In Other News: 09/05/2013.

• Acer are a bit more happy with the changes which Microsoft is readying for the next version of Windows 8 because the whole world isn't quite ready for touch and apparently now Microsoft have realised that!
  Via TheVerge.

• BT and their new sports packages will be coming free to BT Broadband customers in the future! There will be a few hurdles to jump through, but that is an insane deal! Sky customers will have to pay either £12 or £15 to add it to their Sky subscription per month, depending on whether they want standard or high definition on their pictures! For full details check out PocketLint here. 

• The Nokia Lumia 900 on AT&T is finally receiving the update to Windows Phone 7.8!
  Via IntoMobile.

• Apex Launcher 2.0 has hit Google Play and the update involves, amongst other things, a new feature which lets you know how many notifications there are for each app on the shortcut to the app, in much the same way as iOS tackles the problem.
  Via AndroidPolice.

• Facebook Home has finally hit the one million downloads mark on the Play Store!
  Via IntoMobile.

• ITV have updated their Android app for their online catch up service. The update however, is an exclusive to a plethora of Samsung devices, but apparently the APK will work on any hardware from a Sony Xperia X10 through to a HTC One if the reports on our Twitter feed are to be believed!
  Via Eurodroid.

• Rovio have updated their Bad Piggies app with a tonne of new levels, 120 to be exact and there's a few new gadget to power your concoctions!
  Via AndroidCommunity.

And finally, according to the guys over at Engadget the Wii U will have a fair amount of restrictions  in the games it can play in the future because EA's Frostbite 3 engine apparently doesn't play nice. That rules out the next instalment of Battlefield, Star Wars and Mass Effect as well as this seasons Madden. Maybe that's why we've been seeing price drops left, right and centre!

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16/07/2012

HTC reportedly cancelled the ICS update for the Desire HD.

   When we heard the lists of devices each manufacturer planned to put ICS onto there was one device in particular we did not expect to see on the list. That device was the ageing, but still relevant, HTC Desire HD. 

   Sadly we've recently learnt that Telus, a Canadian Network has cancelled the update for their version of the device and we have heard rumours that the same issues Telus faced will be exactly the same for all variants of the device.

   The handset has a Snapdragon S2 processor and 768mb of RAM so there's every chance this device could run ICS and probably will through alternative software sources, the obvious one being CyanogenMod.

   Surprisingly Telus cited “poor device performance during testing” as the main issue, but that sounds more than slightly suspect to us! Let us explain; the HTC One V, for example, features the exact same processor but only 512MB of RAM and still managed to ship with Ice Cream Sandwich. Even the little HTC Desire C, with it's little 600Mhz processor, is running Ice Cream Sandwich out of the box, so we remain optimistic that international versions of the device will get some ICS but don't get your hopes up guys!

ZTE facing slight trouble?

   ZTE have been doing rather well lately; they've been rising up the selling ranks and they're aiming for a top 3 market share in the next few years. But, it seems the bubble might be starting to burst for the company.

   Shares in the company have fallen 17% after some warnings arrived suggesting that half-year profits could be heading down by a massive 80%. To add insult to injury there’s rumours that 12,000 staff are to be pushed out the door AND the FBI are investigating the sale of banned kit to Iran.

   ZTE have already announced they're showing off a new gaming handset on Wednesday, so this news really won't help the companies bid to grow in Europe and the US

In other news:

• Lenovo is coming close to overtaking HP as the world's largest PC manufacturer.
• British ISP's have said that their ban on The Pirate Bay has been largely ineffective after a brief initial success.
• Skype has admitted their is a leaking message bug for which they are working on a fix.
• Raspberry Pi is now available for general order!
• A 10" Kindle Fire has been tipped again to compete with the iPad.
• Fujifilm has sued Motorola over some camera technology in mobile phones. Apparently the pair have already tried to sit down before going to court!
• The New York Times doesn't deal in rumours, but they've reported that the iPad Mini is coming, this fall could be exciting!
• AT&T has halved the upfront cost of the Lumia 900 today, it'll now set you back $49.99 on a two-year contract.
• YouTube has started showing citizen filmed news! Is this the future?

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08/06/2012

Samsung, Apple and Australia.

   Firstly, Samsung have complained to the Australian Government about how Apple has been using a certain number of their patents in their on going legal battles. The Australian patent commissioner has therefore been charge with informing the court about what Samsung alleges is IP that was granted “ultra vires”, or beyond the powers of the commissioner, which would make it void.

   The patents in question are;

• 2006330724 – Unlocking a device by performing gestures on an unlock image (Granted April 1, 2010)
• 2007283771 – Portable electronic device for photo management (Granted May 20, 2010)
• 2008201540 – List scrolling and document translation, scaling, and rotation on a touch-screen display (Granted February 11, 2010)
• 2009200366 – List scrolling and document translation, scaling, and rotation on a touch screen display (Granted July 23, 2009)

   It should be noted though that this is 4 patents from potentially hundreds which will be disputed in the coming months, so this is quite negligible in reality.

    The second piece of news is that Apple is set to be fined by Australia, the fines run to AU$2.25m ($2.2m) fine at the moment but the judge has asked for confidential iPad sales information and details of Apple's finances before he agrees to set that amount. The issue is going back to Apple misleading new iPad buyers over the tablet's 4G compatibility. Both Apple and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission have agreed on the fine and given Apple's bank balance a couple of million here is nothing really, just another lawsuit.

In other news:

• Nokia shares have shot up in Finland because of rumours of a takeover by Samsung. It's hard to see why Sammy would be even remotely interested in Nokia but that was the rumour and it certainly gave Nokia shares a little bump in the right direction.
• Apple have had rumbling that their TV SDK will be available at WWDC! That's a sign of what's coming, apps on your tv, that certainly is one department the Apple tv needs to catch up.
• Apple is also rumoured to be getting rid of the 17" Macbook Pro and indeed the rumours are that the 'Pro' bit will be dropped from their name in their next iteration.
• Nokia apparently only moved 2.2million Lumia's over Christmas, the IDC had reported. But that's Lumia 800's and they haven't got around to the numbers for Lumia 900's which seemed to do considerably better on launch, especially in the US, so we'll wait and see until we hear news from them before we make any damning judgements.

   Just an aside if you live in Europe the 'Euros' football tournament kicks off today. Good luck to Ukraine and Poland for a great tournament!

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28/05/2012

This is geek heaven.

   Ok, so there's a couple of reasons why you'd buy the Nokia Lumia 900. Firstly, it might be because of it's gorgeous Amoled screen, maybe it's because of it's lovely industrial design or it might be because you like Windows Phone (unlikely, I joke). 

   But, this phone might just have got a tiny bit more attractive, especially if you L-O-V-E Batman. If you do then you can head over to Phones4U and pick up your limited edition of the phone, complete with Batman logo on the back and custom wallpapers and tiles tailored towards your bat fetishes. This is basically a repeat of what the company did with the Lumia 800 a while back, and there will also be a Dark Knight rising version too!

   There's been no confirmation as to how many of the phone will be made but we expect there to be more than enough to go around! But, go out and grab it just incase!!!

The Galaxy S3 and the UK.

   I'm not sure the best way to break this to you because the UK is a tad obsessed with Samsung and their Galaxy devices, but the device has been delayed across the whole set of countries. Clove was first out the block to let us know, telling customers g that “Samsung has confirmed a delay in the arrival of the first stock” with an exact date for availability “still to be confirmed.” There's also a minor delay with the “Marble White” version if you chose that version instead.

   Clove have specifically said the Marble White Galaxy S III is now expected in stock on June 1, instead of May 30 . The “first stock” of the blue is “expected to arrive week commencing 5th June, but this is still to be confirmed.”

   On a slightly more positive note, if you happen to be in London and more specifically on Oxford Street between Monday and Thursday, remember to get yourself to The Carphone Warehouse store there because they’ve got phones in “popup internet cafe” where the computers have instead been replaced by Galaxy SIII handsets.

   The cafe itself will run for three days – Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, with the handset going on up for you to buy on Thursday. If you pop down then there's also a chance for you to win a handset with a Galaxy SIII being given away daily.

Mobile displays: LG's wonder screen.

   There's been huge advancements in display technology on mobile technology this past two years, but it looks like LG may have just unleashed their best technology to date. 

   Their new screen is 5" and manages to pack in full-HD resolution (that's 1920x1080!), this makes a pixel-density of 440 pixels per inch. Something which simply blows Apple's 'Retina display', with 329ppi, out of the water! LG claim that the naked eye will be unable to discern individual pixels, and the use of Advance High Performance IPS technology means you’ll be getting realistic colour reproduction, wide viewing angles, as well as brighter images and low power consumption.

   In other news:

• Asus has teased a new set of Transformer tablets which are slated to be arriving at Computex 2012, which is in early June, it'll be interesting to see what they've got planned this time. Hit the advert below for the official teaser.

• Nokia's Lumia 610, which has 256MB of RAM and a single-core 800Mhz processor has today found itself banned from more apps. The list now includes; Angry birds, Skype, PES 2012 and Tango, we're sure the list could go on. It's also worth noting other apps such as Nokia Maps and IMDB have been known to crash on the phone so it's hard to recommend it at the moment.
• RIM is restructuring and is said to be shedding 2000 jobs.
• Facebook is again rumoured to be having a stab at a Facebook phone and is reportedly hiring ex-Apple engineers to work on the device/s.

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