Email has for sure evolved into something much more than what the service used to be when it became available to public in earlier days of the Internet. Gmail took the lead on conversation view for emails, arranging messages by thread rather than the conventional sorting, and since then, it’s become pretty much the norm. Over the course of years, a lot of options and controls have popped up in email handling, and user protection and safety appears to a primary focus. One testament to this fact is blocking of external images within emails by default.
Like most industries, the technology space can sometimes be full of misinformation and false promises, which makes it even more rewarding when companies actually come up with the goods. In an effort to instill the festive feeling amongst the Linux hacking community, Valve has come good on the promise they made earlier this week by making their SteamOS available for all to download.
Features and new additions will invariably come and go as new technology catapults to the forefront of our minds, but no matter what happens, there will always be some aspects of this software that will remain extremely important to users. Security and privacy are undoubtedly two extremely important areas of concern. Just as the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) started to wax lyrical about Google's new focus on user privacy, it turns out that they have actually recently removed the biggest privacy feature that has been added to Android over the years.
The official Skype app for Android has been handed a useful update, with tablet users running Google's mobile operating system now able to enjoy picture-in-picture video calling capabilities. The new feature is somewhat based on the Snap View found in Windows 8.x, and will certainly enhance the general usability of Microsoft's popular chat service. Full details, as well as the download info, can be seen after the break.
Concepts are a great way to envision what upcoming products might look like, while at the same time, tipping off the developing companies to what the user base would appreciate having. Just a couple of days back, we tipped our readers off to rumors pertaining to Windows 8.2, and what “Threshold” might mean for the end user. Taking cues from the same rumor base and building on it further, comes Andrew Ambrosino’s Windows 8.2 (or Windows 9) design concept, which basically highlights what could be improved with the next generation of Windows from the Redmond giant.
The iOS vs. Android supremacy debate is almost as old as both the platforms’ own age, and it never ceases to be. In some areas, Android takes the top spot, while others see Apple’s offering outshine its Mountain View competitor. One area, however, where iOS has always maintained the upper hand, is fragmentation - the word that causes Android fans to hide faces and come up with other allegations against the fruity OS.
Getting a smartphone unlocked can often be a cumbersome process, and with traditional software and SIM interposer methods becoming rarer and more difficult to undertake, many looking to use their device on different carrier networks are left with a basically unusable device. However, a landmark decision has been reached between five of the United States' major carriers in an effort to bring a standardized system of unlocking mobile devices.
A short while ago, we checked out the incredibly cool - not a term I use lightly - smartphone-controlled paper airplane by the name of PowerUp 3.0. The concept was simple: make yourself a paper airplane, connect it to the precision-crafted hardware, and, using the app, fly it around for half an hour. With that product having raised over $600,000 (of a $50,000 goal) with many weeks still to go, another product has emerged to try to pique the interest of flight enthusiasts, and it's arguably even more exciting than the PowerUp 3.0.
The PlayStation 4 has just begun retailing in a further 16 additional countries atop the 32 that had already seen the release of the Sony machine, bringing the grand total of officially-selling nations up to 48. Although the inventory was rather scarce at launch, with the console selling out in many of its demographic hotspots, the Japanese company appears to be on top of the manufacturing process, or at least enough so to add so many new markets to the fold.
You can download iOS 7.1 beta 2 right now! Apple has today released iOS 7.1 beta 2 for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch to individuals enrolled in the iOS Developer Program. The release follows on from the iOS 7.1 beta 1 that became available on November 19th, and although we aren't seeing any major new feature implementations, it should go some way to appeasing those users with significant stability issues. Apple has clearly been taking note of developer feedback over the last few months, with iOS 7.1 starting to seriously address a number of issues that have been plaguing users after its September launch.
