The last horse looks to be crossing the finishing line in the run-up to the release of Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system. The metro-laden eight edition of the market leading OS will Release to Manufacturing (otherwise known as RTM) in the first week of August, with the retail edition following in late October.
The Kindle Fire was announced late last year to strong enthusiasm from folks looking for a low price tablet. Based on Android with heavy Amazon-friendly customizations added on top, the Kindle Fire was reviewed as the perfect budget tablet for consuming digital content from Amazon’s online stores.
Twitter’s iOS and Android native app offerings came under fire when they announced a complete redesign earlier this year. They removed established power user features that were first introduced in the Tweetie iPhone app (that Twitter acquired). This resulted in many folks jumping ship* to third party Twitter apps. Now, Twitter is doing their best to keep the new design while bringing back the power user features that were lost in the major update to version 4.
Although it's a wonderful thing to be able to carry a decent snapper at all times in the form of a smartphone, it has been argued that the mundane methods for editing them with a simple effect or a movable focus has sapped much of the creativity that goes with creating a well-edited image.
Instagram has its fair share of critics, and although I find myself checking the image-social networking platform on a daily basis, I do sympathize with their grievances somewhat. Still, although it's certainly important to recognize that an image of a cooked meal with a monochrome effect slapped on top of it does not equate to professional photography, it's key to remember Instagram is built for enjoyment, as opposed to professionalism.
The Apple iPhone may have just celebrated its fifth birthday, but the seemingly never ending list of useful functions that the device can be used for is always on the rise. The introduction of the iPhone 4 brought with it an integrated rear LED that was intended to be used as a flash for the built in camera but thankfully Apple also allowed developers access to the APIs that control the light.
Fans of the Samsung S III are receiving an update to the handset they love so much, with the smartphone maker pushing a new version of software out. Only available for the international version of the hugely popular device, the update weighs in at around 73MB and does not offer any additions that will blow your socks off. According to the literature though, users will be in for an increase in stability, which is always welcome.
Windows Phone 7.x users were somewhat disappointed to learn that Windows Phone 8 would not be coming to the current batch of WP devices. Instead, Microsoft has laid out a somewhat watered-down iteration in Windows Phone 7.8, so naturally, anybody looking to jump on the Windows Phone 8 background will need to grab themselves a new device, which while a little bit gutting, is still rather exciting at the same time.
Scarcely a week after an injunction which abruptly ended the sales of Google's Galaxy Nexus, the Samsung-manufactured device has now reappeared on the web company's Play Store, and will resume shipping in a couple of weeks time. The injunction, handed out by judge Lucy Koh, prevented the device from selling due to an infringement of Apple's intellectual property, but with Jelly Bean 4.1 said to amend the problem in question, the popular HSPA+ smartphone will be available to Android fans once more.
Weather is much like paying tax. You may not like it, but it's an unavoidable fact of life. As a cynical Briton used to torrential downpours and cold weather, maybe I'm just a little bitter, but nevertheless, like most people I like to keep track of what the elements have in store from one day to the next, even if it's an almost predictable, gloomy foregone conclusion.
