Suspicion, speculation and good old fashioned controversy is never far away in the smartphone industry. Companies like Samsung, HTC and Apple are always keen to let the public know how well their hardware performs in areas that matter most to the consumer. One of the accepted methods of documenting and listing that performance is by running the hardware through a well-known benchmarking text. Futuremark - the Finnish development team behind 3DMark for Android - has announced that it suspects Samsung and HTC of cheating the benchmark tests to produce favorable results, and as such has delisted the offending handsets.
We've all seen Star Trek, and some of us are a little too keen on the universe created by Gene Roddenberry. But whether you're a fan of Star Trek or not, you can't argue against the fact that the various different iterations on the original series as well as the subsequent movies had a knack of predicting some of the technology that we all take for granted today. Star Trek has its characters using tablets before the iPad (or even Tablet PCs, too) and voice recognition was being used on our TV screens before Siri and Google Now were even close to being announced. Skype didn't exist, but those on the bridge of a Star Trek ship could talk to people on giant screens, just like we can today.
Google is constantly working to improve and update its Android ecosystem, and with photography now quite a big deal in mobile space, it looks as though shot-taking ability is about to be stepped up a gear or two. According to Google spokeswoman Gina Scigliano, the Android team is working on a new photo API that will allow wannabe photographers to shoot RAW uncompressed images. On top of that, Scigliano, who was speaking with CNET, also added that the revamped API will offer native burst mode, helping to push smartphone point-and-shoot towards the territory of pro photography.
BlackBerry's OS and brand in general may be tanking right now, but the Canadian company seems determined to turn things around, and following the recent release of its prized BBM app for iOS and Android, it looks as though users of the latter ecosystem may begin to see the instant messaging app installed as standard on some future devices. If there's one thing consumers tend to loathe, it's the pre-installation of unnecessary bloatware that cannot be removed, but the good news - at least, for much of the western world - is that it's unlikely to be finding its way to your favorite Android brand of handset any time soon.
It may be one of the biggest gaming franchises on the planet, but that doesn't mean that Assassin's Creed developer Ubisoft is resting on its laurels. With the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 launching so recently, Ubisoft today remind everyone that it is committed to mobile platforms too with the announcement of a new, standalone game for iOS and Android.
Well things are never dull when a post has the former Apple’s board of directors member’s name in the title, and this latest offering is no different. Now executive chairman over at 'the Plex,' Eric Schmidt is never shy about making his thoughts clear, and he's got Apple, iOS and the iPhone in his sights right now, as shown by a rather thinly veiled jibe courtesy of his Google+ account.
Samsung does not hold back when it comes to releasing new smartphones of all varieties, and following on from a multitude of new and exciting handsets dropped this calendar year comes the Galaxy Grand 2, the direct successor to the original Galaxy Grand launched back in December of last year. Designed with movie lovers in mind, it packs an HD 5.25-inch panel of 16:9 aspect ratio - ideal for watching your favorite films and TV shows on the move. By means of a press release, the South Korean company divulged all of the juicy details pertaining its latest model, and we've got them all right here for you.
After weeks of sitting on a terribly guarded secret, HTC has finally introduced the world to a gold variant of its popular One handset. A number of companies have quite clearly taken note of the excitement surrounding the launch of the gold iPhone 5s eight weeks ago and have decided that if you can't beat them then you might as well join them. Or emulate them depending on your personal view of the situation. Apple watched as worldwide inventory of the gold iPhone 5s was immediately depleted upon launch, with HTC hoping that they can also generate the same levels of excitement about their gold option.
Of all the recognized companies in the smartphone game, Samsung is the most active in terms of devices released, and as well as a large inventory of mid and low-end handsets, it offers two flagships in the form of the Galaxy S and Galaxy Note ranges. It's a fair assessment to make that both series have become a little stale, with both the S4 and Note 3 seeming very similar to their respective predecessors, and this point has been underlined with sales of each falling below the company's high expectations. This places a little extra importance on next year's major releases from the South Korean outfit, and we may just have an insight into the Galaxy S5 thanks to a leaked metal frame purporting to be a legitimate component of the forthcoming device.
As with any new update to Google's Android, many users are left in no man's land, waiting anxiously for that OTA to appear so they can go ahead and take advantage of the new features. Such is the fragmented nature of the operating system, devices are promised a new update from the get-go, but often have to wait weeks or even months before they can actually begin using it. The antiquated LG Nexus 4 will soon begin to see the recently released Android 4.4 KitKat, and although many in ownership of the handset have already successfully sought ways to force an update, you can now do so by flashing the update by your phone's recovery.
