Apple's Q2 FY14 earnings call on Wednesday revealed that the sales figures of certain products have not been as strong nor impressive as in previous years, with the iPad numbers in particular having faltered year-on-year. But given the growing number of competitors in both the tablet industry and the emerging "phablet" market, this is perhaps to be expected, and even the popularity of the all new iPad Air and iPad mini with Retina Display haven't prevented sales of the Apple slab from dipping somewhat.
Even though the initial announcement of the Galaxy S5 divided opinion among consumers and commentators alike, Samsung's new flagship appears to have settled rather well into the market. As well as reports of strong early sales in the twelve days since the handset first hit stores, reviews have generally been favorable, with one of the device's strong points being the full HD Super AMOLED display. But why is the new panel so great? Samsung has published a detailed blog post - complete with animated .gifs - explaining just what makes the new display so darned good.
Whichever way you look at it, Google Street View is a staggering example of modern technology and the world in which we live in. The Maps and Street View team at Google have accumulated photos and imagery of over six million miles' worth of road around the world, all of which is pretty much immediately accessible online through mobile or desktop browsers and native apps. That level of achievement deserves to be applauded but it seems Google isn't stopping there. In an effort to allow users to "time travel" the company is enhancing the Street View service by adding all of its archived footage to allow time lapse experiences at specific locations.
Scratching around for the most suitable case is part and parcel of being a smartphone user, but while companies have established great reputations by delivering high quality, practical and protective guards for our digital devices in their daily battle against the elements, it doesn't always have to be that serious. A new gaming-themed case for iPhone owners is a great example of what can happen when imaginations run wild, and the iDroid concept, based on a feature of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, looks a real treat for any MGS fan.
There's been a lot of speculation in recent weeks about what Apple will announce during this year's WWDC in San Francisco. Apple's annual developer meet and greet will undoubtedly feature an early iOS 8 reveal, giving us all a chance to see what the future of iOS holds.
Following last year's release of the Samsung Galaxy S4, its Korean maker released an abundance of spin-off devices, including the ruggedized Galaxy S4 Active and the camera-focused Galaxy S4 Zoom. Since the newly-released Galaxy S5 packs the former Active's dust and waterproofing features as standard, we're only anticipating the Galaxy S5 Zoom, or "Galaxy K" this time around, and a new, legitimate-looking leak showcases said handset's 10x optical zoom lens.
The community propping up CyanogenMod, one of the most popular aftermarket firmware available to Android users, is expansive to say the least, and with hardware maker Oppo having teamed up last year with the CM team to build a handset packing the versatile, customizable software pre-loaded, Oppo's spin-off company OnePlus appears to have taken things to the next level. The OnePlus One smartphone will run CyanogenMod 11S (based on Android 4.4) right off the bat, and with an impressive list of tech specs and a very agreeable price point, could prove a real hit with hack-minded consumers.
Over the past few weeks, I took my SIM card out of my trusty HTC One M8 that I've been enjoying so much, switched it to extreme power saving mode and entirely made the jump over to Samsung's newest flagship device, the Galaxy S5. This phone was a particularly interesting release, because it marked their definitive decision to adopt the 'iteration over iteration' strategy when it comes to their new devices. For Samsung, however, it's likely to be more of a 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it', type model.
Hitherto, those looking to test out beta releases of Apple's OS X would need to sign up to the Developer Program, which, for $99 per year, looked quite a steep fee for the casual, inquisitive user. Now, however, the Cupertino company has introduced a new OS X Beta Seed Program, whereby users can test out pre-release builds of the Mac software simply by signing up with an Apple ID - no annual fee required.
Google has just dropped version 0.5.0 of the MyGlass app for iPhone, which includes the ability for users to invite friends to join up to the Explorer Program, a new control Glass from screencast feature, as well as the usual assortment of bug fixes and general performance enhancements. Full details, as well as that all-important download link, can be seen right after the break!
