Siri was introduced as one of the three major features of the iPhone 4S back when it was announced in late 2011. As we all know well by now, it is a voice-based personal assistant that lives inside the iPhone 4S which serves all sorts of commands given by the user. Voice commands involving things like setting a reminder/timer, going through latest text messages, firing off an email/text message, getting weather updates etc. etc.
One of the primary uses of smartphones today - besides taking photos/videos, receiving/sending texts and calls, consuming content from social networks and RSS feeds - is as an organizational tool; we use it to wake us up in the morning, to keep track of meetings, events and other appointments and, of course, to keep to-do lists.
One argument for Android phones in the giant, ongoing war between Android and the iPhone, is its level of customizability. Android fans can tinker with their phones as much as they want, make them do all kinds of things that iPhone users just cannot and just generally tinker around to their heart's content.
The ongoing patent disputes between Apple and Samsung are constantly subject to media attention, and at present, U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh has the unenviable task of listening to the argument regarding Apple's U.S. Design Patents D558, D757, D618 and D678, related to the look and feel of its iDevice range.
The smartphone of today has become the ultimate example of convergent technology. These devices take razor-sharp photographs, record Full HD 1080p video, play video games, read books, play music, besides taking the occasional phone call and sending/receiving a text message.
Sony’s Xperia line of smartphones is, in my humble opinion, one of the more underrated Android smartphones. Sony’s custom Timeline user-experience on top of Android 2.3 Gingerbread is one of the best in the business and the company offers great support to the development community in the form of giving them unlocked bootloaders and kernel sources.
While there are plenty of others, there is one feature that Android has that iOS doesn’t: the ability of Android apps to interact with another. On iOS, each app has its own room of sorts from where they can interact with the operating system; on Android, there’s a large apartment in which every app lives and each app can communicate with the other.
Falling in line with recent rumor and speculation across the blogosphere, a report by the Wall Street Journal notes that Google is readying the release of a tablet for some time this year.
Despite all the criticism regarding its one-size-fits-none form factor, Samsung has sold over 5 million units of the phone-plus-tablet Galaxy Note. Almost everything about the device has controversy surrounding it, whether it’s the huge 5.3” 720p Super AMOLED HD display or the inclusion of a capacitive stylus; it’s really a love it or hate it kind of thing.
As you may have already gathered, the latest iteration of Android (4.0.4) has begun trickling out to the international version of Samsung's Galaxy Nexus and Nexus S devices, among others.
