Finnish based Nokia once sat on top of the mobile world and released some of the most iconic cellphones we have seen in the late 1990',s and even early on at the turn of the century. With that said, they are now placing their revival firmly in the hands of the gorgeous Windows Phone 8 powered Lumia devices, and although the already released Lumia 920 and 820 have been accumulating positive reviews, it seems they are not prepared to rest on their laurels and have announced the Nokia Lumia 620 device that is intended to appeal to the lower-end of the smartphone market.
Apple has, save a few well-documented howlers along the way, steadily improved iOS through generations. With that said, there's certainly scope for much improvement, and TheVerge user brentcas has had a pop at suggesting some amendments to one key area in particular need of updating and improving - the lock screen.
Apple may have been keen to remove any remnants of Google from its iOS ecosystem with iOS 6, but even though the removal of the Big G's Maps service turned out to be a great mistake. However, ditching the YouTube app - which had remained basically untouched since the introduction of the iPhone back in 2007 - was more of a case of good riddance to bad rubbish. The stock app had become severely antiquated, but while native support scrapped, a revamped, smooth iteration was released to the App Store, and today, said app has been given a generous update.
Custom ROMs are the life and blood of Android. One of the beauties of the entire platform is the fact that you don’t have to remain stuck with whatever the manufacturer of your smartphone or tablet had chosen for you; instead, you get to make your own choices, either in the form of stock-based custom cooked firmware, or the likes of CyanogenMod and AOKP, which are direct derivatives of the Android Open Source Project.
Android users welcomed an unexpected update to the Gmail app yesterday that added a number of critical and much requested features to the software. And although, the version of said app for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch was fairly accomplished to begin with, Google has added some great features as well as an aesthetic overhaul.
Apple Patents ‘Wireless Charging’, Can Charge A Device As Far As One Meter Away From Charging Source
Apple is looking to arrive - fashionably late as usual - to the wireless charging circles, and unsurprisingly, the company has patented a method of wireless charging which it believes works differently to / better than anybody else's. It was only a matter of time before the patent filings began rolling through on a technology which is already out there, and as we should now be used to, Apple has "invented" its very own way of going about things.
Of all the new year's resolutions people make to themselves, the one that's promised most commonly to oneself is that of improving health and fitness. Whether it's improved diet, more exercise, or a combination of the two, most of us will have pledged to make a beneficial change to our lives. New year, new start, and all that jazz. Well, for the 2012-13 changeover, you'll have added incentive thanks to the Xbox 360 Nike+ Kinect Training Bundle, which will officially become available to download on Xbox Live on December 25th.
It has always been a subject of curiosity as to why Facebook decided to make its Messenger feature a separate entity on mobile devices. The fact the version 1.0 of Facebook Messenger was riddled to the core with bugs certainly didn't help, but while many had seen the move to separate the two as merely arbitrary or for purpose of vanity, it appears there is, after all, some method to the madness. The Android department of the Facebook Messenger app will soon be releasing an update fairly soon to users in select countries, and intriguingly, it will no longer require users to own an account to log in and get chatting. A direct challenge to the likes of WhatsApp and the traditional SMS app? We think so.
Amongst all smartphone platforms, Android holds a certain appeal to power users. This is because none of its competitors offers the level of control and customization for that technologically elite crowd that Android puts on the table. From cooking custom ROMs based on a stock one, to concocting an entirely new mix from AOSP, to the likes of hybrid creations like the famous ParanoidAndroid series, which has now extended to a large number of devices, there’s always something for everyone in Google’s mobile operating system. Then, there’s that other kind of control – the one that lets the user play around with things like battery longevity, and factors associated with it. Among those, control over CPU is of great importance. Why? Because next to the screen, there’s nothing as bad as an over-hungry CPU drinking through your battery juice in a matter of mere hours. Don’t believe me? Ask someone who’s faced the recent bug with CM10, where the device didn’t go into deep sleep!
The Samsung Galaxy S III may only have been around for half of this year, but the focus has now well and truly turned to its eventual predecessor. The past couple of weeks have seen a notable spike in Galaxy S IV rumors and general coverage, and although much of it has been conflicting, we've seen some very interesting tidbits of information. The status of the Galaxy S brand certainly justifies the excitement building up, and in the latest revelation, it would seem recently-leaked handset - codenamed "Project J" - is going to be arriving circa April 2013.
