The Gangnam Style music track might be the most immediately recognized sounds of recent times, but without the power, that is YouTube, it is extremely likely that the majority of us would have never even heard of it. There's a good chance that the majority wish they never had heard it, but gathering the momentum of a runaway steam train and becoming the most viewed YouTube video of all time has propelled PSY's track into a worldwide phenomenon, and now thanks to the official Gangnam Style live wallpaper app, Android users can ensure that they are never without a small piece of that horse dance in their lives.
There’s no shortage of unofficial CyanogenMod versions for various Android devices, and sometimes, those even get merged in the mainline, providing better, more official support. However, it’s almost always more exciting to find out that a device is getting official ROMs from the get go. In that regard, the Nexus line up of devices has always received special love from the original CM team. It makes sense, too, since these devices are Google’s flagships, and whenever a new Android version is out, they’re the first ones to official receive it, even before the source code goes live on AOSP. The best should get treated by the best, don’t you agree?
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's iPhone 5 launch has to be considered a great success, despite initial launch sales figures falling somewhat short of expectation. The Cupertino company's ability to sell the device was naturally hindered by yield constraints, and with Foxconn struggling to churn out the numbers required by Apple, Tim Cook's company had to place limitations on how many unlocked devices individual customers could grab at any one time.
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.
Have you ever had one of those days when you wake up and you just have too much money in your wallet or purse? No? Me either, but if you are an iPhone 5 or an iPad mini owner and fancy owning something that none of your friends have or will have seen before then a new color modification service could turn that current-generation iDevice into a modern day work of art that stands out from all other hardware on the market.
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.
Apple Granted Patents For Smart Cover And MagSafe, Trademarks For Word ‘Retina’ And Game Center Icon
As is becoming more and more apparent with the wave of intellectual property disputes between some of the largest names in tech - notably Apple and Samsung, designing a product and creating an innovation is only significant if the patents are then put into place. We've already seen Samsung ordered to pay an eye-watering $1.05 billion to its biggest rival over highly-publicized dispute in San Jose, and although it's way behind other names in the mobile field when it comes to its total number of patents stockpiled, the Cupertino has garnered a rep for its dogmatic approach to the patent game.
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.
Most of you will have, at some point, interacted with Apple's iTunes Store over the past few years, but despite its prowess in the music, video, podcast and app fields, much of the world has still yet to see official App Store support. Apple has taken dramatic steps to change that today, though, by announcing the launch of the iTunes Store in a further 56 countries, including Turkey, Russia, Indonesia, South Africa, and India.
