Smartphones are the ultimate example of the convergence of technology. These gadgets that fit in the palm of your hand can act as your music player, portable movie player, handheld gaming console, voice recorder, portable storage device and a whole lot more thanks to third-party apps.
One of the most popular uses of the iPhone has to be mobile gaming. The App Store is packed to the rafters with numerous gaming titles, and it seems that more often than not, most of the top twenty five free and paid apps fall under the gaming genre. If you happen to be one of the those individuals who love a bit of mobile gaming then the chances are that you've heard of and experienced the Real Racing games that are currently in their second iteration.
The fabulous Nexus 7 has only been released for a very short time and already it has managed to win over most of the doubters with its impressive specification and overall pleasurable user experience. The device itself feels like a premium build product, and the integration of Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean provides the perfect companion quad-core Tegra 3 processor which Google and ASUS have packed under the hood.
Google paints its Wallet services as the future of shopping transactions, and using the power of NFC, or Near Field Communication, it has certainly shown much promise. The lack of a few important features is largely attributable to its infant state, but today, the Big G has given Wallet a pretty big update, offering support for all major credit and debit cards.
If you happened to walk into a store and saw the Nexus Q sitting on the shelf for sale, you might want to consult a salesperson to actually find out what the elegant black orb does. Unlike smartphones or tablets that lend their visuals to their functionality, or the Apple TV unit that gives away its function in the name, the Nexus Q is a visual enigma that hasn't really gotten the consumer technology world convinced.
The smartphone industry is one of the most fiercely contested in tech space, and although Windows Phone 8 will bring Microsoft well and truly into the fold, the battle is currently fought between Google's Android and Apple's iOS platforms.
Google means business with Android these days. That's not to say it didn't before, but since the company's Google I/O conference recently it has become clear that the people at Google are beginning to understand what it takes to make a premium smartphone. It's not apps, and it's not handsets. It's the feel of the operating system.
One of the great things about having devices like smartphones and tablets is the ability to constantly update the standard functionality of the gadget by downloading and installing additional apps which are available through marketplaces like the iOS App Store and Google's own software market, the Google Play Store. In some instances it is possible to acquire installations from other sources, but for the mainstream user, the official app hubs prove more than sufficient with over 1.2 million combined apps available on the two largest sales platforms.
Because of its relatively open nature, Android apps tend to be much more flexible and powerful than iOS apps. I’m not talking about games like Angry Birds or social networking apps like TweetDeck or Facebook, I’m talking about apps like DroidSheep, Faceniff, WiFiKill and Network Spoofer that can wreak havoc through advanced attacks on other, unsuspecting Android smartphone users.
The tablet market is one which is arguably already sewn up. It's already done. Dead. Finished. It's already Apple's. Or is it? With Apple undoubtedly heading the charts in and around the $500 price bracket, there is plenty of room for manufacturers to play below that mark. As the netbook market showed years ago, if you can make something cheap, people will buy it, regardless of whether it's any good or not.
