Before Apple introduced the world to the iPad as a mainstream, usable-for-everyone gadget, no one really believed that tablet computers would every become a mass usage item for a majority of technophiles the world over. Slate-based PCs existed long before that, but neither they were as powerful in their specifications, nor did they have an ecosystem as strong as iOS to back them up with a plethora or apps. Then, they were really overpriced, too, making it harder for average Joe to consider buying one.
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has a few of the most popular and frequently downloaded apps on the App Store. But they have now made an attempt to corner the iOS sports market with the official launch of the BBC Sports app for iPhone and iPod touch devices. The app is the corporation's attempt at making themselves the number one mobile digital resource for sports information, and take it from us; it is rammed to the rafters with news, scores and commentaries across a wide range of popular sports.
It would appear as though the modding community of everything Windows would have something to cheer about this week. That is because security researcher clrokr looks to have discovered a way to get desktop apps up and running on Microsoft's ARM-based OS. Within Windows RT's code, there's a particular setting which prevents ARM-based desktop apps besides the Redmond company's stock offerings, but clrokr has snuffed it out, and has, in short, paved the way for the running of unsigned desktop apps.
If you’re looking for yet another way to enjoy your mobile Android games, NVIDIA has just announced a new portable console that is worth looking at. Project SHIELD is NVIDIA’s take on the portable gaming market: it features a full-sized gaming controller, the latest version of Android and PC connectivity.
It's that time of year again when technology fanatics and enthusiasts all turn their attention to CES to see what the biggest players in the game are going to introduce to the market. Companies are already starting to descend on Las Vegas in preparation of presenting their wares and we are seeing official press releases relating to new products starting to fly around. Griffin has acted quickly to take advantage of the hype with the announcement of their space-saving PowerDock 5 hardware that should revolutionize the way users charge multiple iOS devices.
After playing the waiting game and sitting in review with Microsoft for just over a month, the official Dropbox app for devices powered by Windows 8 and Windows RT is now available as a free of charge download from the Windows Store. The app has probably taken a little longer to go through the verification process than Dropbox would have liked, but the most important aspect is that owners of Windows 8/RT machines and devices now have official access to their Dropbox accounts through the natively produced app.
OS X Mountain Lion may have only been publicly available for the last five months or so, but according to statistics and analytics; it has quickly managed to claw itself to the top to become the most popular Mac operating system which Apple has ever released. Mountain Lion was released in July of 2012 with the philosophies of being a fully functional desktop operating system that took more than a little inspiration from iOS running on an iPad. The intention seemed to be to usher in the beginning of a new era that would see OS X and iOS become increasingly more converged over time.
In the world of Android, and modern smartphones in general, apps are what define how useful the device is going to be. The popular phrase, “there’s an app for that”, might’ve been notorious for Apple’s iOS platform, but it holds pretty true for the rapidly-growing Android operating system as well. No matter what the hardware capabilities of your device are, unless you supplement them with the right apps, it’s going to be pretty much useless. Android, as a mobile OS, has matured a lot over the years, adding features and useful gimmicks to the AOSP as the versions have evolved. One particular thing, however, that remained pretty much unchanged, was the way how you launch apps on your Android smartphone or tablet. Other than introducing the recent apps list in the newer iterations, Google hasn’t really changed app-launching method, and hence, you have to usually hit the Home button and start a new app from the launcher itself.
For a long time, Facebook was always thought of as a web-based company that didn't put a lot of importance on users who prefer to access their services through mobile devices. The official Facebook app was built around cross-platform technologies making it notoriously slow, unpredictable and unstable, and their mobile website didn't really make things much better. That focus started to shift with the acquisition of Instagram, followed by the updating of their mobile apps into native languages as well as the release of standalone apps such as Messenger and Camera. For the first time, we can now actually get an insight into Facebook's mobile users and devices and firmware that they actually use, thanks to some meticulous data collection from Benedict Evans of Enders Analysis.
Even though the iPhone 5 has only hit shelves a few months ago, Apple is for sure already looking a few generations ahead and getting ready to introduce the next iPhone model. We likely won’t hear a word from the Cupertino company for some long months, but it’s never too soon to start speculating.
