When talking about the mobile market and assessing its strengths and weaknesses, conversations and debates usually take an Android versus iOS format. Each of the two major mobile operating systems has its own perks and limitations, and in the case of Android, one of the key issues for a long time has been that of malware. Its open source nature leaves it naturally more susceptible than its Cupertino counterpart, but according to security research firm Lookout Mobile Security, things could take a turn for the worse in 2013.
The Nexus line up of devices has always received the prime cut of all that is Android, be it OTA updates, developer attention, mods and custom recoveries, root procedures and whatnot, and that, too, before the rest of the Android lot. This holds true not just for the smartphone showcase, but the tablets, too, since Google decided to enter that market itself. Generally, all the Nexus devices have been at the top of the Android food chain, as it was at the times of their respective releases. Their Achilles’ Heel, however, has always been their cameras, where the units mounted atop the Nexus devices were either inadequate or low performing, resulting in a loss of the battle in the mobile photography arena. Indeed, even mid-range droids had a better camera sensor as compared to the one built into, say, Galaxy Nexus.
Jaws definitely dropped when Apple launched the first iOS 6 beta with no Google Maps support, but we have moved on since then through the Mapgate scandal and now we have the official launch of Google Maps for iOS through the App Store, that comes with a reported admission from within Google that this latest launch for Apple devices provides a better experience than its Android based counterpart.
If you’re an Android user and at all interested in modding your device, playing around with custom firmware, trying different recoveries, manipulating your device’s bootloader, or anything that falls under the umbrella of advanced usage, you are bound to have come across the term “ADB”. Abbreviation for Android Debug Bridge, ADB for the uninitiated, provides a terminal/command-line-based interface for interaction between your computer and Linux-based Android device. Packaged as a part of the platform tools in Android Software Development Kit (SDK), ADB allows app developers to tamper the internal components of the operating system; ones that are not available to the user otherwise. Since modding a firmware often deals with changing parts of the system, ADB is essential to gain those abilities.
In its early stages, Android wasn't a great platform. It's main problem was lag, but in the past twelve months, Google's mobile operating system has become a much smoother, much more streamlined experience. Of course, Project Butter isn't the only positive enhancement presented to Android recently, and the introduction of many new features and apps - particularly Google Now - have been defining factors.
Google's Nexus brand of smartphones had been a huge success in the run-up to the Nexus 7 slate released earlier this year, and the 7-inch device proved to be a huge hit with consumers. Not only was it powerful, but it ran on the buttery smooth Android 4.1, and priced a great deal more economically than others out there, has since sold in the millions. Things might be about to get even more interesting, though, because the $99 Nexus 7 we've been hearing about has shown up on benchmarks, and although these things can be faked, shows as packing a microSD slot, as well as 8GB of standard memory.
As with iOS and Windows Phone 8, quite a few Android devices have launched in quick succession over the past couple of weeks, and as such, the famously thriving Android community has been busier than the gadget retailers this holiday. Among the torrent of new Android smartphones and tablets arrived the Nexus 10 slate, and with a toolkit for the HTC One X+, HTC Droid DNA and its accomplice - the LG Nexus 4 - already released, it only seemed a matter of time before the all-in-one arrived for the Nexus 10 tablet. Today, that day has arrived, and if you want to get busy modding and playing around with your shiny new slate, the folk of XDA-Developers have just made things that little bit easier.
Apple's iPhone always manages to sell in high numbers when the holiday season approaches, and history has repeated itself once again this year. Thanks to strong sales of the brand new iPhone 5, iOS has peaked at the top of the smartphone market share in the United States, according to data collated by research outfit Kantar Worldpanel Comtech.
When the Nexus 4 was announced as next Android flagship, there was no mention of any 4G/LTE support. Then, when the phone came out mid-November, there was, again, no LTE support again – not very surprisingly, though, since supporting 4G would have essentially meant manufacturing multiple versions of the device to make it agreeable for all the different 4G bands around the globe – an approach that Apple had to adopt with the iPhone 5. LG, however, decided to avoid going down that road, and hence, Nexus 4 stuck to the plain old 3G bands.
With Thanksgiving day, followed by Black Friday, and inevitably, Christmas, the consumer electronics market will be abuzz with savings, as each vendor and retailer looks to attract additional custom at this most lucrative time of year.
