Would you buy a Windows 8 PC from Ashton Kutcher? According to an article over at the New York Post, Mr. Kutcher could be on the cusp of being snapped up by PC maker Lenovo to star in a series of Windows PC ads. The deal is rumored to be fetching the actor the tidy sum of $10 million, and with the release of the indie movie Jobs - a motion picture starring Kutcher as the late, great Apple co-founder - now almost upon us, perhaps Lenovo intends to create an intriguing paradox in using a Jobs-like figure to flog Windows products.
The blogosphere has been abuzz with reports pertaining Nokia's big announcement today, with some speculative suggestions that the Finnish outfit may even come through with a Windows 8 tablet. While we continue to wait for Nokia to expand its mobile product range to explore the tablet market, the company has delivered another mid-range smartphone in the Lumia 625. The device, which doesn't cost an arm and a knee, features a palm-friendly design, and with a 4.7-inch display, it offers yet another option to those seeking substantial quantities of real estate.
My biggest beef with Windows Phone is the lack of quality apps, and it’s no hidden truth that in comparison to iOS (or even Android), the quality and quantity both for Windows Phone apps is hardly stellar. With that kind of prevailing scenario, it’s always refreshing to see a recognized developer brining a highly-polished and feature rich app to the masses on the said platform, and that’s exactly what Microsoft’s Fresh Paint feels like. It’s a newly released app exclusive to Windows Phone 8 that allows you to create beautiful artwork right there and then on your Windows Phone 8 smartphone.
One of the great things about being able to jailbreak an iOS device is the ability to have the freedom to customize and amend specific areas of the device in question. There's no denying that Apple produces premium, extremely powerful pieces of kit, but sometimes not everything is to our liking and it definitely benefits power users to be able to tweak key areas. The new Gotha iPhone and iPod touch tweak definitely falls into that category by bringing a new gesture based initiative into the Contacts and Phone app on the device.
Although the three major smartphone ecosystems are seen as iOS, Android and Windows Phone, there are actually several others also battling for recognition in the evermore crowded industry. As well as the likes of the revamped BlackBerry OS and Mozilla's Firefox effort, Canonical has been making waves with its attempt to bring the popular Ubuntu flavor of Linux to the small screen, dubbed as Ubuntu Phone OS. Having delivered impressively with its previews versions of the OS for both smartphone and tablet, it now looks as though Canonical is going to come through with its own smartphone; the Ubuntu Edge.
When we talk about security and the maintaining of privacy in the digital world, we're not simply talking about whether the lock screen of our smartphone or tablet is as secure as it should be. Many of us utilize technology for means of security for the brick-and-mortar of our homes, but while expensive alarm and CCTV systems can be very expensive to purchase, one Indiegogo campaign has a much cheaper, intuitive alternative. Canary is ideal for keeping tabs on the movements of your cherished abode, and with the ability to learn your movements and adjust itself accordingly, it's also incredibly smart.
It is strongly suspected that Google will unveil the sequel to the Nexus 7 at its recently-announced event in New York City later on this week at a dedicated Android event, and as well as having a rough idea of the device's specs, it now looks as though we've a matching visual courtesy of Evleaks. The famed @evleaks Twitter handle, notorious for dropping photographic evidence of upcoming tech products, has leaked what appear to be press images of the 7-inch tablet, and with just a couple of days to go until this impromptu event kicks off, we're inclined to suspect it's legitimate.
According to reports coming from executives within official supply chains, Apple is in the middle of testing large-form displays that could potentially be used as part of any future iPhone or iPad product refresh. The fresh reports are suggesting that the Cupertino based company has been working closely with Asian suppliers on a number of potential changes that could include the release of a significantly larger iPad model, or even an iPhone phablet.
All has not been right in the iOS development community as of late. Although registered Apple developers are generally used to finding the official iOS and Mac Dev Center offline for small periods of time, the last three days has seen a total blackout from Apple's side. Although most developers assumed that the Cupertino company were giving a visual overhaul to the Apple Developer website, an official email based correspondence from the fruit company has confirmed that the three day downtime has been due to a security breach that occurred on Thursday.
Every once in a while a new app pops up in the App Store that piques our interest, which is no mean feat considering the number of apps we see. The latest app to get our juices flowing is xRec, and at less than two dollars we're going to go ahead and recommend everyone gets it downloaded now - before Apple pulls it.
