Category Archives: Windows

Microsoft & CES 2013

CES 2013 is the first year since 1995 that Microsoft isn’t exhibiting itself.

Is it the sign of the times, as phones/tablets take more share than PC’s? Or is there really any need to be there as there products will be everywhere anyway.

I don’t blame them for not being there. The cost of exhibiting is very costly.

Ofcom looking to stop Mobile Operators Ripping Off People

At the moment when you sign up for a fixed term mobile contact, you would have thought the price quoted was fixed too. It’s not though. All the mobile operators have slipped small increases into their monthly prices even when you thought you monthly cost is fixed for the lengthy of the contract. If the increase is deemed reasonable you cannot cancel your contract without being charged a fortune.

Well Ofcom looks like they are finally acting to stop these rip off practices that make the phone companies an additional £100m. New guidelines are due to come into play this autumn. Of course the phone companies are not happy. A suspect a battle will commence. Lets hope Ofcom win.

Google deliberately not Offering Window Phone apps – viewpoint why

It is well documented that Google is not going to offer at the moment any of its app for the Microsoft Windows Phones.

Many have theorised that Google doesn’t want to support a potential competitor. Others have said the Windows Phone is not being supported as it doesn’t have a viable market share.

All valid points but I believe it goes further. It is a well know fact Microsoft has sued phone manufacturers that produce android handsets, instead of suing Google directly. Microsoft has been successful in suing over its patents and receives a nice sum of money from android phone manufacturers. So Google just played its trump card by basically saying to Microsoft “Screw you, no Google apps”.

There are many ways of extracting revenge and I think Google is having the last laugh here.

Apple TV is here already. CES exhibitors are in a frenzied panic

If you have been reading the tech news you will already know CES is upon is this week. All the major companies are trying to second guess what Apple is going to announce or release with their TV.

Everyone, you are all too late. Apple has done it already. They will probably see what gets announced at CES and then go and tweak their offering.

For £100 you have the Apple TV already. It’s content is fuelled over the Internet. The controllers already exist in iPhones, iPads and iPod Touch’s. All Apple have to do is a software update, and open up the Internet content to include games and apps, more services and content.

Game over or is it ?

How Many Apps & Games Do You Own – Logic Analysis

Time to own up. Are you a person who buys an app, uses it fully and until such time will only purchase another app if it does something different?

Are you a person who buys a game, plays it to the end and then might consider buying another app?

Or are you the sort of person, who sees a few games promoted or reduced and buys several at a time?

I would imagine many of you fall in to the category above. I know many people who have over 500 apps/games. If you ask yourself seriously, do you ever use all those apps, do you really play all those games. Answer is no.

So, here’s a challenge. Look at all your apps and games and only keep on your device the top 20. See if you can survive a day, then a week and then a month.

Let me know how you got on below in the comments.

NFC – Unlock your Doors – Would You Use it?

At present several android phones have NFC built in. I used it when I had the Samsung Galaxy S3 with tags. These little tags were programmed to do certain actions. So when I got in the car, one swipe over the tag meant my S3 had been switched into Car Mode, Bluetooth on and volume at full blast. When I got home, I swiped the NFC tag by the hall table. Wifi was switched on, vibrate and silent turned on, Bluetooth turned off and my news feeds started fetching the news.

NFC can also be used to pay for services. But now there are plans a foot to use NFC as your car and house keys. One swipe over the lock and your car is unlocked and the same for your front door.

Now this all sounds good but what about the security implications. 10 years ago if you lost or had your phone stolen, it was a pain but that was about it. Nowadays if you have your phone stolen, it is more likely to be a smartphone worth £300-£700. So first up you have the actual cost of replacement. Then there is all the sensitive data and data apps hold on your device. Would you then feel happy if your phone was also the keys to your property and car?

Sadly, the way technology is moving forward this is more than likely to happen.

What do you think?

To Use a Case or Not – Are we Mad?

You have just unboxed your new device. It looks amazing. It’s so thin and feels wonderful.

So what do you do next? Buy a case and conceal its beauty. Do you use a Otterbox Defender type case and bury your phone is heavy duty protection. Or do you go still for some form of protection but not as over the top as the Defender range.

But it doesn’t stop there. You can then decide on a slim back cover or bumper style. In fact the options are endless. You have colours and materials to choose from, the size, protection and design and so much more. For each phone I have owned I have over time had 30-40 cases. It was like trying to find the perfect device made of the perfect material and designed so well it adds to the device rather than take away any style. There are aluminium cases and bumpers. These do look ok and some cost the earth. They also reduce your signal strength. This to me is a poor design. Why build a case that reduces the signal strength.

I currently use an iPhone 5 and have around 12 cases. However I have settled on 2 so far. A Gear4 Tread GT for lightweight protection and a Trident Aegis for full blown protection.

I also like using the iPhone 5 without any case.

What do you like to use and why?