Samsung has just released a CES teaser that it is about to revolutionise TV’s as we know them. Below is the photo added to the teaser release.

From what I can fathom the TV looks translucent and is portrait in design. My other thoughts are that Samsung is trying to beat Apple to re-inventing and innovation TV’s as we know them.

CES is looking like its going to be superb in 2013.

It’s nearly the end of 2012. 2013 will be with us very shortly dependant on where in the world you are.

I’m just taking this moment to wish you all a healthy and happy 2013.

There will be plenty of tech news in 2013, so until next year, have a good evening.

Did you know you can completely control twitter via SMS. Go to your twitter profile and add your mobile number and allow SMS control if asked. Make a note of the twitter SMS number.

Twitter SMS Commands –

Turning mobile Twitter updates OFF and ON:

ON: turns ALL your authorized Twitter updates and notifications on.
OFF: turns ALL phone notifications off.
ON [username]: turns on notifications for a specific person on your phone. Example: ON alissa
OFF [username]: turns off notifications for a specific person on your phone. Example: OFF blaine
FOLLOW [username]: allows you to start following a specific user, as well as receive SMS notifications. Example: FOLLOW jerry, or F jerry, for short.
UNFOLLOW [username]: allows you to stop following a specific user.
LEAVE [username]: this command allows you to stop receiving SMS notifications for a specific user without having to unfollow them. When you log into twitter.com from the web you will still see this user’s updates in your timeline. Example: LEAVE benfu, or L benfu, for short.
STOP, QUIT, END, CANCEL, UNSUBSCRIBE, or ARRET: will deactivate your account if you are an SMS-only user. If you completed the sign-up flow on the web, sending any of these commands to your Twitter short code will simply remove your phone number from your Twitter account.
Fun stuff – friends, favorites, and stats:

Use the commands below to send direct messages, mark Tweets as favorites, and more.

@[username] + message – shows your Tweet as a reply directed at another person, and causes your Tweet to save in their mentions tab. Example: @meangrape I love that song too!

D [username] + message – sends that person a Direct Message that goes to their device, and saves in their web archive. Vital you keep SMS under 160 characters
RETWEET [username] – sends that user’s latest Tweet to your followers
SET LOCATION [place name] – updates the location field in your profile.
SET BIO – edits your Bio information on your Twitter profile.
SET LANGUAGE [language name] – selects the language you’d like to receive notifications in.
SET NAME [name here] – sets the name field on your Twitter profile.
SET URL [url here] – sets the URL field on your profile.
WHOIS [username] – retrieves the profile information for any public user on Twitter.
GET [username] – retrieves the latest Twitter update posted by that person. You can also use g [username] to get a user’s latest Tweet. Examples: get goldman or g goldman.
FAV [username] – marks that user’s last Tweet as one of your favorites (reply to any update with FAV, FAVE, FAVORITE, FAVOURITE, or * to mark it as a favorite if you’re receiving it in real time). Examples: fav crystal, fave crystal, favorite crystal, or *crystal
STATS [username] – this command returns the given user’s number of followers, how many people they’re following, and their bio information.
SUGGEST, SUG, S, or WTF – this command returns a list of Twitter users we think you might find interesting and would like to follow.
HELP, INFO or AIDE – texting help, info, or aide to Twitter will bring up helpful tips.
SUGGEST – this command returns a listing of Twitter users’ accounts we think you might enjoy following.

A few notes on SMS commands:

Using ON/OFF [username] from your phone only stops notifications coming to your mobile phone; you’ll still collect a person’s updates on the web since you’re still following them.
Use UNFOLLOW [username] to unfollow a user via SMS.
Use BLOCK [username] or BLK [username] to block a user via SMS.
You can also use UNBLOCK [username] or UNBLK [username]
Use REPORT [username] or REP [username] to report a user as spam.
The following commands perform the same actions: FOLLOW = ON. And LEAVE = OFF.
Following someone from a phone for the first time will also cause you to follow them on the web.
You don’t have to use ON/OFF [username] from your phone, you can also set individual notifications from a person’s profile page on the web, or check your following page and manage all phone notification settings there.

As each year passes the respective mobile operating companies like Amazon, Google and Apple are trying to push you further and further towards their own offerings. It is becoming clear that at some point in the future you may be forced to make a decision.

So over the next few months I’m going to try using first up Apple and iOS exclusively and then I’ll do the same experiment with Google and android.

So firstly I moved all my pim information into the iCloud and switched my email too. Then I looked at all the iCloud settings and turned everything on from bookmarks, notes, documents, photos, photostream, apps,movies and books. I also turned on iMessage and FaceTime.

So what did all this mean. Welll what I found was no matter what I was on using, (Mac, iPad, iPhone or Apple TV) everything was synced across all the devices without any effort. Also I was able to make a face time call from any device and make that to any other type of device at the other end. In addition with iMessage I could either use my iPhone or iPad to send a text message to another iPhone user. If I took a photo on the iPad or iPhone it would appear on all the other devices with no intervention from myself. It would also be sorted in month order as well on iPhoto on the Mac. If I bought any media (music film app) it would download and install on any of my devices. If I saved a new bookmark on my iPhone that same bookmark would be on my iPad and Mac. If I created a new calendar, contact or a note, again this would be synced across any device. In fact what I’m finding is the Apple syncing and management between all the devices is extraordinarily simple and fantastic to experience.

No wonder people find it difficult to change for one operating system to another.

Time have compiled 57 of the worst moments in tech in 2012.

Some absolute classics.

2013 is only a few days away and rumours and leaks of new devices have already hit the web.

My thoughts on what we can expect to see in 2013 are thinner, faster, and better finished devices. The cameras will all be bumped up in value to around 13mp. NFC will be presenting nearly all devices. Software regardless of platform will receive more polish. The smartphone of 2013 will nearly perfection in terms of hardware and software integration.

So are we looking at hardware going stale where innovation is not viable or possible. Maybe. But there is hope that Samsung’s bendable screens might make an appearance, maybe in the S4 or Note 3. The bendable aspect is clever, but more importantly the screens are meant to be unbreakable. Or virtually. Now that would be useful. Apple could look at utilising liquid metal more than just the sim ejector tool and make a unibody phone. That won’t happen until after the 5S. Part of me wonders if Apple will move to 2 handsets in 2013 but that’s never happened before. Perhaps Apple will offer a range of colours for the iPhone making it more of a fashion accessory. RIM’s new BB10 handsets will arrive. I’m sure they will be ok maybe even great. But whose going to buy them.

So with tough bendable screens a possibility, the next innovation needs to arrive in battery life. If any company can make a slim phone with a week long battery duration this would be a killer feature.

And then we move out of phones and into smart glasses and watches. Just imagine out shopping with the wife, but instead of being bored, you are actually watching Die Hard 90 through your glasses. Maybe that’s 2014. What do you think?

Before in app purchases arrived, you bought an app or game and that was the price you paid. Updates would arrive, sometimes adding some new features, but you knew where you stood on the financial front. Move forward a few years, and we now have in app purchases.

Well we actually have a greed driven in app purchase system and here is why –

1) Freemium – these games really make me sick. There are meant to be free to download and play, but they are certainly not free to play. In fact, these game cost to keep playing and will end up normally costing you the earth. What we need with these games is a range of estimates from the developer as to the true range of costs it would require to finish a game. Problem is with some freemium titles, you have to spend the same amount of money each time you play the game.

2) Games – some games cost money and have in app purchases but without buying these you cannot finish the game. These should be banned, or as above a note in the game description informer the buyer how much is needed in total to be spent to finish a game. Using in app purchases to add a substantial new levels, or purchase optional items that have no impact on the gameplay like a new outfit for your character are fine. What I have found is games bought for £3 are suddenly switched to a new financial model, like freemium or a heavy use of in app purchases. That’s wrong.

3) Apps – in app purchases can be used wisely whereby you get a fully functional app at a low cost, but to add some optional features costs a little bit more. This is fair and reasonable. Two examples of this done well is pcalc and flightradar24 pro.

I really think all the companies with app stores need to monitor abuses with the in app purchasing system. At the moment I believe it has killed off gaming apps due to the excessive use.

5 years ago Apple launched the iPhone. In that time the advances in technology and apps mean your phone can do so much more than make phone calls. Below is a list of what you can do if you had either an iPhone or Samsung Galaxy S3 specification device.

1) Phone calls – using cellular or Internet
2) Video calls
3) Messaging
4) Group Messaging
5) Conference calls
6) Satellite Navigation
7) Travel aide – apps providing info
8) Games machine
9) Camera – stills & video
10) Banking services
11) Home automation – turning off and on lights and appliances
12) Paying for goods in physical stores
13) Office tasks
14) Business tasks
15) PIM management
16) Email
17) Store cards / loyalty cards
18) Plane tracking
19) Bus & Trains tracking
20) Scanner
21) Web browsing
22) Music player
23) Tarot readings
24) Cooking aide
25) Fitness tracker
26) Heating controller
27) Weight management
28) Musical instruments or companion to them
29) Security system
30) Remote access to home PC
31) Social networking

And the list could go on and on. The days of just making calls and texts are long gone!