Sometimes, even little things that we usually don’t pay much attention to, can have a significant impact over anything. Take the Android 4.2 update, for example. It was an incremental update – technically not much feature loaded – but it brought some things that captured the audience much more than many prior major updates combined. The feature that I am talking about in particular, however, is not a game-changer – it’s merely a convenience that has been added to the AOSP, making lives easier in the process for millions of Android users. I am talking about the ability to display widgets on lock screen and launching camera directly from the same.
I am a bit of a fiend when it comes to apps and games for my mobile devices, and over the years, I've learned to become rather shrewd in what I buy, and when I buy it. While a lot of apps and games are indefinitely free, many of the better offerings charge for the privilege, and what with it being Black Friday today, many coveted paid titles are available absolutely free of charge!
The dismissal of iOS SVP Scott Forstall at Apple, which has led to Jony Ive taking the helm in the future direction of the company's mobile software, has brought a whole new impetus on the prospect of iOS 7. With Ive said not to be a fan of the skeuomorphic designs throughout iOS, they'll likely go the way of the dodo, but it's not just the faux leather and paper expected to be updated when the next generation of iOS software eventually arrives next year.
'Tis the season to be jolly, as the saying goes; but within some of the biggest technology companies, it's more like the time to be leaving. After Scott Forstall's departure from Apple at the end of last month following decades of service to the Cupertino company, Microsoft's Steven Sinofsky also decided it was time to call it a day at Microsoft, having helped bring the Surface and Windows 8 to market. Now Damien Dinning, head of Nokia's imaging department, has opted to leave the Finnish company, just weeks after the release of the flagship Lumia 920 on Windows Phone 8.
You don't need to be heavily involved in the music business to have heard of the Black Eyed Peas or indeed will.i.am who is generally considered to be the front man for the group and the main inspiration behind their success in recent years. It also doesn't take a lot of brain processing power to understand that will.i.am isn't exactly one hundred percent committed to his music career and likes to grab any possible opportunity to dabble with new and emerging technologies. It's that technology driven passion that has prompted William James Adams to launch his own branded 'i.am+' accessories to accompany mobile smartphones in the hope of making the experience better for consumers.
Apple and Samsung's bitter war takes on new dimensions today, with the report from China Business News that Apple has switched battery suppliers of its iPad and MacBook ranges. Hitherto, Samsung SDI, the battery-making subsidiary of the South Korean outfit, has been providing the batteries for some of the Cupertino's most celebrated products, but now Apple is thought to have replaced the Galaxy maker with two Chinese companies, Amperex Technology Limited and Tianjin Lishen Battery.
When the Nexus 4 was announced as next Android flagship, there was no mention of any 4G/LTE support. Then, when the phone came out mid-November, there was, again, no LTE support again – not very surprisingly, though, since supporting 4G would have essentially meant manufacturing multiple versions of the device to make it agreeable for all the different 4G bands around the globe – an approach that Apple had to adopt with the iPhone 5. LG, however, decided to avoid going down that road, and hence, Nexus 4 stuck to the plain old 3G bands.
Although Cydia plays home to a large number of powerful, in-depth and awfully creative system based packages, the fact still remains that a lot of iOS device owners choose to go through the process of jailbreaking purely for the ability to modify and customize their iPhone, iPad or iPod touch to suit their own tastes and styles. Theming the device is extremely popular through WinterBoard activated interface assets, but it is also highly likely that the new Go Desk desktop rendering package will convince many users to also add some live home screen animations to their devices.
Like the idea of Project Glass but prefer a little more Redmond in your toys? If a patent filing is to be believed, you may well be in luck. Google's Project Glass is undoubtedly a typically Google affair. Proposing to turn our glasses into full on video recorders and heads-up displays, Project Glass is the brainchild of a company that prides itself in thinking not just outside the box, but also outside the box that houses that, err, box.
As smartphone cameras have continued to improve, software developers have worked tirelessly in researching ways to make usability just that little bit easier. We've all been there - the photo opportunity comes along, and in the moment, we lose our bearings and forget exactly where our camera app is situated. That, or it takes a while to navigate, takes ages to load, and by the time we're done, we've missed that all-important Kodak Moment. AN.droid.KIT, the guys behind QuickShot HD Camera for Android, believe they've finally solved this issue, and have offered an interesting workaround for that common problem of firing the snapper up exactly when required.
