version of iTunes optimised for touch to arrive on Windows 8 any time soon. Reller said: "You shouldn't expect an iTunes app on Windows 8 any time soon... iTunes is in high demand. The welcome mat has been laid out. It's not for lack of trying." Which is a shame, but perhaps if Windows tablets make more of an impact on the market Apple will reconsider! Via CNN.
HTC's ever green HD2 has now been hacked to run Firefox OS! That device just won't give up having run Android, Windows Mobile, Windows Phone, Windows RT and Windows 8, we're sure there's more too. The Firefox OS port is a work in progress as you can imagine, but if you're interested then follow this post on XDA for all the updates! Via Slashgear.
Nokia's launch of the Lumia 928 also revealed that Windows Phone app production is slowing down a bit. The total currently stands at 145,000 apps, which isn't too shabby at all, but that mean that only 45,000 apps have been produced for the platform in the last eleven months! WindowsPhoneBlog Via PhoneArena.
According to reports on TechEye, Sharp are planning to lay off 5,000 workers over the next couple of years in China and Malaysia as the company sees sales of TV's dwindle.
Facebook Home is now available for the HTC One and the Samsung Galaxy S4! The app was updated on Google Play yesterday and it brought some bug fixes along with the added support! Via AndroidCommunity.
The guys over at SamMobile think that they know when there will be Android 4.2.2 coming to the Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note 2 and the tweet below has the full details!
Android 4.2.2 for high-range devices from June #sgs3#note2
— SamMobile (@SamMobiles) May 10, 2013
Sony's Jelly Bean update for the Xperia S and Xperia SL is getting closer every day, with the latest test versions being approved here and there! Check out full details on the Xperia Blog.
And finally, according to rumours from China Oppo's successor to the Find 5 will be the Find 6 and it will have a crazy spec sheet which will include a Snapdragon 800 processor, an 8 MP front-facing camera, which is paired with a 13MP rear sensor along with 2 GB of RAM, a 5-inch 1080p display, and NFC!
Today there's been a rumour, which started over at TechCrunch, which says that internal documents from Microsoft reveal that the Redmond giant is preparing to offer up $1 billion to buy the digital assets of Nook, part of the Barnes and Noble group! The idea is that Microsoft could utilize the digital section of the company, so the eBooks, eReaders and the Nook tablets.
Part of the 'internal document' says that Android-based tablets won't be offered by the company at the end of this year and there were rumours about this which surfaced in February. Instead of offering their own hardware it seems as though Nook will use apps on 'third-party' hardware, but we're not sure if that means just devices powered by Microsoft's operating system or other tablets more widely.
What do you think? Are the recent price drops a way of the company clearing inventory before an expected buyout? The stock markets certainly think so and the price of Barnes and Noble shares have soared today by 18% following the report from TechCrunch this morning!
Via TechCrunch.
Microsoft have been doing their level best to get their Windows Phone platform out there lately. Windows Phone 7 was a good start and Windows Phone 8 carried on the good work, but the one thing they really need to make their platform a success is to convince a lot more people to 'switch'.
With that in mind the two obvious places to target are those people who are thinking about either picking up an iPhone or one of Samsung's Galaxy range of smartphones. Both of those groups have a big set of fans and if you read the comments sections on posts then you'll quite often see their fans squabbling. That's something which Microsoft have picked up on and their latest advert, set at a wedding, captures the mood rather well.
As the ceremony gets under way both sides pull out their phones to capture the special moment, one Samsung owner is asked rather impolitely to get his 'enormous' phone out of the way, before a war of words kicks off. The retort 'enormously awesome' is thrown out, before S-Beam, Siri and the stereotypical age of iPhone users are all brought into the fray, just like the normal 'iSheep' and 'CopyBot' remarks too!
One of our personal favourites in this ad is where a Galaxy user says, 'Autocorrect this', before proceeding to start a brawl, during which an iPhone user is thrown into the cake and asked 'is there an app for that?' which also made us chuckle.
When all is said and done a pair of brightly coloured Nokia Lumia 920's are held out by the catering staff with the ultimate suggestion being 'Don't fight. Switch'. Will this ad be enough to stop the slide in Lumia sales in the US lately? Possibly not, but it's a good fun advert which certainly hits the mark!
Intel CEO Paul Otellini has reiterated that he sees laptop prices heading down below $200 in the next few months! Apparently these devices will be running Android instead of Windows, which is why the price can get so low. The laptops are set to be powered by Intel’s Atom processors and apparently their Windows counterparts price points will be controlled by how much Microsoft chargers for their software! Does this mean that Google is working on something to make Android more suitable for non-touch devices? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
Qualcomm have confirmed that mass production for the Snapdragon 800 processor will begin in May! The processor can run each of its four cores at different clock speeds or turned off entirely, so hopefully that will be much better at power management! Via AndroidCommunity.
BetaWorks, the company behind Digg, has today announced that they have acquired Instapaper. Instapaper is a popular little app which saves articles from the internet so you can read them later. Apparently BetaWorks will expand operations, staff and they will seek to take the app further than its creator could have managed on his own! Via PocketLint.
Microsoft has launched Bing Offers; it's a localised version of their Bing Deals program from before! If you want to check it out then click here! Via Engadget.
Google has acquired the news summary app Wavii and the first move has been to shut down to service to bring the ideas inside Google for the time being! Is this Google's reaction to Yahoo buying Summly? Probably! Via TheVerge.
If you follow The White House on Twitter you would have seen this tweet pop up on your timeline! This is good news, we think?
LG have announced that they will be rolling out their cloud service in 40 more countries, unfortunately they didn't specify which ones they were just yet! Via Engadget.
Forbes has published a list of the most reputable American companies! Intel came in as a surprise number 2 to the winners Disney! It's a pretty interesting list so head here to have a good read of it all! Via Hothardware.
An Android app for Vine has been promised and is apparently on its way! Via Phandroid.
A 17MB update is rolling out to Asus Transformer Pad 300's at the moment. The update brings fixes and improvements, but nothing too major! Via AndroidPolice.
And finally, we thought we'd bring you a bit of a different end to 'In Other News' today and we're going to show you just how slow things in the tech world are. We all think that things come to market quickly and well to some extent they do, but take the camera in the Galaxy S4. That was announced last August and it's just shipping in a device now! That's right around 9 months, which isn't quite so impressive and bear in mind that that's only the camera module!
Perfect example of industry lead times: The Sony IMX135, the camera sensor in the GS4, was announced in August 2012 sony.net/SonyInfo/News/…
— Stefan Constantine (@WhatTheBit) April 26, 2013
Apple have announced the dates for WWDC 2013 will be from June the 10th to June the 14th this year! It will be held in San Francisco at Moscone West and if you're looking to get a ticket then you'll have to be on the ball on April the 25th at 10AM PDT or 1PM ET! Via TheVerge.
HTC are rolling out an update for their flagship, the One! The update should arrive OTA in the next week and to quote the official changelog the update includes;
'Improvement to sound capture with Zoe, Noise reduction in slow motion movie capture, Improved color reproduction and dynamic range (reduced over-exposure in non-HDR images) in certain conditions, Fix to display correct ISO in EXIF information when ISO settings are manually changed by the user, Improved system performance and stability' Via Slashgear.
LG have announced that the company had a bit of a rough time in the last quarter as profit fell 22% in Q1 compared with the same period a year earlier. The slip was blamed on the stagnant TV market, where profit fell by about $80 million to $322.88 million. On the plus side LG's phone business is picking up, driven by sales of the Optimus G and Nexus 4 in particular with good sales expected to come from the G Pro too! Lg expects their new smart TV's with 3D and or 4K to give them a boost later this year! Via TheVerge.
Some of you might have seen the hack of the AP twitter account which resulted in a tweet saying that the White House had been attacked yesterday! It seems that in light of that attack Twitter is working on two-step verification to make sure that that sort of thing doesn't happen again! Apparently it's in internal testing at the moment before a wider rollout happens. Via Wired.
Nintendo have announced their latest financial results and things still aren't fully back on track for the guys from Japan. They're reporting that their net sales were down again, this time it was a 1.9% drop from the same time last year, but on the plus side the net income was a total of 7 billion yen, so at least they're not losing money any more! As for sales, the Wii U is struggling with 390,000 being moved since December, but on the plus side the 3DS is selling well, with 1.25 million leaving shops since December! Via Engadget.
Microsoft have signed up ZTE to their patent licensing rota too! That means that Microsoft now has deals with more than 20 companies making Android devices! We're not sure of the exact details of the agreement, but it might be a cross-licensing deal, but for the moment it's impossible to say! Via TheVerge.
According to Digitimes suppliers are planning on releasing UltraHD screens with resolutions of 3840 x 2160p for Notebooks and Tablets this year!
Sony have confirmed that the Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean rollout for the Xperia P, Xperia go and Xperia E dual will start this week! Via XperiaBlog.
And finally, for those of you in the UK, Which have today reported that Tesco are the best mobile phone network when it comes to pleasing their customers! Tesco's press release on the matter says that with a '72% overall score for contract, with Which? stating it “ticks all the boxes ...and it’s not hard to see why its customers are satisfied.” [Tesco] scored 71% for Pay as you go overall customer satisfaction.' Not bad results and obviously Tesco's use of O2's network is proving to be a popular mobile offering! Via Coolsmartphone.
Sony have decided to add the Xperia Z to their AOSP github. That means that they're busy at work for the Xperia Z which is good to hear, you can check out the video below showing where they've got to and head to the Sony developer blog here for full details! Via AndroidPolice.
Microsoft is expanding the availability of their Surface tablets. From April 25th you can get one of the RT devices in Malaysia and at some point relatively soon after you will be able to get one in Mexico or Korea and then they'll arrive in Thailand in either May or June. The Surface Pro on the other hand will arrive in 19 more countries which are spread across Europe, Asia and Oceania for this time next month! One of those places in the UK! Via Engadget.
Lenovo have confirmed that their K900 smartphone, the first to be powered by a dual-core Intel processor will be available on the 6th of May in China! We're not sure if this uber thin, 5.5" screened monster will head West, but we'll bring you more details if we have them after the big day! Via GSMInsider.
Facebook have redesigned their mobile website to work better with the touchscreens which you'll be viewing it on! It looks a little bit like Google Now, but we'll forgive that if it is an improvement! Via AndroidCommunity.
Geeksphone are the first company out of the block with a Firefox OS phone and you might have tried to get the Keon or Peak today, but you may well have been greeted with issues on the Geeksphone Store. It seems they had a bit more attention then they were expecting!
We are aware some of you have experienced issues due to the number of concurrent visitors... working on it! Sorry for the inconveniences
— Geeksphone (@geeksphone) April 23, 2013
Bloomberg are reporting that Nokia will show off their much rumoured Lumia 928 for Verizon in May! We'll have to wait and see! Via TheVerge.
BeagleBone are back with a new dev board. This is called the 'black' board and for $45 you can buy yourself a 1GHz SitaraT AM335x ARM CortexT-A8 processor from Texas Instruments, 512MB of RAM, 2GB of internal storage, Linux or Android compatibility, a micro-HDMI port, as well as USB and Ethernet ports! If you're interested head over here to get more details! Via Hothardware.
Virgin Mobile are offering the Samsung Galaxy S4 on contract soon! The pricing will be a £99 up front charge for the phone with either a £36 ‘Starter’ package which give you 200 minutes, 500 texts and 500MB of data, or the £41 ‘Essential’ package which offers 600 minutes, unlimited texts and 1GB of data or you can go for the £44 ‘Premiere’ deal in which case you can have 2500 minutes and unlimited texts and data. If you want to reduce the upfront cost you can pay £2 per month extra and get the phone for £69 and don't forget if you're a Virgin broadband customer you get your £5 a month discount which makes these plans much more appealing! Via TrustedReviews.
And finally, Gamestick have unboxed the developer edition of their Kickstarter backed project. You can check out the video below if you're a backer because it shows you how the menus will look and how Riptide plays on the console!
We're not normally impressed with laptop teasers. There's really only so much people can do aside from adding touch screens or using expensive materials, but it seems like Acer want to stand out from the crowd with whatever it is they're planning on bringing us on May the 3rd!
The video which is embedded below is the main attraction here and it seems like the guys are linking up with the new film Star Trek Into Darkness for the release of whatever this new notebook is. One thing which the video does confirm is that Windows 8 will be powering the device, but we expect the OS will look a tad dated by the time we get to the 23rd Century!
If you check out the picture above it's quite clear that there's some sort of hinge which seems to push the screen outwards almost like your desktop monitor would. While it seems to make quite the fashion statement, we're not sure how practical that would be in reality, but you know we're always up for seeing something nice and innovative!
If this makes the touchscreen usage of Windows 8 more pleasurable would you be prepared to pay a premium for this? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
A few days ago we reported that Microsoft had updated to minimum screen requirements for Windows 8, something which we speculated could pave the way for 7" and even 8" Windows tablets. It seems we weren't too far off the mark because Microsoft's CFO, Peter Klein, has said that the Remond giants are working closely with OEM's on something along those lines.
Klein's exact words were that Microsoft are working to produce "a new suite of small touch devices powered by Windows." He also added that we can expect these devices to be "available in the coming months" and at "competitive price points," both of which sound great to us!
As you may remember Microsoft actually dropped their minimum screen resolution down to 1024 x 768p and at the time they said:
"We understand that partners exploring designs for certain markets could find greater design flexibility helpful."
We could quite easily describe smaller tablets as an 'exploration' for Microsoft and their partners seeing as no diddy tablets have run the software before. Perhaps this much rumoured update to Windows 8.1 could be more heavily focused on optimisations for these new screen sizes and TheVerge even speculates that OEM's will release smaller devices running Windows 8 and then they will update them to Windows 8.1 which they are more tailored for.
Let us not forget that 'small touch devices' is a very broad term and it could encompass everything from tablets through to smartwatches and anything else, perhaps even mobile phones, but we think that one is a bit of a stretch for now because of Windows Phone 8, but they fall into the category nonetheless and that shows how ambiguous the statement is.
When TheVerge reached out to Microsoft for clarification on what 'small touch devices' were they were told that the Microsoft had 'nothing more to share at this time', it seems only time will tell! What do you think? Would you be interested in a 7" Windows 8 tablet? Let us know in the comments below! Via TheVerge.
Nokia might still be in their huge fall from grace, but that doesn't mean things don't keep ticking over inside the Finnish giant. Their Lumia Windows Phones seem to be grabbing a bit more attention with every device release, but how are the sales looking?
Well the latest quarterly earnings call shows improvement in Lumia sales once again! In the last quarter of 2012 they managed to ship 4.4 million devices and sales grew again last quarter, up 1.2 million to a grand total of 5.6 million! Of those devices Nokia claims that only one third of them are running versions of Windows Phone 7, the remain two-thirds were powered by Windows Phone 8. If we compare this to the Q1 2012 then sales of Lumia devices are more than 100% up from the 2 million which they had shipped! When everything is added together Nokia has now sold 19.9 million Lumia devices since their inception in November of 2011. That is by no means exception, but it's a good start!
If we break things down into regions slightly more, then things are looking better basically everywhere except for America. In the Greater China region revenues are up, something which has been attributed to the sales of the more expensive Lumia devices in the area, despite the company actually selling less devices as Symbian continues it's free-fall, as you can see in the chart below which suggests Nokia needs to get those cheaper Windows Phones selling in order to make up for the loss of Symbian sales! Symbian sales took a big hit as you can see in the tweet from Benedict Evans embedded below!
Very nasty lurch down in sales for Nokia's non-smart business. 56m units, down 21% y-on-y twitter.com/BenedictEvans/…
Unfortunately for Nokia North American is proving difficult to crack still, with device sales sliding back down to a total of 400,000, making that 33% less than sales at the same time last year and this is notably less than the sales over the holiday season which gave a Q4 2012 sales total of 700,000 in the region.
Sales are all well and good, but what really matters is the overall profit or loss. You might remember that in Q4 2012 Nokia managed to turn a small profit, but the Finns were back in the red this quarter, posting a loss of €150 million (which is around about $196 million or £128 million) on €5.85 billion ($7.65 billion or £5 billion) worth of revenue. Interesting the company regarded this as a relatively good result as their restructuring efforts have managed to bring the losses right down compared to the mammoth hit their bank account took in Q1 2012 of €1.34 billion!
If you're interested in full details of how Nokia did then check out their full results PDF here!
With that in mind it's not too much of a surprise that the latest company to come out and say they're not totally impressed with Windows RT is Dell. They guys might be in the middle of a takeover bid, but that doesn't meant they've taken their eyes off the market and the company's Neil Hand had this to say to in an interview with CNet:
“Demand is not where I would like it to be at this point in time. The amount of market information about it is not good enough, and the market sentiment is still pretty negative."
He also added that the app support for the platform hasn't been quite as strong as it needed to be, a complaint which could be lodged against fully fledged Windows 8 too!
What do you think? We're interested to hear your thoughts on Windows 8 and Windows RT because we've currently got the Asus Vivotab Smart in for review, so keep your eyes out for that and feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments below! Via Slashgear.
Google has finally told developers that from today they're, "now able to upload screenshots of your app running on 7″ and 10″ tablets to the Google Play Developer Console," something which gives people with tablets these pictures instead of the phone screenshots. It seems that Google is finally turning to their Android eyes towards tablets as Google I/O approaches! Check out the AndroidDeveloperBlog here for more information. Via AndroidBeat.
Samsung appear to have delayed the UK launch of the Galaxy S4, unless you pre-ordered the device! The delay is only a day, so you can pick it up on Saturday instead of Friday! The Inquirer spoke to the Samsung store in Stratford and we're not sure if the issue is wider than that at the moment. Via TheInquirer.
T-Mobile UK are in trouble with the Advertising Standards Authority for their use of 'unlimited' to define the internet on their Full Monty tariff. The ASA took issue with the way the company insisted on peer-to-peer limits during 8am and 2am each day. At the moment T-Mobile are excluding tethering from the plan for new customers! Via PCPro.
Amazon have announced that they will be extending the availability of their app store from the seven countries they currently operate it in to nearly 200 in the coming months! Now where's that Amazon phone got to? Via TheVerge.
Calling all Sony Xperia Tablet S owners! Get yourself ready if you live in America, Canada or South America because tomorrow morning Sony will unleash an OTA for your device which will give you Android 4.1.1 Jelly bean at long last! Via AndroidPolice.
Microsoft and Hon Hia, the parent company of Foxconn have penned a new licensing deal for Android and Chrome OS devices! There can't be too many more people who Microsoft needs to sign up any more! Via PhoneArena.
Sony Mobile have announced that the latest software update for the Xperia V has fixed all of the past 'sleep of death' issues which owners have experienced in the past. Via XperiaBlog.
FunnyOrDie have posted a new mockumentary about Steve Jobs. The show is aptly named iSteve and there's not much to it other than the desire to make you laugh. If you're interested in the show you can check it out here! Via IntoMobile.
Nintendo have confirmed the spring update for the Wii U which was promised wil arrive next week! Via Engadget.
HTC's new flagship, the One, has been getting fantastic reviews from around the web, but it seems as though one person won't be giving it full marks! The review device for one person has developed the strange issue which we see below. It's not known whether the issue affects more than just this single device, but for the moment we'll assume it's an isolated incident! Via LandofTechnology.
And finally, what can you do if you have 10,000 iPhones and a fair bit of free time? Dominos! The video below is a pretty cool stunt!
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