Although Apple's vast array of iTunes Store content is now consumed and accessed predominantly through mobile devices, the iTunes app is still an integral part of the entire infrastructure. It saw some drastic changes with version 10, which has since been fine tuned into a more functional version 11, and today, iTunes 11.1.1 has been released for both Windows and Mac. Aside from a few bug fixes, there really isn't all that much else to write home about, but it's certainly good to see Apple pushing the remedial update now, rather than merely waiting for a more noteworthy release to bundle it into.
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Apple's iPhone 5s, as is so often the case with new, flagship smartphones launched by the Cupertino company, brought quite a few new and exciting features unprecedented in the mainstream smartphone market, and as well as being the first to include a 64-bit processor, the aluminum-clad handset's 'Touch ID' fingerprint sensor is also the first of its kind. Now The FIDO Alliance, a cluster of almost fifty companies pooling ideas on an eventual successor to the traditional password, reckons that Android devices could soon start to see something similar to Touch ID in as little as six months.
Google's stronghold in the digital music market may not be as strong as some of its competitors like Apple iTunes and Spotify, but the search giant continues to update and improve its Google Music service in order to compete with the big guns.
Those associated with Google's flagship mobile operating system will by now be very much aware that version 4.4, which has been given the name of the popular (and also very tasty) KitKat treat, will be arriving at some point in the near future. What remains rather less obvious, however, are the specific features Google will be packing therein, and although the rumor mill has suggested it could be released as early as this month alongside the very eagerly awaited Nexus 5, we've nothing concrete to go on. But as the mobile world gets itself in a tizzy regarding these rather significant releases, Gadget Helpline has snagged a rather dated build of Android 4.4, and having dissected it somewhat, has dug up some intriguing features.
So, the iPhone 5s is almost two weeks old, and if you're lucky enough to have gotten your hands on one already, you may be wondering how exactly to make the most of the new features at your disposal. Perhaps you aren't even aware of just how capable the new flagship device is. Whatever your personal circumstance may be, we've outline some quirky and interesting features that you'll definitely want to be familiarizing yourself with, and you can check them out after the break!
The App Store may be a treasure trove of casual games such as your physics-based puzzlers, but over the past couple of years, we've seen plenty of popular console franchises make the leap to mobile space. The NBA 2K series is a primary example of this growing trend, and around this time of year is when the new version usually makes its its début. Right on cue, NBA 2K14 has been released for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, and if you're a big fan of basketball, you'll certainly want to be checking it out.
One of the major arguments against large-displaying "phablet" devices, which take the features of a smartphone and combine them with a slate-like form factor, is that they are incredibly hard to function with just one hand. The new Samsung Galaxy Note 3, which packs a mammoth 5.7-inch display, is one such handset, but for those struggling to use their shiny new Note 3 without using both hands or getting some kind of repetitive strain injury on one, Samsung has thrown in a neat little feature that scales down the display.
Just yesterday, a little digging by Ars Technica revealed that Samsung had rigged its Galaxy Note 3 device for benchmark tests in order to make it appear as though it performed at higher levels than it did. But while Samsung may have born the brunt of the criticism - not less since, this has happened before with the International Galaxy S4 - the problem doesn't begin and end with the South Korean company. Nope; as it transpires, many of the market's well-respected vendors like to, shall we say fine tune certain aspects of a device's make-up to reflect favorably when those benchmark apps are running, and the fully classified list, as collated by AnandTech, makes for very interesting reading.
With the iPhone release now out of the way and many consumers enjoying one of the two new handsets on offer, attention has swiftly turned to the changes expected of the iPad range. This month, Apple is thought to be upgrading the full-size iPad as well as the iPad mini, although according to sources of Reuters, the company is going to struggle with yield of the latter's Retina display.
Apple wouldn't be Apple if it wasn't to try adding something cool and exciting to its new mobile operating system, and with iOS 7, the new animations - notably the parallax effect - have certainly added a new dimension to the very new-look user interface. It's the kind of look jailbreakers have been shooting at for years with tweaks like 3D Board, and although it's rather unnecessary up against the large collection of useful implementations, it does bring that nice touch of finesse. If you were wondering how you could get this rather neat look with your own wallpaper, well, read on, and we'll outline the steps!
