Apple has posted its earnings call for the third fiscal quarter leading up to June 29th, 2013, and although the numbers do not generally make for as impressive a reading as this time last year, the company's flagship iPhone smartphone continues to go from strength to strength. The company posted quarterly revenue of $35.3 billion (compared with $35 billion year-on-year), translating to a quarterly net profit of $6.9 billion ($8.8 billion), or $7.47 ($9.32) per diluted share.
Photography is now inarguably an integral part of the mobile industry. It's one of the key considerations many prospective smartphone and tablet buyers make before going through the purchase process, and as well as the work of vendors in continually bolstering the camera hardware for a better overall performance, app developers have tried very hard to improve the software experience for the end user. One of the Galaxy S4's many exclusive features was its ability to snap images almost simultaneously using the front and rear snappers, aptly named Dual Shot, and now, the aptly named Frontback app offers a similar service to those on iOS.
Intel's astonishingly efficient Haswell processors have already worked wonders for the 2013 MacBook Air range, and KGI Securities' Ming-Chi Kuo - one of the more reliable Apple analysts out there - seems to believe the iMac could be the recipient of the new chip in a refresh set to roll out as early as next month. Furthermore, Kuo also believes Apple plans to roll out new MacBook Pros in September, which are also expected to be powered by Haswell.
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.
If the excitement over the soon-to-be released Xbox One and PlayStation 4 hasn't quite managed to ramp your adrenaline levels, then thankfully EA is on hand to try and raise the stakes a little more. As part of the ongoing push to publicize the latest iteration of the Need for Speed franchise, EA has released an extended version of the Rivals trailer that was shown off during the E3 Conference, with a lot more emphasis placed on the Cops Vs. Racers aspect of the next-generation video game.
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.
This year's Worldwide Developers Conference, and much of the time since, has been dominated by the talk and controversies of Apple's new mobile OS. Yet despite the significance of this major mobile release, lest we forget that OS X is also a pivotal component of the Cupertino's product line. OS X Mavericks 10.9 is also under constant development, and today, the fourth Developer preview of the upcoming Mac operating system has just been released.
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.
A new SIM card vulnerability, discovered after a painstaking three year research effort by German cryptographer and security whiz Karsten Nohl, could allow a potential hacker to send premium messages, record phone conversations and even make payments without the permission of the user.
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.
