Category Archives: Android

Rumours for Amazon’s entry into the smartphone race continue

The latest rumours suggest Amazon has 2 phones in the pipeline. A budget and a top flight offering. Both will offer easy access to all of Amazon’s services and products. The top flight phone is rumoured to use a 3D interface. Lets hope motion sickness is not an issue with this sort of display.

The key aspect of these devices is the pricing. Will amazon offer these at cost and once again disrupt the smartphone market as it has with the Kindle Fire tablets.

I still perceive Amazon as the biggest threat to all smartphone/tablet manufacturers. It already has the eco system and the largest most diverse shopping offering.

Nexus 5 Specifications revealed – read on…

The replacement for the Google Nexus 4 smartphone, the Nexus 5 has been revealed prior to its official announcement by Google. The specs are –

-4.95″ 1080p IPS LCD
-Snapdragon 800 quad-core CPU (MSM8947) at 2.3GHz
-2GB RAM
-32GB storage storage
-Wireless charging
-8MP rear camera with OIS; 1.3MP front camera
-2300mAh battery
-Accelerometer; ambient light sensor; Compass; Gyroscope; Proximity; Pressure sensors
-HDMI out via Slimport
-Notification LED
-NFC, Bluetooth 3 or 4, A-GPS, 802.11 b/g/n wifi

So would you buy this instead of the iPhone?

Google Play Music coming to iOS later this month?

The internet is abound with talk that Google is to release its Google Play Music app on iOS later this month. If this happens, this will be the last piece of the Google apps needed to complete its library of apps that are also on android.

iOS apps like gmusic and its new gmusic 2 will sadly become unnecessary unless they offer a more refined experience.

Since iOS 7 using Google on an iPhone is really no different than on an android phone. In fact, I would even say it is a better experience as the iOS apps now talk to each other. Sign in on Google+ and the other Google apps are aware of this.

HTC reports dismal Q3 – more info

HTC has just released its preliminary unaudited financial results for the third quarter of 2013, and the company has posted an operating loss of over $101 million (NT$2.97 billion). Just as it warned back in July, this is HTC’s first operating loss in company history and it wasn’t even close to breaking even. Here’s how the quarter’s financials break down:

-Total revenues of $1.6 billion (NT$47.05 billion)
-Operating loss before tax of $119.4 million (NT$3.50 billion)
-Operating loss after tax of $101.3 million (NT$2.97 billion)
-Earnings per share after tax of -$0.12 (-NT$3.58)

It seems even after releasing one of the best phones this year, the competitive forces are proving a struggle for it to compete with. Lets hope this isn’t the next BlackBerry.

Got an iPhone and Apple TV – time for some serious gaming

I have loads of games on iOS, more than any other operating system.

What gets even more fun is using your Apple TV with your iPhone and Airplay.

So if you have all the above, I would recommend trying out the following games that I love to play –

– Real Racing 3

– Asphalt 7

– Sky Gamblers Storm Chasers

– NOVA 3

Can you recommend any other games that work this way. It is works using an iPad.

Samsung announces a milestone for its ChatOn service

If you buy a new Samsung smartphone, or visit the appropriate app store, you will see Samsung has it is cross platform messaging service called ChatOn. It is even available on the Apple AppStore.

Well Samsung just announced it had reached 100 million users for its service. A reasonable number but not at the level of rival service WhatsApp which currently has 300 million users and growing rapidly, or even Apple’s own iMessage.

I suppose all Samsung has to do is buy WhatsApp to solve the number of users, and then integrate it into the SMS app.

I wonder, do any of you use ChatOn, and if so how reliable has it been for you?