A promising prototype stand called the Plinth fits in a pocket but quickly deploys to support a large tablet, a smartphone or even an old-fashioned book.
Developed by U.K. product designer John Bull, the super-portable Plinth would make it easier for him to use his beloved iPad by holding it rock-steady at three different angles.
Having taken the holidays off (in Samsung’s case to nurse its wounds), Apple and Samsung are back to patent negotiations.
According to an article which appeared Sunday in The Korea Times, the two companies have resumed their patent battle — with officials at the Fair Trade Commission saying the companies are looking to hash out issues related to royalties.
Google and Audi plan to announce a partnership to build in-car dashboard systems based on Android, according to a new report.
The deal will be rolled out Jan. 7 at the big International CES trade show in Las Vegas, says The Wall Street Journal, with the companies also set to reveal others involved in the collaboration, including Nvidia.
There’s good news and bad news for Apple. The good news is that the Cupertino-based company sells more tablets in America than anyone. The bad news is that Apple is selling less iPads proportionate to the total share of tablet sales than a year ago… and Mac sales are also going down.
One of the big problems with focusing on a broad metric like mobile platform market share is that it ignores some of the more important (and complex) questions about how these platforms are actually used.
For example, which customers are most valuable in terms of spending money?
Ever wonder why it takes most Android phones ages to get the latest version of the OS?
Well, a recent infographic from HTC sheds some light on the anatomy of an Android update — detailing all the steps involved from the pre-announcement PDF through the finished version arriving on your phone.
A new book called Dogfight: How Apple and Google Went to War and Started a Revolution by Fred Vogelstein revealed the mechanism by which Apple influenced the direction of Android — shock and awe.
Yes, the introduction of the iPhone changed the direction of smartphones. But I don’t think it’s going to happen again in the wearables market. Here’s why.
Helped along by a sci-fi-style concept video, a new Google Glass competitor called the Atheer One shot halfway to its $100,000 crowd-funding goal in just a day.
“In a few years, the digital world with all its rich information will be completely merged with the real one,” says Atheer Labs in its Indiegogo campaign for the Atheer One, which has already raised more than $54,000. “Let’s get the future started today!”
What does that future look like, according to Atheer? Take a look at the video below and see for yourself.
Surprise: These cans aren’t quite the flashy, youthful boombasts their outward appearance suggest (yes, that’s a good thing). And, surprise: There’s much more here than simply a nod at the term “active noise cancellation.”
SMS, which is helmed by Rapper 50 Cent, jumped into the headphone game just shy of three years ago. At that time the lion’s share of attention was directed toward their wireless Sync cans, which stream music via the somewhat uncommon Kleer technology. But that doesn’t mean the rest of SMS’s broad, diverse lineup should be ignored, and that assertion is well-supported by the performance — and, yes, dash of flash – of the wired, active noise-canceling Street by 50 ANC headphones.
When your smartphone’s biggest selling point is its customization options, you need to get a little creative with your print ads. And that’s exactly what Motorola has done for the Moto X. In the January edition of Wired magazine, the company has a full-page ad with built-in LED lights that allows you to change the color of the Moto X printed on the page.
Check out the demonstration video below.
BBM has been a huge success on Android and iOS, and so although they may be rival platforms, that won’t stop BlackBerry from porting over its biggest and best BBM features to keep its messaging service alive.
In 2014, the Canadian company will rollout major updates that add BBM Channels, BBM Voice, and new sharing features — and you can see them in action in the video below.
Australian-based developer Halfbrick is at it again, with free-to-play Colossatron: Massive World Threat, now available around the globe.
You’ll take on the role of the humungous mechanical robot Colossatron on your quest to utterly destroy city after city, using various colored robotic modules to give your wanton destruction just a little extra oomph.
Yeah, color-matching doesn’t sound that fun, but this one? It really is.
No matter how you feel about Apple and the iPhone, it’s impossible to deny that the device completely revolutionized the mobile industry when it was launched in 2007. Without it, the smartphones of today may have been completely different.
Take Android, for example. It’s the biggest competitor to the iOS operating system that powers the iPhone, and it’s now the world’s largest mobile platform — but the iPhone is the reason Android is what it is today. Google started work on the software way back in 2005, but it scrapped everything and started again the day after iPhone was revealed to the world.
Question: When is an iPhone not an iPhone?
Answer: When it’s an ioPhone. And when it runs Android.
Seizing on the massive following the iPhone enjoys in Japan, Japanese manufacturer Iosys will reportedly start marketing its cheap knockoff iPhone 5c-inspired ioPhone5 this Friday.
Is nothing sacred in the Samsung vs. Apple clash, we ask you?
It might have recently been ordered to pay Apple $930 million in damages (with a possible side order of Apple legal fees), but Samsung still scored a personal victory this month by hiring away Apple’s senior store designer, Tim Grudgel.
Czech Republic-based Madfinger Games just released a huge update for Dead Trigger 2 on the iTunes App Store and Google Play, just two months after its initial release.
The first person zombie shooter already has over 10 million downloads, and this massive Christmas update, with its new additions and added zombie-killing gadgets, will nearly double the game content for all.
In addition, the Madfinger team has updated the original Dead Trigger with support for new devices so even more folks can join in on the fun.
Amazon is gearing up to finally launch its first Kindle smartphone during the first half of 2014. That’s according to supply chain sources who claim the retail giant has recently struck a deal with Primax Electronics to secure its compact camera modules (CCMs) for the new device.
Twitter is said to be working on a new feature that will allow users to edit tweets after they are published, The Desk reports. As things stand, the only way to fix typos and other errors is to delete your tweet and publish another one, but sources close to Twitter’s new project say that’s set to change.
The flip-side to the fetishistic hankering over shiny new things is the staggering number of older gadgets that are thrown away each year.
According to new data released by the Solving the E-Waste Problem Initiative (Step), in 2012 this electronic waste added up to a staggering 48.9 million tons.
UPDATE: Facebook has now confirmed auto-playing ads will rollout this week. See the update at the bottom of this post.
Facebook’s auto-playing video ads, which first appeared on iOS last week, will be seen by all users on all platforms later this week, The Wall Street Journal reports. You’ll see them on your desktop as well as your mobile devices, and they will play automatically as you scroll through your timeline.
Foxconn Electronics is to begin producing high-resolution OLED smartphone displays starting in 2015, according supply chain sources in Taiwan. The company has reportedly reached a deal with Taiwanese panel maker Innolux, which will undertake the production of the 4- and 5-inch screens.
The BBC has updated its official BBC Sport app, introducing support for the iPad and Android-powered tablets. The new release also makes usability and stability improvements, and allows those on Android to listen to live radio — including Premier League commentaries.
Samsung has merged its digital imaging and mobile communications businesses in a bid to create better smartphones. The South Korean company hopes that the reshuffle will lead to better collaboration between the two teams as consumers become increasingly concerned about camera performance when buying a new handset.
Pebble has rolled out a new update to its hugely popular smartwatch, finally adding a Do Not Disturb mode, multiple alarms, better performance on iOS, and numerous new features and improvements.
At an event in New York City today, Instagram announced Instagram Direct, a new feature that allows users to share private photos and videos with their friends and loved ones. It will be baked into the existing Instagram app for Android and iOS with an update that’s rolling out today.
