It seems that someone at Facebook likes nice round numbers, because the social network has released Facebook Messenger 4.0 for iPhone and Android. Big new updates are great, except when they're not big at all, which is certainly the case with Facebook Messenger. See, the app has seen its version number bumped to the lofty number of 4.0, but do the changes warrant a new point-0 release? Probably not, no.
JoinedJanuary 21, 2011
Articles20,137
Oliver Haslam has written about technology for over a decade. His work has been published in print at Macworld and online pretty much everywhere else. If it plugs in or has a battery, it's fair game.
While Spotify and Rdio are taking over from iTunes when it comes to the kids' favorite way of consuming music, we're told by just about everyone younger than us that the real way to get a music fix is to use YouTube. Full of music videos as well as the odd unofficial recording, YouTube has become a huge video-based music jukebox for many, with the added benefit of it being absolutely free. Really, what's not to love?
The wait is almost over for Samsung's next flagship smartphone, with the highly anticipated Galaxy S5 going on sale worldwide next month. The Galaxy S line of smartphones is almost a home run when it comes to sales, but the handsets aren't always universally well reviewed by those who like to dig a little deeper than simple screen size or fancy software features. This year Samsung hopes to right that.
Everyone hates it when two massive companies keep dragging each other through the courts, except lawyers that is. With Apple and Google getting ready to once again duke it out we're being treated to a rare insight into how Apple functioned circa 2007. with the man that was in charge of coming up with the iPhone giving a rare interview.
Whenever a new smartphone is released there's always someone asking the inevitable question: what happens when I throw it across the ground, or maybe dunk it in water or give it a few blows using a hammer?
It seems that we can't go any longer than a few posts without professing our love for the jailbreaking scene. Maybe not always for some of the tweaks that it comes up with, after all, some can be pretty poor indeed, but rather for the kinds of things that it makes possible. For the doors that it opens, often far beyond the idea of simply being able to skin an iOS device to within an inch of its life.
When Apple decided to ditch Google Maps as its iOS mapping software of choice it caused quite the stir. With Google's mapping technology almost ubiquitous at this point, and with us all being so familiar with it, the thought of losing it on iOS was rather worrisome. As it turned out we didn't have to wait too long before Google brought Maps to iOS as a standalone app, but all the hooks inside iOS still point to Apple Maps, for better or for worse.
As Google's Chromecast continues its expansion to other countries around the world, the company appears to have begun to refocus its energies into the little HDMI dongle. Offering buyers a way to get video and audio onto a television via both Android and iOS devices, Chromecast is almost an alternative to an Apple TV for those that don't need the kinds of features that particular product offers.
You can always trust the jailbreak world to come up with something interesting, and we find that some of the better ones fly somewhat under the radar. A tweak that's still very much in its infancy but doesn't seem to be getting much attention is Appellancy.
Some things are just never going to happen. Some things are just highly unlikely. With Steve Jobs around it was unthinkable for Apple to bring the iTunes Store to Google's Android mobile platform, but in a post-Steve Jobs world, it's looking increasingly possible that those packing non-Apple hardware could be able to buy songs from iTunes.
