As with Instagram, which was recently bought out by Facebook for a whopping one billion dollars, I often wonder whether the guys over at Rovio could have predicted just how successful their mobile title Angry Birds would grow to become. Beginning on iOS, the title is now available on most platforms facilitating casual gaming, with Microsoft's Xbox 360, the Sony PlayStation 3, and Nindendo's 3DS also soon to join the party, as we revealed yesterday.
The rampant "iPad Mini" rumors have taken a slight recess in the past couple of days, making way for more talk of the next iPhone, which is expected to ship within the next few months. The rumor mill has been indicating a longer form factor, larger screen, smaller dock connector, modified speaker grills, and a repositioned headphone jack, and the so-called "exclusive" leak by KitGuru appears to suggest those changes will be implemented.
Apple and Google follow very different principles with their mobile platforms. Apple maintains a tightly closed system where they put their software on their own hardware whereas Google has a much more open policy. Google licenses Android to companies like Samsung, HTC and Motorola which manufacture their own hardware and run it on customized versions of Android. While Apple’s way has plenty of advantages there is one area where it lags behind Google: sheer units sold and total market share. Android smartphones as a whole have been dominating the iPhone in USA for quite some time now. In a latest report, its dominance has been reaffirmed. Check out the details after the jump.
I feel pretty confident in saying that any seasoned jailbreaker would agree to the fact that restarting an iOS device can be a painstaking chore. It doesn’t matter what type of jailbreak user you are, there comes a point in using the device where you just have to either restart it or respring it after installing a particular tweak or package.
Although Apple may still be going through the district and county courts in an ongoing battle with Samsung over alleged patent infringements, it certainly hasn't stopped the creative minds at the Cupertino company from coming up with and submitting applications for a wide variety of patents. We all know the technology giants are no strangers to the patent system, something that has been emphasized today with the United States Patent and Trademark Office publishing a total of twenty three patents awarded to Apple.
If you're not a keen follower of Apple rumors, you may want to look away now, for in breaking the continual flow of iPad Mini rumors comes an update on the state of play regarding the next iPhone. The device, which, unlike the iPad talk, is actually backed up by hardware "leaks", looks set to become a little longer, and the display, which has sat at 3.5-inches since the very first day it hit the market back in 2007, is expected to increase rather significantly, measuring in at nearer the 4-inch mark.
Using Twitter, perhaps more so than any other social platform, seems perfectly matched to the mobile market. Everything said is within the 140 character limit - fending off those who like to broadcast an unabridged version of their life story, and it has overtaken the RSS reader in allowing users to keep up with the news feeds they really want to follow.
Although Google+ has sat around in a somewhat dormant state since arriving last year, Google has continued to maintain it has big plans for its social network. The mobile market, a field in which Facebook has continued to disappoint, will obviously be a key area to corner if Google+ is to be a success, and the official iOS app has just been given a pretty significant update, taking the version number up to 3.0.
If there’s one thing that strikes everyone as attractive in Windows Phone, it’s the awesome Metro UI. It’s simple, clean and just very efficient in disseminating information. Metro UI has since then permeated just about every other major product from Microsoft, whether it is the Xbox 360, Office suite of productivity apps (look at Office 15!) or even its flagship Windows desktop operating system.
In terms of concept designs, Apple has pretty much been covered in every aspect. Any hint of a new product is designed by enthusiasts for the masses to drool over, and even if it's not likely to ever hit the market, a fan of the Cupertino company will likely be sitting at their Mac, dreaming it up.
