Security, or the lack of it, is very much a hot button topic these days, and nowhere more so than in the mobile space. It seems things may be getting worse before they get any better.
Ah Skype, the world wide web’s voice-over-internet protocol of choice and probably the most well known brand name to offer VoIP services. When Niklas Zennström originally created the Skype service, I often wondered if he had any idea that it would become such a popular platform around the world and that the might of Microsoft would ultimately come in and acquire the company like it did last year. For those that may have been living under a rather large rock for the last few years, Skype allows registered users to make worldwide voice calls via the internet as well as offering instant messaging-type services and is available on multiple platforms.
Now, this is a fairly spontaneous rumor with little proof, so this one must be taken with a grain of salt: Microsoft is reportedly in talks with record labels on creating a new music service that caters to the Xbox and "an upcoming Windows-based phone".
Whenever I get a new or upgraded smartphone, the first application that I always head for is my preferred Twitter app but I concede that is possibly due to the fact that I am not really a Facebook user. With over 800 million active account holders, it is no surprise that the Facebook mobile application is one of the most downloaded pieces of software across all mobile platforms.
Remember when the original iPhone was launched in 2007 and you were blown away by the fact that it was an advanced mobile phone, a media player and an iPod all mashed together into one beautiful device? Remember when you were listening to music and you turned the device into landscape orientation for the first time and the UI morphed into a beautiful Cover Flow of the available album artwork? Even if that wasn't enough to make your jaw hit the floor, when I saw a friend’s iPhone do that, it was enough to make me rush out and buy one right away.
Regardless of whether you are a fan of the Apple iPhone or not, it is very difficult to argue with the freight train momentum and success that the mobile smartphone has achieved in the last five years. Judging by the statistics that surround the sales of the phone, and the record breaking financial results posted by Apple for the end of 2011, it seems that the popularity of the iPhone is set to rise and rise with every release.
Whilst iOS and Android dominate much of the mobile software headlines, Microsoft has been steadily building a stable legion of support from consumers and developers alike.
While there is no news of Instagram for Windows Phone 7*, an independent developer has released an alternative app of sorts called InstaCam. Details after the jump!
Microsoft and its Windows Phone 7 have a big year ahead of themselves. Google and Apple currently have the mobile space all-but sewn up, and even old stalwarts like BlackBerry are struggling to compete with the new hotness that is iOS and Android.
With so many different takes on the archetypal smartphone from various manufacturers, it’s often difficult to surmise the size of your next smartphone unless, like choosing a dog from the rescue home, you pay it a visit to Target in advance. Please, don’t take that as a cue to go and create a comparison website though, since we already have far too many of those, and in most cases, they don’t offer anything we don’t already know. Well, that was until the rather striking offering of phone-size.com. Much more than a simply mind-numbing table of specs allied to a pixelated image, phone-size lets you compare the size of your phone, versus the size of someone else’s. Interested? More after the jump!
