Although the smartphone and tablet market is mostly dominated by Apple, Samsung and Google et al, Amazon has been keenly interested in adding its own hardware to proceedings. While the Kindle Fire didn't live up to the pre-release hype, the world's foremost online retailer could be, so says the WSJ, testing its very first smartphone effort, complete with a 4-5 inch display.
The Nexus Q is one heck of a weird gadget. The "social streaming" thingamajig has the heart of a Android smartphone with it's dual core processor, powerful graphics 16GB flash storage and 1GB RAM, but the features of a severely crippled Apple TV. It is somewhat similar to the Apple TV in that it can stream content using an Android smartphone or tablet as a remote (Apple TV does this with mobile iOS device or a Mountain Lion based Mac), but the problem is that it costs nearly thrice as much, streams content only from Google Play’s limited library and YouTube and can't even be used without an Android device. The gadget has received mixed reviews so far.
Android Jelly Bean is, for those having been in hiding and therefore unaware, the latest version of Google's market-leading mobile operating system, and unlike with Ice Cream Sandwich, which took what seemed like an age to trickle through to the various mid to high-end devices on the market, the web company seems a great deal more organized with regards to its distribution.
Although Apple may still be going through the district and county courts in an ongoing battle with Samsung over alleged patent infringements, it certainly hasn't stopped the creative minds at the Cupertino company from coming up with and submitting applications for a wide variety of patents. We all know the technology giants are no strangers to the patent system, something that has been emphasized today with the United States Patent and Trademark Office publishing a total of twenty three patents awarded to Apple.
Although many of the large consumer electronics companies outsource their work to China, the number of legitimate products produced within the world's most populous country is eclipsed by the number of fakes lurking about. Apple is the usual target of the fakery, and although none of us would consider purchasing the grossly inferior rip-offs, it's certainly entertaining to look at them - particularly when placed alongside the real deal.
New rumors of a 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro being on the horizon have begun doing the rounds, with claims that the device is real being backed up with benchmark results that have cropped up online. The as yet unannounced device is also expected to begin arriving in people's hands around October time, according to reports.
Not so long ago, the iPod range was the focal point of Apple's product roster, but with the increase in popularity of both the iPhone and more recently, the iPad, has seen the once-popular music player slip into near obscurity.
Using Twitter, perhaps more so than any other social platform, seems perfectly matched to the mobile market. Everything said is within the 140 character limit - fending off those who like to broadcast an unabridged version of their life story, and it has overtaken the RSS reader in allowing users to keep up with the news feeds they really want to follow.
Kinect PlayFit, a fitness-based Xbox LIVE feature announced by Microsoft some time ago, has officially launched today, with details of the service being announced by Larry Hryb, otherwise known as Major Nelson.
As has been discussed on numerous occasions, photo-based apps are seeing an unprecedented rise in popularity, thanks to the advancements of smartphone and tablet cameras as well as sharing mediums, notably Instagram. Although the influx of new apps means a lot more choice for us, it also unfortunately means developers, looking for a quick buck, are capitalizing on the current trend by releasing sub-par apps which promise much yet deliver precious little.
