If there's one certainty in life, especially in the world of technology, it's that someone somewhere probably thinks they can do whatever you do, but better. People think they would make a better job of running Facebook or Twitter. That they know how Google should move forward with Android and, sometimes, they even know how to write awesome tech articles. Who knew?!
Microsoft today announced some information surrounding a new release of its Windows Phone software that will go some way to answering some of the most oft-asked questions - when will Windows Phone 7.8 be released, and who will be able to take advantage of it?
Firefox may not be your browser of choice, but considering it has been placed onto a fairly frequent update schedule and is benefitting from a number of impressive changes and feature additions, then it could be worth checking out for those who are growing tired of using the likes of Google Chrome, Safari or dare I say it… Internet Explorer. Being able to stay in touch socially with through the likes of Twitter and Facebook is always important to a lot of people, so it may come as a surprise to some to learn that Firefox 17 brought with it a hidden feature that extends into Facebook.
Google has taken the world of Web browsers by storm in the past couple of years, with its Chrome offering quickly having become the utility of choice for surfers worldwide. The Android version has been solid from the get-go, and with the recent introduction of the iOS iteration, the Big G finally brought its famed browser to the iPhone and iPad. Despite Apple's restrictions on developers bringing their own engines to the iOS fold, the engine certainly isn't the end-all, be-all, and today's updates for Chrome on iOS today prove that point once more.
Last year, the release of 500px took the iPad world by storm. Prior to its release, there had been a distinct lack of photography apps suited to the Cupertino tablet, with devs preferring to cater to the iPhone. But 500px reminded us that a well-polished app for iPad can wind up being just as much of a hit with iOS users, and so it has proved. Now, the app popularized by the iPad has been wonderfully reworked for the iPhone, and is now ready and waiting for you at the App Store.
As with iOS and Windows Phone 8, quite a few Android devices have launched in quick succession over the past couple of weeks, and as such, the famously thriving Android community has been busier than the gadget retailers this holiday. Among the torrent of new Android smartphones and tablets arrived the Nexus 10 slate, and with a toolkit for the HTC One X+, HTC Droid DNA and its accomplice - the LG Nexus 4 - already released, it only seemed a matter of time before the all-in-one arrived for the Nexus 10 tablet. Today, that day has arrived, and if you want to get busy modding and playing around with your shiny new slate, the folk of XDA-Developers have just made things that little bit easier.
In light of Apple and HTC's licensing agreement earlier this month, Samsung took the opportunity to express its desire to never settle with the Cupertino company in such a manner. In light of a recent Dutch court's decision, however, the Korean outfit may be forced to retract that statement, for failure to comply with a sales ban on All Galaxy devices running Android 2.2.1 and higher will leave the LCD specialist forced to pay fines of up to €100,000 ($129,000) per day.
There have been plenty of companies in existence over the years that have managed to invent and produce extremely powerful and useful products which have now fallen wayside and into obscurity. It doesn't just happen in the technology industry, and it goes to prove that having a good idea or the knowledge to invent a product doesn't always guarantee commercial success out in the real world, which is one of the reasons why marketing and advertising is so vitally important to companies. Apple has consistently managed to get this aspect of their business right in recent years, and now, it's possible to view every one of their television adverts in a purposely created YouTube playlist.
It still seems very strange to be talking about the success of devices like the iPad and Nexus 7 and the different levels of market share that Google and Apple hold in the tablet industry considering that this particular market didn't really exist until Apple forged it with the release of the initial iPad back in 2010. We may have recently seen the fourth-generation iPad released but it has only really been thirty-two months that companies have been competing in this space. With that said, recent figures are showing that the dominant iPad is losing some market share to Android powered tablets in the run up to the holiday shopping season.
The Samsung Galaxy Note was something of a revelation when it first released last year, and with a ludicrously large display pushing on the kind of diameters we'd only seen with tablet devices, the term "phablet" was subsequently phrased. The surprisingly successful niche product has since evolved into the Galaxy Note II, and as with all of the Korean company's Note products, it has been marketed as a device for the creative mind. Some took the S-Pen stylus and drew some of the most fantastic drawings and sketches ever seen on a mobile device, but others - such as the artists and designers at Steak Studio - have put their heads together and come up with something truly spectacular.
