In the current smartphone climate, it seems that everyone is talking about devices like the iPhone and Samsung's extremely popular Galaxy S III, or mostly devices that are built around iOS or Android. In all honesty, it is a bit of a short-sighted position to take, and although companies like Nokia have been cast into the wilderness in recent years, they have always been known for producing premium quality hardware. And now thanks to their partnership with Microsoft, we could hopefully see a re-emergence of the Finnish company.
Windows 8's October 26th release date has been confirmed, and in the meantime, Redmond-based Microsoft has been preparing all the associated bits and pieces usually associated with a major OS release, including Visual Studio 2012 and .NET Framework 4.5 which have both been released to MSDN and TechNet today.
Although Cydia is packed full of great tweaks and packages, developers are still managing to find ways to innovate and produce tweaks which offer small but extremely useful functionality to jailbroken iOS users. With so many areas of iOS already having been amended and certain functionality already introduced through existing packages, the window for change is becoming smaller. But the Turn 2 Hangup package is bringing a very handy and useful little feature set to jailbroken iPhone users.
The next moves of Microsoft and the Windows Phone 8 platform are extremely critical in mobile space. Currently dominated by iOS and Android, no other platform has the potential to compete with the two titans quite like Windows Phone 8, and although some details are still scarce, the evolved mobile ecosystem will cater to more powerful devices than ever before.
In development since 2009, announced officially at CES in early 2011, went through three different previews (Developer, Consumer and Release) and recently announced to be code complete, the final, code-complete, release to manufacturing version of Windows 8 is finally available to TechNet and MSDN subscribers. Check out the details after the jump.
If a new tablet is on your shopping list for the very near future and you have already ruled out joining the crowd in getting a 9.7-inch iPad or the highly rated Google Nexus 7, then Samsung may have exactly what you are looking for. Although legal representatives for the company are locked in a Californian court room attempting to settle various patent infringement disputes, it hasn't stopped the Korean electronic giants from handling their business and having another attempt at ending Apple's dominance with the insanely popular iPad.
Although we now know the Samsung Galaxy Note II will be unveiled at the South Korean company’s IFA 2012 event on August 29th, that doesn't mean we should cease all speculation and wait for the official showcasing. The leaks are still arriving thick and fast, and NowhereElse, a site which seems really in the loop with regards to upcoming tech products, has leaked the purported front panel of the forthcoming handset, and by running a ruler across it to measure the diameter, also seemingly confirmed the 5.5-inch size reported on numerous occasions.
The battle between iOS and Android will always be the one that is fought between fans of the respective mobile operating systems, but at the end of the day, each platform has its strengths and weaknesses and will ultimately come down to personal choice. As well as the software features and included functionality which Apple and Google roll into their firmware, users will also make their decisions based on the available hardware, and as great as the iPhone is, Samsung also has a fantastic and powerful device with their extremely popular Galaxy S III.
The iPhone is easily the most anticipated device to be arriving from Apple in the coming months, although the purported smaller iPad, or iPad Mini as it is being referred, is hot on its heels. The device, we are led to believe, will counter the smaller tablets cropping up in the tablet market, including the cheap-yet-powerful Google ASUS Nexus 7.
Sony once dominated the gaming market with an iron fist, but has lost its way somewhat, and with the PS Vita not managing to be the rousing success the company will have hoped, maybe cross-platform PlayStation Mobile service will fare better.
