We can talk about the LG G Pro 2 and the Sony Xperia Z2 when making a case for the recent releases vying for supremacy in the high-end market, but if we're being honest, there are only really two stand-out candidates that can top the pile in 2014; at least, in terms of Android smartphones. Samsung's Galaxy S5, announced at the Mobile World Congress, will be pushed to the limits by the HTC One M8 this year, and with the HTC One M7 having been the closest to competing with the Galaxy S4, early reactions to both devices suggest that the Taiwanese vendor may have well and truly struck gold this time around.
The competition in the set-top box market has quite literally heated up today with Amazon's announcement of Fire TV. Having established a considerable chunk of the tablet market via the Kindle range, the predominant online retailer wants to expand its reach to your living room, where it will take on the likes of the Apple TV, Google Chromecast, Roku Streaming Stick, and with gaming support to boot, also throws down the gauntlet to the two major new consoles.
Independently of the forthcoming Android 4.4.3 update, which should begin to trickle out to the Nexus 5 and Nexus 7 in the very near future, Google plans to add some useful new features to the native camera app of its mobile operating system. According to a newly emerged report, the standalone app will be given a complete makeover, delivering a revamped UI, improved panorama and more.
BlackBerry has just released a rather substantial update to the iOS and Android versions of its famed BBM app, bringing stickers, group photo sharing, and other such niceties. A full run-down of the enhancements, as well as the all-important download link to both the iOS and Android editions of BBM 2.1, can be seen below.
It's that time of the year again at which point the really funny folks come out to play. Google is always game for a joke or two on April 1st, and has begun the tomfoolery with a little adjustment to its famed Maps app. Essentially, it brings a Pokémon Challenge element to the revered navigation tool, and since it's now April Fools' day in many parts of the world already, the Big G has already delivered its prank to tech fans.
The upcoming Samsung Galaxy S5 has a lot going for it. It's big, it's fast and it's got more sensors than NASA. Those sensors do all kinds of things, but it seems the old fashioned microphone may be at the center of one particular party piece, and it's a party piece that Samsung has kept rather quiet.
We've been hearing a lot of rumors pertaining to an Android 4.4.3 update, with the Nexus 5 and Nexus 7 reportedly in line as the very first recipients of the supposedly imminent release. Even though much of the information thus far has been sketchy at best, we're led to believe that the forthcoming KitKat 4.4.3 update will contain nothing more than performance enhancements, and a newly-leaked 'change log' appears to corroborate this notion.
As more and more of our lives revolve around our smartphones, we really do need their batteries to last as long as possible. With those phones receiving more beefy CPUs and larger screens with more pixels, they're starting to use more juice than ever before. Unfortunately batteries aren't seeing huge improvements in technology, which as a result has left manufacturers with only one option: put larger batteries into their handsets.
Currently, the latest version of Google's Android is 4.4.2 KitKat, but it looks now like an Android 4.4.3 update is on the horizon. There have been plenty of leaks to corroborate this, and having trawled through endless Chromium code, Android 4.4.3 running on both the Nexus 5 and Nexus 7 have been discovered.
The new HTC One M8, which was announced on Tuesday by its Taiwanese manufacturer in both New York and London, looks a solid improvement upon its predecessor, the HTC One M7. Released last year, the M7 was subject to much critical acclaim, and while significantly improving upon it looked a rather difficult task, it's fair to say that the M8 enhances the feature-set with relative aplomb. The build quality is the most immediately obvious improvement with the new handset, and thanks to a new drop test, we get to see just how much stronger this year's flagship is when challenged by its older brother.
