One of the perceived downsides of the smartphone industry is the monopolization of devices through carrier locking. At point of sale and when you sign up to a contract with a carrier, it's understandable, but thereafter, getting a handset unlocked can be a trying, if not impossible process. If you want to check whether your device is unlocked for use on any network, a nifty online service completely has your back, and not only is the website incredibly easy to use, but if you're on Android, there's also an app available to download over at the Google Play Store. More details after the break.
We're just a couple of days away from Facebook's special press event at its California headquarters, and following on from the earlier report that the social network would be bringing forth its own Facebook-orientated launcher, resident spoiler evleaks has come through once again in producing a render of what is alleged to be the HTC device it will initially be primed onto.
The jury may still be out on whether 3D viewing is to be a significant part of the technology industry moving forward, or whether in fact it's just a novelty feature to be enjoyed from time to time. If you're of the opinion that yes, 3D viewing is a key part of digital viewing in future, then you may be interested by the creation of a Singapore-based bunch of researchers, who've developed a special type of film that can help mobile displays output in three dimensions.
Further to the earlier reports that AT&T would begin taking pre-orders of HTC One handset on April 4th, it has also been revealed that the device will cost $200 as opposed to $250. Moreover, the device will be available on the carrier as of April 19th, meaning it will in fact retail before Samsung's Galaxy S4 hits US shores, and at $200, it would be 20% cheaper up-front than its main Android rival.
BlackBerry has spent the past year preparing and reinventing itself for another serious assault on the smartphone market, and although the company did try sticking with the old formula and essentially flogged a dead horse for far to long, the company looks ready to be taken seriously again. BlackBerry 10 looks like an intuitive, innovative operating system much more in line with the likes of iOS and Android, and with the BlackBerry Z10 certainly strong enough to hold its own against many of the market's considered elite, the Waterloo, Ontario-based company is looking for customers once more.
April is an exciting month mainly for two reasons. The first is Samsung's Galaxy S4, which is easily the most anticipated smartphone release this year; and the second is the HTC One, which, for numerous reasons, has already been touted as the best Android handset the market has ever seen, and we agree with the notion wholeheartedly. The latter of the two titans was announced some time ago, but yield issues on some of the hardware powering the device's marquee features have beset numerous delays upon the Taiwanese company. Now though, it looks as though folks interested in the One won't have to wait that much longer, with reports suggesting pre-orders on AT&T could begin as early as Thursday April 4th, with the HTC One release date touted in the April bracket officially.
Google's Maps is by far the navigation utility of choice not only on the company's very own Android platform, but also iOS, where millions of iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users have downloaded the search giant's third-party offering from the App Store. Why do we all love Google Maps so much? Well, besides being one of the most accurate and feature-rich experiences in the field, it is also incredibly easy to use, and the swiping, tapping and pinching gestures make the whole process pretty seamless. Thanks to mobile device enthusiast Carl Sednaoui, we've got a little video demonstration of a feature many of you may have missed within Google Maps, which allows users to zoom in and out effectively using a little-known one-handed shortcut.
The ability to control devices and machines remotely is invaluable to many of us in our everyday and working lives, and although remote desktop apps tend to offer a broad range of functionality, sometimes, only the very basics are necessary. XDA-Developers Member RavinduSha has come up with a nifty app offering a remote switch-off feature for Android, and although we'd perhaps struggle to think of many occasions where such an app would be immediately necessary, it's certainly a useful one to have in the inventory.
With a bunch of new devices from Samsung, HTC and Sony joining an already crowded smartphone market, this Spring is certainly a good time to be upgrading your handset. With so many reviews offering varied, mostly opinion-based coverage on which deserves your hard-earned cash, PhoneArena has tried to keep things objective by posting a display performance comparison of each of the industry's most sought-after handsets. Included in the line-up is the iPhone 5, Samsung's current and upcoming Galaxy S4 and the current Galaxy S III, Sony's waterproof Xperia Z, the HTC One, and Nokia's Lumia 920. Check out the comparison after the jump!
Google offers an impressive array of useful apps, and one of the benefits of owning an Android device is that each Google App, or GApp, is offered right from the company's famed Play Store. Akin to the Web and desktop versions of apps such as Drive, Keep, Maps and Translate, the mobile versions offer clean, minimalistic and uniform interfaces; but if you're looking for something a little alternative to that quintessentially-Google appearance, one developer has spent a great deal of time inverting the color schemes of said apps to give a radically different appearance. One look is described as "transparent", whilst the other, darker look is "blacked-out", and if you feel as though your Google apps are looking a little washed-out, you may want to check out these modded APKs.
