Many Android phone makers have been accused of using less than stellar industrial design. Samsung in particular is famously fond of using flimsy plastic shells for its smartphones, including the high-end premium devices like the Galaxy S4. It's a decision that flies in the face of what Apple does with its iPhones, or even what Nokia believes is the best way to make its Lumia handsets. While Samsung doesn't look likely to change its grand philosophy any time soon, there may be another solution.
For the lucky few who managed to get a hold of the Mac Pro before the shipping was pushed back to February, the wait is finally over, and no new product launch would be complete without a spate of unboxings. The first are beginning to emerge online on sites such as YouTube, and if you're anxious to see what the device and its packaged contents look like as they're extracted from packaging, then you'll want to join us after the break.
It's that time of year again, and if you've sufficiently recovered from all the over-indulgence and big tech savings over the Thanksgiving weekend, you'll be more than ready for round two. Christmas is just around the corner, and developers usually cut the prices of their apps amid the celebrations. This is all fine and dandy, but with hundreds of thousands of entries to the famed App Store, it's hard to keep track of what's cheap and also, worth purchasing at the discounted rate. Luckily, iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users have the appropriately named App Santa at their side to help them to discover and take advantage of these bargains.
As most of you will have gleaned, BlackBerry is a struggling brand just now, and the decision of the Canadian company to roll its prized BBM out to Android and iOS was seen by many as a sign of its desperation. In October, we learned that BBM for Android and iPhone was would also, at some point, offer free voice calls to other users of the app, but despite the confirmation BlackBerry's VP Andrew Bocking on its imminent arrival, it looks as though we won't be getting the feature until early on next year.
We've seen iPhones of the computer generated variety be used for marketing before, and we've even seen CGI iPhones used to create an impressive domino effect in previous videos, but with Christmas just around the corner it was only a matter of time before the two were merged into one truly great video. And now it's happened.
Instagram is a big player in the mobile space these days, and it was already growing into a big deal long before Facebook splashed the cash to bring it under the social network's roof. It has shown no sign of slowing its progress since that acquisition either, even launching an Instagram for Windows Phone app for those that have been waiting impatiently for such a thing to be released.
One of the great things about the release of the Walter Isaacson biography detailing the life and times of Steve Jobs, was that we learned much more of events and instances that we'd only previously gathered the crux of. We hear names, we see keynotes, we enjoy products; but the ins and outs of what exactly goes on tend to remain obscured from the public eye - at least until another extensive book hits the market. Fred Vogelstein’s Dogfight: How Apple and Google Went to War and Started a Revolution, is a self-explanatory tale of two modern-day tech titans, and The Atlantic has posted an interesting piece dissecting a particular chapter about the release of the iPhone and notably, Google's reaction.
Apple's OS X Mavericks was first announced back at this year's WWDC, and although it hasn't really brought any earth-moving changes, it has somewhat enhanced the desktop operating system from last year's Mountain Lion. Having rolled out very recently, work as been ongoing with regards to changes and improvements, and today, Apple has seeded the first OS X 10.9.2 Mavericks beta to developers.
Christmas is a great time of year for tradition. We all have our little foibles and the chances are that our families have their own little ways of doing things around Christmas. One custom that has become quite large around the world over the last few years is the idea of the Secret Santa.
Google's Glass is the poster child of the smart glass boom, and as seen in the latest XE12 software update, things seem to be progressing exceptionally quickly. Although the extent to which we, the consumer, will take to the product is currently unknown, the snippet's we've seen so far of Glass in action across different fields has certainly helped to ramp up interest. In the latest, we're treated to a vicarious look at an MMA fight from the eyes of a referee, and whether or not this sport takes your fancy, the perspective from Glass is rather incredible.
