We've seen the drop tests, we've shrieked at seeing iPads doused in molten lava, but those intent on destroying their beloved gadgets never cease to discover new ways of bringing scratches, dents, and general harm to the most sought-after mobile devices on the market. In this case, the Samsung Galaxy S III is dragged along by a moving car in order for the tester - YouTuber “aperfectgalaxy” - to prove the incredible strength of the newish device's screen, and in order to give a sense of perspective, an iPhone 4S is also hauled along for the ride in what is known as the "scratch test drag race".
As an avid user of both iOS and Android-based devices, I am pretty pleased with what they can achieve at stock level. Having said that, the real fun arrives in what can be done to extend the capabilities offered as standard, and I am constantly amazed by some of the apps and modifications one can perform to make a smartphone even smarter.
The introduction of the Retina-ready MacBook Pro was a fantastic achievement for Apple and represented a huge step forward for the Mac line of computers as Apple continue to develop both the hardware and software of their increasingly popular notebooks. The company is rightly proud of what they have achieved with the initial release of the MacBook Pro with Retina display, and pride themselves on being the first to market a notebook that features a display with 5.1 million pixels and a monstrous 2880 x 1800 screen resolution.
Although Apple themselves have been the center of attention for most of the last few weeks due to the imminent announcement and launch of the new iPhone, there has been an organization that has dared to try and steal Apple's thunder in the last week. Those guys are the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and have taken it upon themselves to thwart the hype around the new iPhone by blasting the Curiosity Rover onto the red planet to send images back to earth that document its findings.
It's been nearly three weeks since Apple deemed their latest version of OS X to be ready for a prime time release on the Mac App Store, a decision that resulted in over three million Mac owners purchasing and downloading the cutting-edge operating system within the first twenty-four hours. The early indications seem to show that users were generally happy with what Mountain Lion brought to their Mac experience, but a few users have been reporting a detrimental effect on internal MacBook batteries.
Crytek's CryENGINE has been around for years, and has evolved to become arguably the very best in the business, catering mostly to the first-person shooter genre. FPS titles are, hands down now, the most popular and sought among gamers, and the Crysis series is at the forefront. CryENGINE 3 was announced back in 2009, but the meticulous nature of gaming development means it takes game makers an age to utilize the engines to their full potential.
We are fast approaching the business end of Apple's sixth-generation iPhone release schedule, and if sources and intuition proves to be serving us correctly, then we should be getting our first official glimpse of the new piece of Apple hardware on September 12th. Apple is yet to officially come out and confirm that the event is happening, but a number of indicators seem to have given the game away with the extremely familiar Moscone Center in San Francisco looking likely to be the chosen venue.
There are many companies embattled in a quest to gain the largest market share in both the tablet and smartphone markets, and the recent court cases between Apple and Samsung has offered us a strong indication as to the inner workings of the firms locked in the fight for supremacy. Internal documents have been leaked to the San Jose case revealing much about the practices of both companies, while some of the big cheeses of both electronic outfits have leapt from obscurity to make their feelings known.
Microsoft's Kinect peripheral, which allowed the kind of interactivity with its Xbox 360 console only previously seen in the Nintendo Wii, went down a storm with consumers, becoming the fastest-selling gadget of all time when it launched back in 2010. Like all good new tech releases, it's hard to believe the Kinect motion sensor hasn't even reached the two year mark yet, and talk of its successor has been fairly prevalent for the past couple of months now.
Wireless charging has constantly been spoken of in the past as a technology the consumer market will eventually adopt with natural progression, and according to a report over at DigiTimes, Intel could be launching a new system that'll allow wireless charging of smartphones powered by its processors. The technology has been approved by the Wireless Power Consortium as the Qi standard, and is another leap in the quest of hardware manufacturers to minimize the cables and wires - something we definitely agree with.
