The Nexus 7 from Google has been a real breath of fresh air to the tablet market. Not only does it offer a solid performance on Android Jelly Bean, but its low price has lured in many consumers into grabbing a device they perhaps wouldn't have been able to afford. Google outdid itself by dropping the price of the popular device earlier this week, and while this will no doubt increase general consumer interest and subsequent sales, it has left those who paid the original prices feeling a little underhanded.
Setting reminders and alerts based on a location isn't really anything new in terms of the underlying technology, but as we have seen so many times in the past, things seem to come to the forefront when large companies like Apple or Facebook adopt them and put them them back into the public eye. With the launch of iOS 5, Apple brought us the stock Reminders app that features location aware reminders and to-do tasks, but now thanks to the Location Alerts app for iPhone we also have the ability to schedule text messages and calls based entirely on location.
The latest game from Rovio, Angry Birds Star Wars, has proven to be a real hit with iOS gamers, as the new release reached the top of the App Store charts in less than three hours, setting a new record in the process.
The tide of the tablet market is turning. Android vendors have had a couple of years at trying to copy the iPad, and having failed, Apple’s rivals have sought new ways to compete with the Cupertino company’s market-leading device. As well as a glut of smaller tablets (to which Apple has also covered with the iPad mini), we’re also seeing a deluge of so-called “hybrid” devices – those that function both as a tablet and a notebook. The majority seem to be running on a variant of Windows 8, and due to the fledgling nature of Microsoft’s new OS, none of these tablet-notebooks have really gotten going as yet, but with so many of them set to hit the retail market this Fall, will Apple need an answer of its own?
Whether you're into Siri, Google Now, Tellme, or Samsung's S Voice, there's little doubt that voice-recognition technology has made great strides in the past year or so. Consumers remain a tad unconvinced, and at present, the standard of voice implementation is certainly not a deal-breaker to most, but like the first grainy VGA cameras we used to see in our mobile phones, we do have a nagging feeling we're soon to become reliant.
Officially set to be released next year, we can't help but get excited every time we hear little snippets of information regarding Grand Theft Auto V. The highly anticipated release in the GTA franchise has been under development for quite some time, but apart from the few teasing screenshots, promotional images released by Rockstar Games, we haven't really had a great deal to get our teeth into. GTA IV left a few hardcore fans feeling a little let down with the experience, but it certainly looks like Rockstar are back on top of their game with the latest offering.
The iPhone 5 has been out in the wild for approximately seven weeks now, and considering Apple is still having difficulty replenishing stock levels, we can safely assume that it can be classed as yet another commercial success for the company. The fact that units are flying off the shelves doesn't mean that the device is without its problems, a few of which have already come under intense scrutiny. One of them was a software glitch that affected the keyboard and folders in certain circumstances, but it looks like Apple could have some further display issues on their hands that fall under a hardware remit.
If you're constantly messing around and modding your device, you will undoubtedly have hit a snag or two along the way. When you have an issue, but cannot quite decipher what exactly is causing continual crashes, software malfunction or general bugs, things can become very frustrating indeed. In this instance, some - particularly developers - find logcat to be of particular help, as they help ascertain what isn't working, why it isn’t working, the steps that can be taken in order to amend the situation.
It wasn't that long ago when we brought you the news that Apple had set up a dedicated charitable giving page using their iTunes payment infrastructure to collect donations from the public on behalf of the American Red Cross. The system was put in place to allow Apple account holders to make a financial donation to the charity to help with the ongoing relief efforts as an aftermath of Hurricane Sandy without the need to create any additional login or provide payment data to external parties. In an internal email sent to Apple employees, Tim Cook has outlined his company's commitment to the cause with a $2.5 million donation of their own.
When Microsoft first inducted itself into the tablet market by announcing the Surface earlier this year, many were torn about which configuration they'd be going for. The Redmond company revealed the Surface RT - powered by an ARM processor - would be releasing first along with the big Windows 8 launch, and so has been the case, and while many have already snapped up their Microsoft tablet and are already familiarizing themselves with Windows RT, others have held their ground, waiting for the fully-powered Surface Pro running Windows 8 and powered by Intel's Ivy Bridge chips.
