Posts Tagged ‘Android’

iPhone 5 Launch Event Scheduled for October 4th 2011 – Let’s Talk iPhone

Wednesday, September 28th, 2011
The invite for the Apple "Let's Talk iPhone" event

The invite for the Apple "Let's Talk iPhone" event

It looks as though the long awaited launch of the iPhone 5 is finally almost upon us. Apple have been sending out invitations to a special event that will take place next Tuesday at 6pm UK time. The invite says the event is called “Let’s talk iPhone” and so it is very likely to be the time that the latest incarnation of the worlds most popular smartphone is revealed to the world.

Obviously there is an awful lot of hype and rumour surrounding the new device which most people thought would be launched back in June. The launch event will be headed up by Aplle’s new CEO Tim Cook following Steve Jobs stepping down as CEO earlier this year. Many people will be looking to see if Apple will be steering a new course under their new captain. I doubt this to be the case though as Tim Cook had long been thought to be Jobs’ eventual successor.

One other rumour is that the event will also be used to launch Facebook’s iPad app and also a revamped version of its iPhone app. Apple and Facebook do seem to be getting cosier and cosier with each other. This is probably mainly due to them both having a common competitor in Google. For Apple the challenge is to keep selling more iPhone handsets and this is threatened by the ever increasing market share that Google’s Android mobile operating system has. Meanwhile Facebook are facing some real competition from Google+, the new social networking site from Google.

One commonly held belief is that the launch will take place on October 4th and the new iPhone 5 will be available in both the UK and the US from October 15th. There are suggestions that the new model will have a teardrop shape when viewed in profile.  It may also be the case that the iPhone 5 will have closer integration with iCloud, allowing you to store music, photos, apps and calendars and then push the data to multiple devices.

The wait is nearly over and I am sure that all will be revealed next week.

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Google To Buy Motorola Mobility, What’s In It For Google?

Tuesday, August 16th, 2011

The tech world went wild yesterday upon the news that Google is looking to buy the manufacturing arm of Motorola, Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion. The deal has not yet been fully ratified but is expected to be completed by the end of the year or early in 2012 at the latest. Google, of course, are behind the Android mobile operating system and have in the past said that they would never manufacture their own mobile phones. Why the change of heart? A lot may well be down to the on-going battle that they are having with both Apple and Microsoft. Google have accused the other two of trying to kill off Android through the use of patent infringement. In buying Motorola Mobility they also acquire an awful lot of patents. This would tie in nicely with Google’s buying strategy of late, including purchasing over 1000 it purchased from IBM and an attempt to purchase more than 6000 patents from Nortel.

The reason that Google might want to buy patents is to help protect itself from extremely costly lawsuits. By having a whole raft of patents in its arsenal Google can ward off potential lawsuits from other companies by looking for ways the other company has infringed on Google owned patents and then counter suing the company. The world of patents is very like the Cold War in the terminology that is used, including Mutually Assured Destruction. This is where one company can sue for damages that are so great that it would drive another company out of business and the other company can counter sue with the same result and this mean that neither company will eve r take the risk. Hence owning patents can be very beneficial for a company. Google has realised that it is very vulnerable to this sort of attack and over the last six months in particular has been very busy buying patents.

Motorola while still a major player in the mobile space is not the behemoth that it once was. If you go back to the mid 90’s then the major phone manufacturers were Motorola and Nokia. Google might well fancy having a crack at getting Motorola back to that once dominant position again. They would be able to market mobile devices, both phones and tablets, offering the ultimate Android experience. They might even start to look at attacking Microsoft’s hold on the enterprise market. With more and more services being offered via The Cloud then why not offer the scalability that The Cloud can offer to businesses of all sizes. Google would be able to provide the platform via the Chrome operating system for desktop workstations and mobile devices running the Android operating system. It is likely that Chrome and Android will eventually become more unified possibly even becoming one ecosystem.

The markets responded favourably to the news, with a number of companies seeing jumps in their share prices including Sony Ericsson, Samsung and Huawei who all manufacture Motorola phones. Other phone manufacturers that use the Android operating system such as HTC and LG Electronics also so share prices rise on announcement on the Google acquisition.

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Windows 8 – First Thoughts

Monday, June 6th, 2011

Microsoft Windows 8Microsoft released a video last week giving people a chance to see what Windows 8 is going to look like and how it will function. Here are my thoughts on what we have been able to see so far.

The interface is very like Windows Phone 7 rather than Windows 7. The start screen has a series of tiles that represent the various programs and applications that you have installed on your machine. One good feature about using tiles rather than icons is that you can put more information into a tile. So rather than just being able to click on a Calendar icon to open the application you can see details of your schedule within the tile, giving users a better overall experience.

Microsoft have created a new development platform based on HTML 5 and Javascript that should allow new applications that are based on touch. This is really forward thinking to my mind, bearing in mind how often Microsoft seem to be playing catch up nowadays. There is a real emphasis on touchscreen throughout the video and it appears to only pay lip service to desktop users. I do wonder how effective this interface will be when used with a standard keyboard and mouse.

One nice feature is “snapping”. This allows a user to switch between tasks by swiping from the side. The last app to be used is then brought onto the screen, but the current app continues to utilise most of the display real estate. Think about picture in picture functionality on a TV. The user can then decide the scaling of the two apps so that either can be larger or they can both be the same size on your screen.

Windows 8 will ship with Internet Explorer 10 and again this seems to be being aimed at the tablet market as there is more talk about it having a touch first UI. There is also a touchscreen keyboard to help with entering URL’s and this can be split in two to give a more ergonomic experience.

As usual Windows 8 will allow you to use your existing applications with it. You will also be able to access other machines on your local network, though this is hardly ground breaking technology.

The video finishes off with a pledge that they will be showing us all more features over the next year which may indicate that Windows 8 is due to launch in Q1 2012.

As the owner of an LG Optimus phone that runs Windows Phone 7 then I would say that this is an enhancement on that OS. It is certainly a brave choice to move away from what people are used to. People are notoriously fickle and even within the tech community, a community who you would expect to embrace change, I hear a lot of murmurings about how it is too different .

The entire video focuses on the touchscreen aspect of Windows 8 and does not demonstrate how it will work on a desktop. Now I have a theory about this. Either they have not yet created the functionality for running on a desktop or eventually Windows 8 will be aimed at the tablet and smartphone market. If you look at Google they are currently running Android alongside Chrome, Apple have iOS and MacOS, so could Microsoft also develop two operating systems, one for PC’s and one for mobile devices? It will almost certainly be the case that in the future desktop PC’s will become the preserve of the office, geeks and gamers while the majority of the population who do not need the full functionality of a PC will be using tablets. So it could make sense to have an OS for the two types of devices. Time will tell.

I would love to hear your views on the new Windows 8 video teaser, leave me a comment. If you have not yet seen the video you can view it here.

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Windows Phone 7 Update Went Well

Friday, April 8th, 2011
20110408-215437.jpg

My phone of choice in May, Windows Phone 7

OK, I admit it, I own a Windows Phone 7. It’s an LG Optimus 7 if you really want to know, and just for the record I love it! I have an iPhone for personal use and an Android phone (Nexus One) for work, but secretly I love my Windows phone. The camera is far better than either of the other two, and it has a separate button onthe side to activate it, which is a real improvement on either of the other two major players in the smartphone market.

This evening I decided it really was time I agreed to allow the update that the phone has been quietly reminding me about for the last month. I have read one or two horror stories about this online and so had a little trepidation about starting this process. How did it go? Pretty smoothly.

I had to first install the Zune software that handles the updates. Zune, for those that don’t know is a sort of Microsoft version of iTunes. The interface is much better than iTunes though. I was pleasantly surprised to find that all my iTunes purchases play through Zune. The update took about 10 minutes, not 23 as my laptop suggested. This was particularly encouraging as I must have one of the slowest Internet connections in the UK, let’s not get me started on that again!
The update went through without a hitch and I can now, among other things, copy and paste on my Windows phone. I have also now added my music library to my phone and am debating whether to pay £8.99 a month for a Zune pass that will give me unlimited downloads from their music repository.

There is a free two week pass to they it out and I think when my programming schedule calms down in a couple of weeks I might give it a whirl. In fact I think thatnin May I will make the LG Optimus 7 my main phone for a month to really give it thence over. I also have the perfect companion to go along with it as you can see in the pic.
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Google plays a trick on smartphone users?

Wednesday, April 6th, 2011
This only works if you have a smartphone. Go to Google and type in either “tilt” or “askew”. You might be surprised with the results page that is displayed. Looks like somebody in Mountain View had some fun last Friday! Undoubtedly this was an April Fool, it works on iPhone’s and Android but not on Windows Phone 7 or the iPad. So it looks like the page checks which browser you are using and then if it is either an iPhone or Android phone works it magic. My question is did they do it with CSS or HTML 5? If you have any theories on how they achieved this I’d love to hear them.
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App Review: Vlingo (iPhone & Android)

Tuesday, February 15th, 2011
Vlingo on the iPhone

Vlingo on the iPhone

Vlingo is a nifty little app that allows you to search the web, update social networks, write texts and emails using your voice as the input method. The way it works is that the first word you utter tells the app what you want to do. For example, if you say “Search Freelance Web Design Blackburn” then the app will search for freelance web designers in Blackburn. You can also choose which search engine the app will use, Google, Bing or Yahoo.

I have been playing with this app for about five days and have found it to be really useful. I am getting to that point in life where my fingers have started to press two keys instead of one on my smartphone keyboard and so the ability to not have to type is fantastic.
I do find that you have to speak slowly and clearly but even so the voice recognition software has virtually no trouble understanding my Lancashire accent. My main use has been to use Vlingo to update Facebook and Twitter. I have learnt that the longer you speak for the more likely Vlingo is to make mistakes in its voice recognition. However, if you keep things short and sweet (can you do anything else with Twitter?) then it is very accurate. Vlingo displays it’s interpretation of your commands in a text box allowing you the opportunity to amend the text if it has made a mistake before you post your update to the world.
The app is freemium. The free version allows you to search the web, update Facebook and Twitter. The paid version also allows you to send texts and emails. The cost is £3.99 for either text or email or £5.99 for both.
There is a syntax that you need to get the hang of to really get the most out of this app but it is worth the effort. Vlingo is a great app and one that I would thoroughly recommend.
Vlingo is available from both the Apple App Store and the Android Marketplace.
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App of the Week: Twadar for Android

Friday, August 20th, 2010
Twadar in Action

Twadar in action

This weeks App of the week is Twadar by EastsideBasement. Twadar is a great little app that shows you who is tweeting in your neighbourhood. Lots of Twitter apps offer the facility to see tweets from those nearby but the reason I like it so much is that it displays the information on a map. The Twadar icon is at the centre of the page and then it starts to scan when you ask it to. It has a great GUI and you can see the radar spinning round as it scans your area. Then it starts to populate your area with all the people that have recently tweeted, their profile pic, profile name and latest Tweet. Once again I am finding that Geotagging is proving to be useful. I cannot believe how sceptical I was about this whole concept at the beginning of the year, but as time has gone on developers are finding new and innovative ways to make use of this technology. It’s only a question of time before two people who are trying to meet up both send a Tweet out and then one uses Twadar to find the location of the other.

You can also set a specific location other than your own by town, postcode and you can even just choose a location on the map to drop Twadar on.

I have to be honest, it’s a bit dull out here where I am as I seem to be the only person nearby who Tweets, but when I am in a city centre then you get to see exactly who’s about.

It’s a fun little app, comes in a free version as well as the paid for version and is only €1.49. It may not change your life but it is fun to watch. Twadar is available in the Android Marketplace.

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New Facebook Places Launched, but do you get it?

Thursday, August 19th, 2010

Facebook announces launch of geo location service Facebook PlacesFacebook have announced a geo-location feature for the worlds most popular social network. It will allow you to check in to locations very like other geo services like Gowalla and Foursquare. In fact both of these companies were at the launch and talked about their plans to integrate further their products with Facebook. You will also be able to tag places as well as people in photographs. The fact that you can tag a person to a place has already raised privacy concerns.

Facebook released a new version of Facebook for the iPhone, which I downloaded this morning. Unfortunately the new service is being rolled out to users over time and needless to say that Blackburn has not been part of the initial roll out. So I know that Facebook Places exists, but cannot do anything with it yet. There is no update to the Android version of Facebook and I am reliably informed that the BlackBerry version has not been updated either. Nor can I see it in a browser on either my laptop or the touch version on my Nexus One. In short, I’ve got it, but I can’t get it!

I currently use both Gowalla and Foursquare, but I am the only person out of my circle of friends to do so, most of who are on Facebook so it will be interesting to see whether they adopt this new feature. Personally I think that they will. The reason they have not used Foursquare or Gowalla is doubt to ignorance of their existence. By having the facility within Facebook it will allow them to take advantage of the service without having to go to any other sites.

So I guess this is the real reason that Facebook are doing this. If you can keep people on your site for longer you stop them using other services. If you can stop them using other services you start to gain control of the Net in general. If you can control the part of the Net people are accessing then you can charge a premium rate for advertising in that space. At the launch yesterday Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that they had no plans to monetise Facebook Places. He won’t need to, if things go his way then he will be able to bring in more advertising to Facebook in general.

Slightly off topic, I noticed that after I updated the iPhone Facebook App that when I update a status there is a little padlock icon under the input box that allows me to choose who I share this status with, Friends only, Friends of Friends, Everybody. Good little addition I thought. It is also on the main Facebook site, but as I tend to only access FB through my phone I do not know if this is new or has been there a while.

Will you be using Facebook Places? Can you use Facebook Pages? Leave me a comment and let me know.

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App of the week: Earthquake by Reto Meier on Android

Monday, August 9th, 2010

I was spoilt for choice this week trying to decide which my favourite “App of the Week” was. It was a there horse race at the start of the weekend, but eventually I decided to go for “Earthquake” by Reto Meier.

This is a great App that takes information from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) such as quake location, magnitude, damage radius etc and then overlays the info onto Google Maps.

You can configure the app so that it only displays data on quakes above a certain magnitude. There is an option to PUSH an alert to you if your location is within the rumble range of a quake. The refresh rate is also configurable with times ranging from every 5 minutes to once a day.

In all honesty living in Blackburn, Lancashire this app is more of a novelty than a necessity, though I have felt two earthquakes here in the last 10 years. Maybe if I was in San Diego or Los Angeles I might have a more practical use for the app, but it is still interesting to see just how many quakes take place every day all over the world where continental and oceanic plates are pushing against each other.

It’s free so you have nothing to lose, go on download it today and give it a whirl. You never know, you might just feel the Earth move! One last thing before I go, if you do use it take a look at North Korea. Zoom in as far as you can and see what happens, it’s very interesting.

Have you ever been in an earthquake? Why not leave me and our other readers a comment?

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