Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S IV smartphone may feature wireless charging this generation, according to reports.
If you own an iOS or Android device and enjoy playing mobile games on your way to work or school, you have most likely stumbled across Temple Run at one point. This addictive touch-screen game is now getting its first major revamp since its 2011 release: Tempe Run 2, which will reach Google Play on January 24th, following the recent release of the iOS version.
Sony Entertainment has made a name for itself over the years for a lot of things, be it games (remember Twisted Metal, anyone?), gaming consoles, motion pictures, and lately, mobile phones. When the entertainment giant partnered with Ericsson to form Sony Ericsson, they introduced the world to a whole new dimension of feature phones with their Walkman lineup. Then, they were also the first ones to introduce a 12 megapixel shooter in a smartphone (if you can call Symbian that) with their Satio. Lately, since the company has become Sony Mobile, they’ve produced some top of the line devices with their Xperia series, and even took a bold attempt at merging smartphone with PlayStation gaming console with the Xperia Play.
It's not just Apple that garners some attention in the smartphone world these days. Samsung, Apple's arch nemesis also receives more than its fair share of enquiring eyes these days, with the flagship Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note II currently forming a formidable partnership in the high street. With that in mind, any new iteration of either phone is bound to receive plenty of attention.
We see a lot of knockoff products surface from China, but instead of impersonating the Apple iPad mini, one particular 7-inch tablet by the name of 'MTK' has sought instead to copy the design of the iPhone 5. So the end result is, as you can see below, a vague representation of what the latest iPhone might have looked like had been fitted with a considerably larger display than the 4-inch Retina LCD it currently possesses.
The turn of the year always brings with it new found excitement about the potential hardware and software that we are likely see introduced from the likes of Apple, Samsung and Google. It also marks the start of the countdown to events like Apple's WWDC and Google's I/O conference, both of which take place in the Bay Area at the Moscone Center. We won't find out exactly what both companies have in store for us during their respective events, but early reports are suggesting Google could be planning on announcing information and technical specifications of two new Nexus branded devices.
It’s rather hard to overstate the importance of backing up personal files and data for the sake of their protection. In the digital age of today, the content stored on our PCs, smartphones, tablets etc., is perhaps more valuable to some than their lives. While some people worry too much for trivial items like holiday photos (and I repeat, I do not downplay their importance – I just don’t consider them a matter of life and death), others might have much more sensitive information that could differentiate between the success and failure of their businesses. Data security is the top most priority for most users of digital forms of storage, and hence, backup solutions are a must have to be of the safe side.
Android has no shortage of apps and tools for a variety of purposes, and it might not be incorrect to say that the platform from Google, just like Apple’s iOS, can now boast “there’s an app for that” without being able to prove it. As a matter of fact, there are certain facets where Android has apps that iOS couldn’t even dream of – or at least the way how these apps function. Want some examples? How about keyboards? Android has plenty of very capable contenders, whereas in iOS, you cannot modify that unless you’re jailbroken. Then, how about replacement messaging application? Go SMS Pro has been a favorite among Android users for a long time now, and then certain manufacturers (like Sony & HTC) have their own custom messaging apps that are pretty useful and aesthetically pleasing. You don’t get that on iOS, and it’s unlikely that you ever would.
The three major mobile operating systems are all very advanced, but they are certainly far from perfect, and still lack some quite standard features many users would like to see. The ability to block calls and text at will, for instance, is something we shouldn't have to request or pine for - it should just be there - however, developer Cristiano Tagliamonte has come through with a noteworthy solution in the form of an app called Sanity.
Despite the defiant claims of the major smartphone companies that they're not copying each other (despite litigation finding evidence to the contrary), there's little doubt that the market's handsets - by and large - tend to follow the trends of one another. One feature that seems to have unfortunately died out, is the once-popular BlackBerry / Nokia LED notification light. Particularly useful if you find even the vibrating alert to be a tad obtrusive, it allows your device to communicate a notification without any sound whatsoever. While the OEMs appear to be neglecting a feature many of us would like to see return, the commendable work of those over at XDA-Developers has lead to something of a solution in the form of ButtonLED, which turns your hardware button into a makeshift notification light.
