Category Archives: Apple

Apple and Yahoo get cosy – Is Google on a short thread?

Apple, Tech News

The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple and Yahoo (YHOO) “have been discussing how more of Yahoo’s services can play a prominent role on Apple’s iPhone and iPad devices,” including increased integration into Siri, Apple’s virtual personal assistant. The Journal’s sources also say that the companies are discussing “possible deals to get more content from Yahoo News and its other Web properties loaded onto Apple devices,” although no deal is imminent at this time. The Journal notes that some Apple executives, including senior vice president of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue, have been reluctant to drop Google entirely because its search results remain superior to those of its competitors.

There is also all the other Google services like YouTube and Maps that are superior to any other offering so I cannot see how Google could be removed without affecting sales of Apple’s own devices.

Is this China’s answer to the iPhone?

Android, Apple, Tech News

Chinese smartphone manufacturer, Xiaomi, has launched two new smartphones – the Xiaomi Mi-S2 and the Xiaomi Mi-2A.

The company, which is rapidly gaining a reputation for being the Apple of the East, is hoping that the new phones will cause frenzy amongst technology enthusiasts.

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The key specs of the phones are –
Mi-2S
4.3-inch IPS display with a 1,280 x 720 pixels resolution
Quad-core 1.7 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 CPU
2 GB of RAM, 16 or 32gb memory
8MP camera rear camera
2MP camera front camera
2,000 mAh battery
Jelly Bean-based MIUI

Mi-2A
4.5 inch display
Dual-core 1.7 GHz S4 Pro CPU
1 GB of RAM, 16 gb memory
8MP camera rear camera
2MP camera front camera
2,000 mAh battery

At least these phones are not trying to mimic the huge screen sizes we are seeing being released every day. For me there is nothing special about these other than the low cost.

Apple patents battery saving displays

Apple, Tech News

Apple was granted a patent Tuesday by the USPTO that describes a system for implementing multi-touch in a mobile device even when there the display itself isn’t actively showing any images. It’s a neat trick, and one that could help portable gadgets save battery life by not invoking the most battery-hungry element in their construction nearly as frequently.

Anything that saves battery life is a good thing. We really need battery life to last a week.

AppGratis pulled from Apple AppStore

Apple, Tech News

Apple pulled discovery service and daily deal app AppGratis from the App Store. So far, AppGratis is silent on the issue and one can only speculate.

Lets hope this is nothing to serious.

Update. The app has definitely been in trouble for breaking App Store guidelines. It also fell foul of being over aggressive using the notification system.

Mind you some games and apps exploit the notification system too.

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The Smartphone Experience has changed – so why don’t you!

Android, Apple, RIM, Tech News, Windows

It could be argued that when you buy a Samsung Galaxy, HTC One, iPhone, Nexus 4 and Nokia Lumia Windows Phone, you are now buying an experience, not just a piece of hardware and software, but a united piece.

Apple have led the way with the iPhone providing unity with the hardware and software. The same could be said when you buy a Samsung with its extra software, own media stores and touchwiz. With the HTC One, Sense 5 creates a unique experience. And the same applies for all the other phones.

We have often paid £500 or more for these devices, so why do some people rip the software off, change the launcher, jail break and more. As the years have progressed, new phones do more out of the box, do more perfectly out of the box too. 2 years ago it would make sense to delete software and change the look and feel.

So when we get a new phone in 2013, why do we still do the same things. Is it habit? Do we go in autopilot thinking we need this app, before we have even tried the new software for at least a few weeks.

I believe we should try and use the software provided by the respective companies before changing anything. It is not uncommon to realise you didn’t need to install that app, as the functionality is now provided as standard.

So here’s my suggestion. If you are going to spend £500 on a smartphone use it for a while as designed. If not buy the cheapest in its class, and redesign the heck out of it