Zynga CEO Mark Pincus just put up in his blog and also sent to the San Francisco gaming giant’s staff that is was laying off 18 percent of the company and also lowering its second-quarter guidance.
A sad day for the employees.
All posts by Gavin Fabiani-Laymond
Just how good is the iPhone 5 camera? Good enough for a newspaper to lay off its photographers
Unbelievably, the Chicago Sun-Times, has sacked its entire photography staff of 28 people. Now its reporters will start receiving “iPhone photography basics” training to start producing their own photos and videos.
The DSLR camera is moving to the grave yard shift more and more as smartphone cameras become more powerful, smart and are able to edit and share photos with speed.
As the expression goes, the best camera is always the one in your pocket.
O2 WiFi Hotspots drop from 500,000 to 8,000
The number of free Wi-Fi hotspots O2 customers can connect will fall dramatically from July 1 when the network’s four-year partnership with BT Openzone comes to an end.
Until now, those who get their smartphone service from O2 have been able to log-on to BT’s five million Wi-Fi hotspots around the UK, completely free of charge.
However, from next month O2 customers will have to make do with the 8,000 O2 Wi-Fi hotspots dotted around the nation, if they wish to save monthly data allowance while on the move.
Now, what’s the chance O2 will up people’s data limits to compensate!
HTC One update to android 4.2.2
HTC are expected to release android 4.2.2 near the end of this month or July and in Q4 android 4.3. One of the biggest gripes was how the HTC One handled the menu settings, but fortunately the latest update to 4.2.2 not only has a way of resolving that but also now allows swiping up to get Google Now.
Other improvements are to Blinkfeed allowing for more options and customisation, a battery percentage and toggles in notification centre for settings, the ability to have an empty dock and Daydream. They are other standard 4.2.2 tweaks and general system improvements. The Video Highlights/Zoe have been improved. New themes include Seaview, Atlantis, Hammerville, Gotham, Boulevard, Boardwalk, Lilyton. And they rock big time. The camera has been optimised even further and so far is snapping better quality shots first time with less fuss.
If you are feeling brave, you can install a custom Android Revolutions over at XDA Developers and have 4.2.2 right now. It is important to carefully follow all the instructions and remember installing this custom rom will void your warranty.
My HTC One is now on 4.2.2 courtesy of this custom rom and its ok so far. Some screen shots below.
Sony investigates splitting its electronics and entertainment businesses
Sony Corporation is working with Morgan Stanley and Citigroup on the possible split of electronics and entertainment businesses, according to a report by Bloomberg. Two weeks ago, outspoken investor Daniel Loeb spoke with Sony chief executive officer Kaz Hirai about the proposal, with Sony’s board of directors starting a formal discussion on the idea around a week ago.
Sony’s stock has risen 8.2 percent since the news of Loeb’s proposal was reported. Loeb’s stake in Sony is valued at around $1.1 billion and he believes that splitting off the entertainment division will give the electronics division a chance to focus on becoming profitable.
Sony is facing stiff competition from Apple and Samsung, so maybe this split will help it survive or protect the profitable part of the business, should the electronics fail.
My first Apple device was the iPod Touch 2g
My introduction to Apple was via the iPod Touch 2g. It became my pocket gaming machine. And I loved it.
Well Apple has announced that they have now sold 100 million of these iPods. Rather a decent number but if a low cost iPhone occurs will they need this product line?
Own a HTC One but want to have a HTC One Google Edition
A few days ago I posted details of the HTC One that was going to be available as a pure Google experience. But what if you already have a HTC One?
Well HTC is looking into providing a rom to flash to the pure Google experience should you so desire. Personally, why strip away everything that made the HTC One so good and have a bare bones device.
What would you do?
The HTC Phablet -T6
HTC is riding on a wave at present. The HTC One is selling rapidly, a smaller sized version code named M4 is due soon, the HTC One Nexus has just been announced, and now HTC is planning their Phablet.
This is going to be a killer device. A 5.9 inch screen, Quad Core Snapdragon 800 processor clocked at 2.3Ghz, boomsound with dedicated audio processor, key lime pie not jelly bean, a stylus, biometric finger print scanner and more.
This is clearly aimed at the Samsung Note. Will it be enough though ?
HTC One – Home Screen Fav of the Week
This is my home screen that has stayed on my HTC One this week. Using Nova Launcher with a transparent status bar, MIUI v5 icons and a simple black with wooden dock wallpaper.
Off Topic – Fascinating view of Massive new Underground Railroad
The above diagram displays the East Side Access project, New York’s newest railroad will connect the Long Island Railroad to Grand Central Terminal. And the tunnel beneath the East River, which will connect the entire system, was started back in 1969.
Images courtesy of Wired
The project is a massive feat of engineering. 1,500-foot-long twin caverns that must be carved out beneath Grand Central, then there is the process of actually freezing the earth above so traffic overhead wouldn’t come toppling down and rerouting and fixing cable and wire as they go so that the trains above don’t come to a crashing halt.
The project is due to finish in 2019, and I look forward to seeing the completed project.
