The battle for supremacy in the cloud-based services has definitely stepped up a notch or two over the past few months, with a host of companies joining a territory manned mainly by Dropbox. Apple kicked things off by launching iCloud along with iOS 5 back in October of last year, and Microsoft finally brought SkyDrive to the mainstream in the early stages of 2012 - laying the foundations for the eventual release of its so-called "Cloud OS" - Windows 8.
If you've not heard of Instagram, then, first and foremost, welcome to 2012 - you're just in time for the next iPhone. Instagram is a simple photo-edit-share app that has taken the world by storm in the kind of explosive manner only Angry Birds masterminds Rovio Entertainment could claim to empathize with, and having been bought out by Facebook earlier this year, it's the only application which, along with the aforementioned bird-throwing hullabaloo, can be classified as a "billion-dollar app."
Microsoft’s motion sensing Kinect has so far been used in plenty of novel ways. We’ve seen, among other things, developers add Minority Report UI-style features to Windows, allow 3D videochatting, and help consumers select dresses by virtually wearing them, but allowing people who have trouble reading to send emails with a few gestures is something very new that we’ve come across today. Check it out after the jump.
iOS or OS X, Apple’s operating systems have always come with a lovely set of wallpapers that really enhance your desktop, but did you know that OS X Mountain Lion - in addition to the wallpapers available under the Change Desktop Background option - comes with over three dozen wallpapers that are hidden*? If you’re the type who changes their wallpapers regularly, you should definitely check them out. Find out how after the jump!
According to a report over at the hit-and-miss DigiTimes, a 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display - along with updated spec iMacs - are shipping to Apple's upstream supply chain. DigiTimes has, as is often the case, latched onto the story via sources from within said supply chain, and reports the 13.3" MacBook Pro with Retina display should be upon us within the next six weeks.
Google's Project Glass has certainly wowed the technology world over the past year or so, and with gadgetry often crossing over into the world of fashion, it shouldn't be of too much surprise to see the Big G's intriguing, futuristic invention make an appearance on the catwalk this week.
Every time we think that the market for take-a-photo-apply-a-filter-share-it type apps is saturated and there is nothing more that can be done now that hasn’t already been done in one way or the other, an app like Etchings comes along that offers a bunch of never-before-seen filters that make us go wow. Check it out after the jump!
Life may have its ups and downs (mostly downs), but it’s still such a wonderful thing to experience. In today’s busy-busy world, it’s easy to forget moments that – for better or worse – change you as a person, which is why keeping an up to date personal journal comes highly recommended. Not only does it give you chance of getting a nice book publishing deal if you pull off something epic later in life, but it also improves your writing skills and makes for a very fun read years down the road.
If you find yourself growing tired of the native Camera app which Apple bundles with the iPhone and iPod touch, then it may be time to rifle through the App Store and find an alternative that better suits your needs. Camera+ is one extremely popular option, bur those who want to step away from the more mainstream and accepted alternatives, then the future could be PowerCam. The name of the app pretty much gives away what the developers have tried to achieve with this app and you have to hand it to them for building an all singing all dancing piece of photography-based kit.
Music and mobile devices invariably go hand in hand these days. I can't remember the last time I walked down the street or got on some public transport and didn't see an individual with an iOS or Android powered smartphone with their headsets on listening to music. The accelerated development of smartphones over the last decade or so has drastically changed the way we see our phones, and apart from making phone calls, they are our everyday media powerhouses.
