If you’re without a credit card and need to buy apps from Google Play, you’re pretty much out of luck. The lack of gift cards on Google Play forces many young teenagers to adopt alternative methods of getting their paid apps, if you know what I mean. It’s terrible for developers, especially when people want to pay for apps but just can’t.
Of the major mobile operating systems, Android is undoubtedly the most customizable, and as such, there's a large collective of individuals creating apps and showing others how to modify certain aspects of a device. XDA Developers is a great place where the most knowledgeable Android folk gather to share ideas and brainstorm, and some of the most useful apps for Google's mobile operating system have emerged courtesy of the site.
Let me get this out of the way first: the Nexus 7 is not a smartphone, nor is it a tablet designed for incoming / outgoing calls like the original Galaxy Tab from Samsung. The Nexus 7 is a very basic tablet that is meant for doing tasks like surfing the web, socializing on Facebook, Twitter, sending / receiving email, play games, video chat via Skype or Google Talk etc. i.e. nothing to do with phone calls.
Adobe's Flash has come under a lot of scrutiny over the past few years, notably from Apple, whose then-CEO Steve Jobs wrote an open letter outlining his reasons for not implementing it on any of his company's iOS devices. Things have gone downhill from there, and with HTML5 becoming more and more widely-utilized, Flash is most certainly being phased out from our devices.
Although we now know the Samsung Galaxy Note II will be unveiled at the South Korean company’s IFA 2012 event on August 29th, that doesn't mean we should cease all speculation and wait for the official showcasing. The leaks are still arriving thick and fast, and NowhereElse, a site which seems really in the loop with regards to upcoming tech products, has leaked the purported front panel of the forthcoming handset, and by running a ruler across it to measure the diameter, also seemingly confirmed the 5.5-inch size reported on numerous occasions.
The battle between iOS and Android will always be the one that is fought between fans of the respective mobile operating systems, but at the end of the day, each platform has its strengths and weaknesses and will ultimately come down to personal choice. As well as the software features and included functionality which Apple and Google roll into their firmware, users will also make their decisions based on the available hardware, and as great as the iPhone is, Samsung also has a fantastic and powerful device with their extremely popular Galaxy S III.
Apple has been dealing Samsung a barrage of complaints in its court case against Samsung, claiming the South Korean company has infringed on many of its iPhone and iPad design patents in creating the Galaxy series. As well as the talk of hardware, Apple has, to a lesser degree, had a question or two to ask of various UI elements, but to head off its defense, Samsung has countered by claiming Apple has infringed on a number of its own software-based patents.
Most of the attention of the technology loving world has been lavished on Apple and Samsung over the last two weeks, partly because they are the two largest smartphone vendors in the world and are currently actively competing against each for the top spot, but also due to the fact that they are currently locked in a fairly bitter legal dispute in California to resolve whether or not Samsung did indeed "slavishly" copy the design of the iPhone. As entertaining as the court case is, and as enjoyable as the information that it is unearthing, we should really try to step away from the fact that two of the industry’s largest names have had to go down this route and instead concentrate on the wonderful products they both offer.
The chances are if you are reading this, then you are definitely some kind of technology loving individual that more than likely comes strapped with some form of personal computer as well as one of those smartphones or tablets which everyone seems to be using these days. Once upon a time, we all would have had a single computer for work or pleasure purpose,s as well as one of those old school flip or candy bar type phones which allowed us to play Snake and view WAP configured websites.
The courtroom battle between Apple and Samsung has garnered much media attention over the past few months, with the Cupertino company accusing its Korean rival of "slavishly" copying the designs of both the iPhone and iPad in order to create its Galaxy mobile device range.
