It's no secret that while Microsoft's Windows Phone platform has potential, it's going to continue struggling against iOS and Android unless it manages to cajole a decent amount of developers into building apps for its fledgling platform. In order to try and strengthen the ecosystem, the Redmond company has just introduced an all-new dev tool by the name of Windows Phone App Studio. Currently in beta, it allows anybody to create a basic app for Windows Phone -- regardless of experience in coding -- and although its ease of use means it does carry its fair share of limitations, it could be the software maker's secret weapon in finally thrusting Windows Phone from its relative obscurity.
The PS Vita, despite being a relatively powerful device, has continued to struggle in a market where mobile devices are making it easier for consumers to enjoy good standards of gaming on their smartphones and tablets. Despite this, Sony remains determined to plug its handheld marvel, and today, a new firmware iteration brings some much-needed updates. As well as enhanced streaming support, version 2.60 brings some slick alterations to the user interface. Details after the break.
Want to know the changes included in iOS 7 beta 5 compared to the previous beta? The video embedded below outlines most of the more significant changes in this fifth beta, a more in-depth list can be found after the jump.
In its efforts to remain relevant in light of Google Chrome's emergence over the past couple of years, Mozilla has continued to pump out the updates to its famed Firefox browser. Today brings another fleet of new features and improvements to the major desktop platforms as well as Android, capped off with an ever-so-slight alteration to the logo. Details after the break.
Twelve South’s HiRise For iPhone 5 And iPad mini Lets You Mount Your iDevice Above Your Desk [VIDEO]
iPhone peripherals are certainly not hard to come by in today's market, and this is perhaps not all that surprising given that the Cupertino smartphone is by far the most popular model available. But finding good quality accessories is a different ball game completely, with many cheap pretenders swamping the industry among the rare, noteworthy gems. Twelve South is a US-based company dedicated to bringing Apple-centric items of the highest order, and the new HiRise for iPhone 5 and iPad mini makes for a very practical, eye-catching stand.
When it comes to customization, iOS is one of the least compliant mobile ecosystems. In fact, the only way to apply any kind of theme or aesthetic alteration is usually by means of a jailbreak, so if you can't, or simply don't want to step into the world of Cydia and its many thousands of tweaks and themes, you're pretty much stuck with what Apple has given you. Well, that needn't necessarily be the case with a new app called Iconical, which lets you alter the appearance of your home screen icons without the need to apply any sort of jailbreak.
Flying on Emirates Airlines, compared with most other aviation companies, is a pretty expensive gig, to say the least. Indeed, if you fancy flying on an Emirates A380, you could be looking at a ticket price of for up to $20,000 for First Class, and naturally, not everybody has that kind of cash just to throw around. Still, if you've wondered what it's like to mosey on through one of these monstrous planes, Google Street View has you covered, for now you can get up close and personal with the 610,000 lb beast and take a tour of the entire plane, including First, Business and Economy Class, as if it were a long luxurious road.
Philips has already shown that they are a committed player in the smartphone controlled home automation world with their recent updates to the Hue mobile app for iOS and Android. The introduction of geofencing capabilities, synchronous light changing within scenes and notable improvements to alarm functionality shows that Philips think the Hue product is here to stay. However, if you need something more to be convinced, then the extension of the Philips Hue range with LightStrips and Bloom feature bulbs should do the job nicely.
The Apple iPhone was seen as a revolutionary product, but also an evolutionary one by the same token since it was introduced off the back of the success of the iPod range. In today's world concerned with apps and shot-taking abilities, many of us don't hold our iPhones in as high a regard as a music player, often viewing it as just as standard a feature as making a call or sending a text. But if you're the kind of person that still takes your audio experience rather seriously, you may interested by the app Audio-3D Player 7.1, which offers a richer, surround sound-like experience.
Despite having improved dramatically in terms of overall usability during the course of the last year thanks to that Project Butter update with Jelly Bean 4.1, Android's malware situation remains very much its achilles heel. It seems that scarcely a week goes by without some kind of outbreak or discovery by a security firm, and today, a worrying security hole has been discovered.
