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.
Learning to play a new instrument, particularly if you've never familiarized yourself with anything like it before, can be a little daunting. But the Web is a vast library of learning resources, and now, it only takes an Internet connection and access to a decent app, video or tutorial in order to get started. The very first thing one must master - particularly when using a stringed instrument - is tuning; and although it can be a tricky process, it's also essential for getting a good feel of the instrument. Tunable, an app for iOS and Android, not only wants to make tuning just that little bit easier, but with a very beautiful interface, users can also marvel at the stunning visuals produced during the process. More details and download links right after the jump!
In order to heighten the appeal to its flagship Galaxy S III, Samsung released the aesthetically similar, scaled-down version S III Mini late last year. Those who take a close look at a devices tech specs will have noticed that, in actuality, the similarities between the Galaxy S III and the cheaper, smaller offering end at the design and name, but that hasn't stopped the Mini from yielding strong sales since. Never one to baulk at a tried-and-tested success, Samsung looks set to offer a similar product in follow-up to the forthcoming Galaxy S4, with reports today suggesting the Galaxy S4 Mini will arrive almost immediately after its flagship counterpart.
Not so long ago, Google felt it necessary to remove the useful Play Store feature which allowed users to see which apps you'd paid for in the past. What we're left with, is a general summary of every app you've ever downloaded (even those deleted from your device), and while this is not a problem for many, the old system certainly didn't need any alteration. Thankfully, the old system that allowed you to view only purchased apps has made a dramatic return, in the form of a third-party utility called My Purchases.
The LG-manufactured Google Nexus 4 has carried on many Nexus traditions, offering strong hardware specifications at an affordable price point. Not without its flaws, of course, it has made a reasonably good impression the consumer market nonetheless, and just recently, has been treated to a few minor modifications and design tweaks. Calling it a "refresh" would be a rather grandiose term to use, but the alterations, whilst not groundbreaking, are certainly noteworthy.
