The standout feature of the upcoming Windows 8 operating system from Microsoft has to be the sumptuous Metro user-interface, and with the Release Preview having arrived in the past few days, Google has added to the anticipation of end-user release by giving us a little preview of how its popular Chrome browser will look once it's been Metro-fied.
Google has recently announced big changes to its mobile mapping services, with upcoming features including an interesting-looking offline mode, and with Apple set to ditch Google for its own, in-house iOS maps offering, Google quite clearly needs to remain on its toes in the mobile game.
Google has just announced some significant changes to its mobile Maps apps, with both offline mode and 3D maps heading to Android and iOS in the not-too-distant future. Given the Big G's purchase of Quickoffice - just after it was revealed Microsoft would finally bring its Office suite to mobile - we are under no illusions that Google will fight its competitors tooth and nail in every market going. Talk has been rife for several months of Apple's plans to ditch the stock Google Maps app within iOS in favor of its own, in-house solution, and with 3D mapping - courtesy of C3 Technologies - being one of the main features, Google is looking to up its game in order to retain dominance in the mapping market.
There's always some sort of brewing battle in the tech industry, particularly between Apple, Google and Microsoft - the three main players in the mobile game. With Microsoft readying the cross-platform Windows 8 operating system and having recently announced its famous Office suite would make its way to mobile in the coming months, Google has decided to join the party by acquiring Quickoffice.
While the US is usually first in line when it comes to product releases, the release of Samsung smartphones goes spectacularly against the grain. The release of the Google Galaxy Nexus (manufactured by the Korean electronics giant), was delayed by months as stateside tech fans waited on an apparent whim for the landmark release.
If you happen to be like me and are one of the millions who are walking around with a white iPhone 4S then be prepared to shed some tears as you are no longer the owner of the most popular smartphone on the market, in the UK at least. uSwitch are reporting that after battling past all of the competition, the beautiful white 4S eventually managed to claw its way into the number one position last month only to be toppled by Samsung's Galaxy S III.
Ever since Google launched its own social network in the form of Google+, comparisons have been made left and right with the current king of the space, Facebook. Now that the search giant has announced that its fledgling network has reached the 100 million user milestone, those comparisons are once again being made.
The eyes of the smartphone adoring world may all be focusing on Samsung's new and shiny Galaxy S III handset, but that hasn't stopped the original Galaxy S model and its successor the S II flying off the shelves quietly in the background. There is no doubt that the Galaxy S III will prove to be an extremely popular device, it has even knocked the iPhone 4S off the most popular spot in Britain only two days after being launched, but the figures released by Samsung show that their earlier models are also producing good numbers.
When it comes to the purchase of devices like smartphones and other consumer tech gadgets, consumers tend to to make impulse purchases based on things like aesthetics and word of mouth rather than actually looking into what has been deemed the best by various surveys and opinion polls. When it comes to customer satisfaction, it has been revealed that Windows Phone powered devices are the best devices to get your hands on.
Today's tech news will be largely dominated by Android, and given the successor to the biggest selling Android device to date is launching across much of Europe and the Middle East, it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise. In conjunction with the big launch of the Samsung Galaxy S III, the Korean LCD specialist is also (re)introducing its Music Hub app, which has been massively revamped in order to be taken seriously as a competitor to the popular services like iTunes and Spotify.

