For a seventh consecutive month, the Samsung Galaxy S III is the most popular smartphone in the United Kingdom. The data compiled by uSwitch is based on live searches, pre-orders, as well as postpaid sales.
Curiously, Apple's current smartphone flagship is not even second. The iPhone 5 is outperformed by its predecessor, whose lower price and improved contract offers helped it remain appealing. The Samsung Galaxy S II completes the quartet at the top.
With the Christmas shopping season picking up steam, it will be curious to see whether or not the Galaxy S III will retain its bestselling crown. Apple's iPhone 5 is said to be quickly gaining ground due to price drops, so it will be an interesting race to watch in a lucrative market.
Rumor has it that Intel is working on a way to cut the amount of power consumption on its Ivy Bridge chips, making them perfect for iPads and other tablets.
As technology becomes more and more advanced, the lines between Ultrabooks and tablets are blurring. Intel, one of the most popular chip manufacturers, is working on cutting power consumption of its chips so tablets can run as fast and efficiently as Ultrabooks.
Intel is planning a “significant” cut in power consumption for the current Ivy Bridge chip, which is used in the Macbook Air and Windows Ultrabooks. As of now, Ivy Bridge is the most power-efficient chip today and is rated at 17 watts. Updated versions will be rated “well below this,” according to a source who spoke to CNET. Apparently, they could be as low as 10 watts, which would be a 41 percent decrease.
With the updated Ivy Bridge chips, PC manufacturers could hypothetically use the chips in tablets, including iPads and Microsoft’s Surface. In fact, Microsoft already uses Ivy Bridge chips in it’s Surface Pro tablet.
Why is this such a big deal? According to CNET, most 10- and 11-inch Windows 8 tablets use Intel’s Z2760 “system-on-a-chip.” But, the Z2760 doesn’t compare to the performance of the Ivy Bridge. Usually, the lower wattage means a longer battery life and a thinner product. Current tablets are based on an ARM design that allows tablets to be as thin as 0.3 inches and weigh less than a pound, and offer a battery life that lasts all day, or longer.
While the Intel “x86″ chips aren’t as efficient as the ARM processor, they are a lot more powerful. Because of this, Microsoft created two Surface tablets, the RT and the Pro. The Pro has much better performance, and is equipped with Ivy Bridge chips. The problem with the Pro is that it only has half of the battery life of the Surface RT, according to reports. A potential Ivy Bridge update could rectify that problem.
Intel has already said that it was planning on cutting power consumption on future chips and said that the next generation would be codenamed Haswell and would be as low as 10 watts. While we don’t know when the release date of these chips, don’t expect any new chips this year.
As manufactures are focusing more on mobile devices, like tablets, as opposed to computers, a chip that works for both tablets and computers could be huge for Intel and a huge seller for manufactures. A longer batter life, faster processing, and a thinner chip means our tablets could be replacing our computers sooner than we thought.
Versions of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and higher will be getting an update that brings new features to its Gmail app, the company revealed on Monday.
Google has announced that its Gmail app for Android will be getting some added tweaks and fresh features. This 4.2.1 update includes new abilities for Gmail subscribers, such as pinch-to-zoom functionality and gesture controls that allow for more intuitive navigation.
Android users on Google’s e-mail platform can also re-size emails to fit the screen of their device. This new auto-fit function can be found under Settings > General. The added gesture controls make it possible to swipe left or right to archive messages directly from Gmail’s inbox. To do this, head over to Settings > General settings > Swiping conversation list in the main menu.
Google also added a new function that makes it easier to view attached photos instantly when opening an email. Image attachments are now displayed as thumbnails, and tapping on the thumbnail will launch a gallery mode where users can swipe through all of the attached photos. In addition, Android patrons can now attach videos recorded on their device to emails via Gmail.
These features are available for any version of Android running 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) or higher. However, this means that a large chunk of Android users may be excluded from using Google’s refined Gmail app. According to statistics released by Google in the beginning of November, Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) is still the most widely used operating system. Android 4.0 only accounted for 25.8 percent of the Android market share as of one month ago, and Jelly Bean was only found on 2.7 percent of devices.
Google’s unveiling of these new Gmail features comes about one week after Microsoft made some announcements about its rival Outlook email service. The Redmond, Wash.-based company revealed that Outlook has reached a user base of more than 25 million subscribers, adding that Android will be getting its own Outlook app in the Google Play Store. Microsoft made it clear that it was attempting to coerce some users to ditch Gmail in favor of its own email platform, as the company’s David Law wrote the following in a Microsoft Office blog post:
“We continue to listen to feedback on what enthusiasts want next – including making the switch from Gmail even easier – and build those features,” he wrote.
Both Google’s Gmail update and Microsoft’s Outlook app are available in the Google Play Store for download. Google did not disclose any details on whether or not the update will launch on iOS or any other platforms.
The Consumer Electronics Show, or CES, is one of the largest showcases of new technology in the world. Hosted by the Consumer Electronics Association in Las Vegas, CES 2013 will open to press and exhibitors from every facet of the electronics industry, and TechRadar will be there. We'll descend upon the gambling capital of the world for four days of basking in the glow of the latest computers, televisions, cameras, phones and more.
With plenty of winners and losers, last year's CES 2012 was big news for many reasons. Firstly, the show floor opened on Jan. 9, a week later than usual. LG and Sony unveiled 55-inch Ultra High-Definition TVs, then the largest in the world. Intel gave us a glimpse of the touch enabled Ultrabooks we've been seeing everywhere lately. Lastly, and most notably, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer gave the company's last CES keynote, introducing the world to Windows 8's Metro interface, and announcing Xbox 360 apps for Fox, IGN and more.
To follow that, CES 2013 will be a mix of keynote razzle dazzle, sneak peeks at the latest tech, and introductions to products that will go from patently unaffordable to a given in every living room, a lot faster than you'd believe.
Before TechRadar hits the CES 2013 show floor from Jan. 8-11, we thought we'd put together a preview of the gadget glory you can expect from our on the ground coverage.
LG gives CPU making a try
The rumor mill is turning ever faster as the days wind down to CES 2013. One thread we keep seeing pop up is processors, and LG is the latest to jump in the mix.
A report out of Korea has the tech firm producing in-house made CPUs next year, starting with chips for its web-capable Smart TVs.
One chip could be the H13, with the H standing for home entertainment and the 13 for the year, and we could see it and others come early January.
There's a good chance we'll see a good number of tablets at the show, but there's two we've heard about recently that could really turn some heads.
Asus is reportedly working on a tablet with the model name ME172V, a slate that could reach no more than 7 inches, come with a microSD slot for expandable memory and flash a price that puts the Google Nexus 7 on notice.
And while Samsung's Galaxy S4 is stealing most of the South Korean company's 2013 thunder, we've heard the firm might be planning a 13.3-inch tablet to take on Asus' Transformer series.
The 13-incher would even feature a QWERTY keyboard dock.
Intel is supposedly prepping the introduction of a next gen processor at CES 2013: the Bay Trail-T.
The Bay Trail-T is rumored as a quad-core scheduled for a 2014 launch, though CES will see the series' debut plus info on what manufactures are building slates based off the Trail-T.
A SoC sibling is also expected at the Vegas show. Dubbed the Valleyview-T, the chip could take on Nvidia's Tegra 3 and Qualcomm's S4.
Look for long battery lives plus 22nm prowess, superior audio, boosted memory capacity and amped up graphics when used in conjunction with the Gen7 Intel GPU. There's even talk 3D video recording could be in the cards.
As the major hardware manufacturer taking up CES real estate, it's no surprise Samsung should (so far) dominate the rumor mill.
This one has a Full HD Super AMOLED display arriving at the show, but that's not all: chances are we'll see such a screen housed inside the Galaxy S4.
A Samsung source reported that the display's resolution will reach 1920 x 1080 and a staggering 441 ppi, but the real point of interest is in the ultra-thin and energy efficient AMOLED technology.
Fingers crossed Samsung decides to bring a SIV with such a screen as its CES carry on.
With Windows Phone 8 reveals by Nokia, HTC and Samsung already in the books, it was easy to forget that a fourth manufacturer received a Microsoft nod to use the new OS.
China's Huawei may take the CES stage to bring its WP8 dish to the party in the form of the Ascend W1.
Though the Ascend W1 will be the last guest to arrive, it may turn out to be the phone everyone flocks to if a cheap asking price is tacked on.
The firm may also introduce the higher-end Ascend W3, a phone with a 4.5-inch display that recently leaked online.
Huawei has kept its lips sealed on whether it's even working on one or more Windows Phone 8 handsets, so CES could be the time it decides to open up.
Can you say "whoa?" Samsung is about to set mouths agape with an 85-inch Ultra HD LED TV, "the world's largest commercialized UHD LED TV."
The company made the over eight million pixel tube official Nov. 12, and we're looking forward to standing wide-eyed before the mondo television that probably makes the lights on the Strip look like dying flashlights.
While we don't necessarily anticipate a radical image reimagining, we do expect Samsung will take advantage of the stage (and a keynote speech) to introduce a new facet to its business identity – a refresh, as it were.
One of CES's exhibit categories is "Digital Health and Fitness," so Samsung will likely tack onto that theme with the introduction of products (or the retooling of current devices) that fit into the health and wellness category.
Samsung has reportedly hired a design team that's worked with Nike on some of that company's branding initiatives, so we'll likely see some dynamic stuff from South Korea in Vegas.
As Samsung continues to grow from an Asian powerhouse to a global one, how it sells itself to a broad international audience will be key to its future.
We expect Stephen Woo, president of Samsung Electronics' device solutions division, to set the tone of the company's refreshed self during his keynote address Jan. 9.
The debut of Ultra High-Definition television
It took a while but CRT televisions have finally become the stuff of garage sales and trips to grandma's house, and 3D screens have just started to crack the home market. Now everyone's lovely flatscreen is about to become a little bit obsolete, thanks Ultra High-Definition.
After a brief flirtation with 4K high-definition, the CEA settled on the name Ultra HD. However, Sony, always one to buck a naming trend (remember Blu-Ray vs. HD-DVD?) has said it will stick with numbered moniker, calling its pixel-dense displays 4K Ultra High-Definition (4K UHD).
LG's 55-incher, we've its since topped
Still, everyone seems to be in agreement over the spec requirements set by the CEA, defining what it takes to be called Ultra HD. According to the group, Ultra means at least 8 million pixels, with a minimum resolution of 3840 x 2160, and an aspect ratio of at least 16 x 9.
Now the question is how big will the screens at CES 2013 be? There's debate between engineers as to whether anyone can even tell the difference between UHD and regular HD on a display that's less than 100-inches. And when will these TVs become affordable? Right now they're around $20,000 (UK£12,515, AUD $19,210), keeping them firmly in Donald Trump and Richard Branson territory.
Intel introduces a new mobile processor, stakes its claim
Intel is probably one of the most recognizable names coming to CES 2013, though it's not the only chipmaker making a stand on the Vegas exhibit floor.
We expect Intel to show up big at the event, schooling the competition on how it's done, and very likely announcing a new mobile processor or two as well as some destined for PCs.
Intel is in an interesting position in terms of its mobile future: although it claims to have 20 Windows 8 tablets sporting its new Z2760 processor coming to market soon, the firm's chips are currently only found in six smartphones.
ARM and its licensees (Nvidia and Qualcomm) are making a killing in the mobile space and all are heading down to Nevada for the show, creating a perfect storm for one-up-man ship on the Strip.
ARM-based chips, while found in major money makers like the iPad and various Android tablets, aren't terribly up to snuff when it comes to processing prowess.
Yet Intel hasn't even breached the realm of relevancy smartphone space, making CES the time where it needs to stake that claim.
There's been talk that Apple may chuck Intel as its CPU provider in the coming years. Cupertino recently developed a poppy processor for its iPad 4 – the A6X – a chip that's reportedly twice as fast as those found in older iPads.
For that reason alone, Intel has got to show why it's relevant in mobile and why it deserves to be considered the top chipmaker in the world now and for years to come.
We'd love to see Intel not only announce a new mobile processor, but unveil a new partnership. It's got to prove it can work well with others (and capture consumer imagination) if it hopes to move deeper into smartphones and tablets.
Nvidia trumps out Tegra 4
Nvidia's Tegra 3 has done quite for itself this year, jumping into phones like HTC's One X+ and tablets such as Google's Nexus 7 and Microsoft's Surface.
That doesn't mean Nvidia doesn't have its eyes to the horizon, and we believe the company will introduce its Tegra 4 processor come CES.
We might see the Tegra 3's successor at CES 2013
Word of the T40 (the new Tegra's model number) got going in April, with a report pointing to early 2013 as the time the Tegra 3's successor would ascend the throne.
At the time, it sounded like the Tegra 4 would fit four new Cortex A15 ARM chips, taking it way past the A9 Cortex chip summit.
Speeds of 1.8GHz are probably going to be average for the new processor, while by the middle/end of the year, 2.0 should be its cruising GHz.
If we're lucky, we might even see an Android or Windows 8 tablet poke about with the Tegra 4 inside.
Microsoft's show no more
The Consumer Electronics Show has long been Microsoft's chance to shine. The software giant has always given flashy presentations, usually involving celebrities. Shaq, Conan O'Brien, Ryan Seacrest, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and more have all appeared to help co-founder Bill Gates and current CEO Steve Ballmer show of the company's latest tech.
Sadly, CES 2013 will be the first year where Microsoft won't be giving one of its signature keynote presentations. It gave the world plenty of notice, saying in December 2011 that CES 2012 would be its last. Steve Ballmer's last presentation at the Las Vegas trade show focused on Metro, the new Live Tile-based interface for Windows 8.
Ballmer and Seacrest present at CES 2012
Companies have moved quickly to fill the space left by Microsoft's exodus. Qualcomm has nabbed the open keynote slot. The telecommunications mogul will be giving its Born Mobile keynote on Monday, January 7th. Meanwhile, satellite provider Dish and appliance manufacturer Hisense snapped up Microsoft's booth space in under an hour.
However, Venturebeat has quoted CEA president Gary Shapiro as saying, "Microsoft will have something" at CES 2013. While it's unknown what that something will be, there are plenty of possibilities. More Windows Phone 8 devices? A Microsoft Surface Pro running Windows 8? Its all in the realm of possibility.
LG unveils Smart TV platform underpinned by HP's webOS
While we expect LG to march out a bevvy of phones and TVs, including some we haven't seen before, what's really piquing our interest heading into the new year is word that it may launch a Smart TV service based on webOS.
webOS, the open source system developed by HP, could take the reigns from LG's antiquated NetCast Smart TV interface during the show, a move that wouldn't leave our jaws dropped.
HP delivered on its promise to walk out webOS to the public by September, a vow it made in January, and now it needs a big product and solid partner to get its face out there.
The marriage between the two should be equal – reports have HP providing the OS while LG will plug in its dual-core L9-powered motherboards.
If our expectations pan out, we'll likely see the death of LG's small screen partnership with the struggling Google TV service, a relationship LG championed at CES 2012 yet has since cooled.
Automotive electronics
The CEA estimates that factory-installed automotive technology will generate $8.7 billion dollars in 2013, so it's no wonder seven major car companies will be on the show floor.
Audi, Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, Hyundai, Kia and Subaru will be joined more than 100 auto tech companies displaying the latest in-car tech. This is a record setting presence for the automotive industry at CES.
Displays and presentations will include electric drive technology. GoElectricDrive TechZone will demonstrate electric vehicles paired with their respective charging stations, ones that can be used at homes and in public facilities. The Safe Driver presentation will show more than the typical hands-free devices, highlighting technologies that can help drivers park, watch their speed and avoid collisions.
However, not everything between automakers and car tech designers is completely sunny. With so much hardware being put into cars before they even leave the factory, will the aftermarket industry be facing an all-time low? A presentation titled "Are Automakers Running the Aftermarket Off the Road?" will address the issue.
Facebook may be acquiring WhatsApp, one of the largest mobile apps on the market. WhatsApp has softly denied that deal, but that doesn't mean the social networking isn't done shopping for another mobile heavyweight to pocket.
What’s the next big acquisition on Facebook’s plate? TechCrunch is reporting that it just might be the popular mobile messaging app, WhatsApp. If true, the deal further proves Facebook is aggressively targeting mobile.
The acquisition could be similar to the social network’s other big mobile deal, Instagram. At the time Facebook bought the photo sharing network, the company’s mobile approach was half-hearted at best. Some speculated that this was what spurred Zuckerberg’s last minute $1 billion buyout for the photo sharing app, although the acquisition value for Instagram depreciated to $700 million. At first the move was contentious and wrought with criticism, particularly fueled by the inflated price. But half a year later, the dust has settled, and the service is being more and more integrated into Facebook.
Now, it appears mobile messaging is the social network’s next conquest. Facebook developed their standalone Messenger app first as a service within its site, then expanded to mobile and desktop. As we all know, mobile growth is critical to Facebook’s future and what Wall Street is keeping a close eye on. Messaging apps have become bankable business, and pressure the SMS market. With Facebook flush with cash, which Wall Street can’t deny regardless of its fluctuating stock prices, the company can afford to pocket a messaging app.
It’s a surprisingly busy market Facebook’s getting into, however. A string of competitors from Asia including including Kakao Talk, LINE, Nimbuzz, and WeChat are slowly etching away at the Western competition. These are apps that Facebook needs to keep a watchful eye out for if WhatsApp is its acquisition target. To reiterate the popularity of these apps, Kakao Talk has 65 million users, LINE has nearly 100 million users, Nimbuzz has 100 million users, and WeChat is topping the charts with 200 million users.
WhatsApp is smaller than some of these popular Asian apps, which could make it a struggle for Facebook to leverage internationally. It’s undoubtedly popular and has demonstrable traction at least presumably in the low hundreds of millions of downloads – WhatsApp doesn’t publicly release its numbers. But WhatsApp in its current state would make it difficult to grow outside of the West. Still, WhatsApp is one of the largest apps in existence – much bigger than Instagram, just to give you a little perspective on how big of a deal this would be.
But looking at the bigger picture, Facebook has slim pickings to begin with as far as messaging apps go. Kakao Talk is based out of South Korea, LINE is already the property of Naver, WeChat is owned by Tencent, and Nimbuzz while wildly popular may not have the brand value that its competitors would bring to the table. The number of Kik users pales in comparison to between the approximate 100-500 million Android installs of WhatsApp’s app (no numbers are available for the iOS version), and it simply isn’t as robust in features as its competitors. Although to Kik’s credit, it recently released an in-app card feature that displays media inside of the app including YouTube videos and drawings.
WhatsApp has been vehemently against advertising, which is the reason that the platform offers its app for $0.99 per year. On Android alone, WhatsApp could be raking in at least $100 million in yearly revenue, which is a sizable chunk of change. And at this point, it’s likely that Facebook wants WhatsApp more than WhatsApp needs Facebook, meaning it could pay a pretty penny for the app. The social network, as a data and advertising company would have access to your phone numbers as well, a very valuable asset.
The challenge at the end of the day is convincing WhatsApp co-founders, Jan Koum and Brian Acton, the value of the direction that its competitors are moving into and a reason for WhatsApp to join in on the trend. According to All Things Digital, the WhatsApp team says the deal isn’t happening: “The TechCrunch article is a rumor and not factually accurate. We have no further information to share at the moment.” Although if you read between the lines, there’s no outright denial of an acquisition. If WhatsApp isn’t the company Facebook acquires, that doesn’t mean the social network isn’t looking around for a mobile messaging app to pocket. And what Facebook wants, Facebook usually gets.
Less than a month ago, Apple released the iOS 6.1 beta to developers complete with early access to new features for Maps and Siri.
This next version of iOS 6 included new tools for the Map Kit framework, which would allow programmers to "search for map-based addresses and points of interest."
The iOS 6.1 beta also brought with it some improved functionality for Siri, and reportedly allows for users to purchase movie tickets by simply telling their iPhone 5s what movie they want to see.
Now a third version of the beta has been released, and along with the aforementioned attributes, iOS 6.1 may be adding improved iCloud security.
Safer on the cloud?
According to Apple Insider's sources, iCloud users will have to answer security questions when the applicable device is first booted.
There was no indication just what these security questions entailed, just that there was another level of protection enabled to prevent any foul play.
The beta build, known as "10B5117b," is currently compatible with the iPhone 5, as well as the iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, and iPhone 3GS.
The iPad 4 (and its two predecessors), iPad mini, and iPod Touch will also work with iOS 6.1, and users of all said devices should find good use of the impending improvements.
iOS 6.1 is believed to be on track for early 2013, though until Apple divulges an exact date, we'll be tracking the beta updates to learn what's coming in the next version.
The world's first tablet-only news source has met its demise. Luckily for the mobile news hounds of the world, there are plenty of apps that are willing to step up and deliver. We've collected some of the best apps that keep users informed.
Today brought the announcement of the end of an era – albeit a short lived one. The Daily – a subscription based, iPad-only (at first) newspaper – is officially closing its digital doors on December 15. Unable to build an audience quickly or turn a profit after nearly two years, the tablet-based paper will disappear from existence just like that. Sad as it is to see an experiment so bold fail, it doesn’t mean users have to walk around uneducated about local and world events. There are tons of news readers that are available to step into the hole left by The Daily’s absence. We’ve collected some of the best options to get your news fix.
Lets face it: The news can be boring sometimes. Stories that don’t directly affect or appeal to us emotionally just won’t have the staying power that news from our direct interests will have. Flipboard allows you to take everything that interests you and keep it in one place, like a newspaper built especially for you. Cover stories from the sources that matter most to you intermingle with the most shared information from your social networks and the day’s top headlines so you can stay informed and engaged at the same time. A nifty content guide and easy social sharing also make it easy to pass along content to others that will enjoy it.
Reading the news is all about learning. There’s new information, new developments, new major players that pop up all the time and create a narrative that is actually happening in the world. We learn from the news, but what if the news also learned from us? News360 does just that with the help of its unique artificial intelligence. With every article you read, blog post you browse, and story you share, News360 learns a bit more about your interests. It then aggregates content that best suites your style and delivers the stuff that seems to hold your attention.
Every generation has certain reference points that are relevant to the time period in which they grew up. There’s a complete culture built around the common events a group of people all experience and it collectively creates a zeitgeist. Because content on the web is full of so many niches now, it’s possible to be immersed in multiple zeitgeists within the all-encompassing one. Stay in touch with it all with Zite. By blending your personal interests with the most important opinions and information that is relevant to our current culture, Zite will keep you in touch with all the worlds that you live in. It’s your own personal zeitgeist.
Pulse is perhaps the broadest option for news aggregation. With a recent update that opened the app up to an unlimited stream of information, Pulse takes top stories from hundreds of well-respected news outlets and plugs them in to an easy to navigate, stylized experience. Users can create custom pages that house their favorite resources grouped however they see fit, then browse them with quick swipes on a tile-style layout. It pulls from a plethora of sources that will be sure to keep users informed no matter what their interests may entail. It doesn’t hurt that you can keep up with Digital Trends on it, as well.
News stories may not always have a black and white moral to them, but newspapers always have that color scheme. Trapit decided it was time to bust out of that old, “black, white, and read all over” mold and institute a new style that doesn’t just deliver the goods in terms of content but with visuals as well. Available on the iPad, Trapit makes use of every inch of the tablet’s display, offering up picture-perfect landscape and portrait visuals that accompany a story. Specializing in news and journalists that sit outside the mainstream, Trapit will bring the content that you might be missing otherwise, and will make it nearly impossible to ignore.
Lots of news apps focus on doing aggregation for you from specific sources, but who knows what you like better than you? You probably already have your favorite blogs and sites bookmarked and available for easy access. You check them daily for new content, but you might not always have time to read them when you see an update. Instapaper knows that and allows you to save a webpage so you can read it later, even if you’re offline. Strip away the clutter like ads and links to irrelevant stories and focus just on the text that brought you to the page in the first place.
News isn’t delivered in just text form. In this world that revolves around multimedia, much of the news of the day is delivered in multiple forms to be consumed based on your personal preference. Whether you’re a reader of stories, a watcher of videos, or a listener of audio clips and podcasts, you get your digest one way or another. Pocket knows that and allows you to keep everything of interest, no matter the medium, easily accessible for later use. Save articles, videos, and web pages that you want to consume later and open them on almost any device. It’s like a DVR for the Internet.
From the ashes of the previously fallen social sharing platform comes Digg. Forget everything you used to know about it, because this isn’t the Digg you remember. Retooled as a way to keep your finger on the pulse of the web, Digg gives you all the content that people are talking about. With a clean and sleek layout, it makes every article fit in a universal format no matter where its from. A handy feature called Reading Sync allows to you put down a story on your computer or iOS device and pick right back up where you left off upon your next visit.
Apple's iTunes music store could be making its debut in Russia's corner of the former Soviet Union at an exclusive event on Tuesday in the heart of Moscow.
TechCrunch reportedly received a copy of an invitation to the event sent out by a Russian PR representative for Apple.
Apple could debut the long-awaited Russian iTunes store at the event, which will take place Tuesday night at the GUM shopping center in Moscow's Red Square.
9to5Mac reported on Monday afternoon that songs had begun to appear in the iTunes app stores in Russia, Turkey and Lebanon, indicating that the full blown launch of iTunes music in those countries is likely imminent.
In addition, the apparent timing here lines up perfectly with Monday's news that the iPhone 5 will debut in Turkey as well as Russia on Dec. 14, as 9to5Mac pointed out.
Russians eager to get online
TechRadar has reached out to Apple to learn more about the launch of iTunes in Russia, but in the meantime let's have a brief history lesson.
Russia has a checkered past when it comes to the internet and connected technologies, but in recent years its citizens have proved eager to join the online revolution.
Specifically, Russian President Vladimir Putin was considering creating an online blacklist that would block Russians' access to sites the government deemed "extremist" or "inappropriate."
Oddly, Russian officials even allowed a domestic ad firm to trademark emoticons in 2009, demonstrating to some a fundamental lack of understanding of how the internet works.
:'(
According to TechCrunch, Russia is notorious for music piracy, though legitimate channels for digital downloads do exist there.
Regardless, an official iTunes storefront could help Apple penetrate the smartphone market in Russia, where Android is currently the top choice by a significant margin.
Apple's iTunes was originally scheduled to launch in Russia in October, but that date was reportedly pushed back to November, and then again to "someday, maybe."
So Tuesday's event could be another tease, or it could mark the official launch of the Russian iTunes store. Either way, we'll know in a day.
Text messaging turns 20 today. We go over the history and future of everyone's favorite messaging standard.
“Merry Christmas” was the first text message ever sent. Neil Papworth sent it from his PC to Richard Jarvis’s Orbitel 901 mobile handset (as big as a modern office phone), and thus the text message was born. Twenty years ago from today the first text message was sent and thus began the revolution in mobile communication we know and love. The text message, and the many technologies created from the wake of its revolutionary concept, has reshaped communication in the last two decades.
The idea behind the text message got its start in the 1980s as the development of the mobile phone was in full swing. While the idea of voice communication was already standardized under the Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) banner, the idea of a textual message had yet to be completely finalized. On December 3, 1992, Papworth sent the text message to Jarvis and set the standard we use to communicate to this very day. The text message has since become an essential part our lives, it’s short length forcing us to embracing the contraction of our language into even smaller bits and pieces more than ever before. It paved the way for the idea of Twitter – an instant, short, messaging concept – to take hold in the last four years and changed just how we communicate with all of our gadgets. Over time, new services, such as MultiMedia Messaging (MMS) have also come along to continue to rewire how we deliver information to one another from our phones. We have become an instant communication world, and the text message played a fundamental part in this evolution.
These days, text messaging has found its place as the go-to method of text communication challenged by services ranging from Apple’s iMessage. RIM’s BlackBerry Messenger, and Facebook. Because of these technologies, text messaging is on the decline, and we’re sending less texts a month - about only 678 a month, according to Chetan Sharma Consulting. While this news is certainly not good for the messaging standard, an impressive 70 billion texts are still sent every month, a massive increase from the 2 or 3 billion being sent just a decade ago.
The evolution of the text message may continue and the technology will likely change as data-based services like iMessage, BBM, and Facebook continue to grow in popularity, but it still stands an essential part of our mobile experience just like the talking on the phone. We have it all to thank the text message for – and 160 characters just doesn’t do it justice.
An Xbox Live Rewards survey may have just revealed a third Windows Phone 8 offering by HTC, the Titan III, leading us to wonder if the Taiwanese phone maker might not be saving the best for last.
In a monthly questionnaire that asked Rewards participants how excited they would be to receive certain smartphones as a gift, one of the phones named was this unreleased HTC handset.
Though HTC has a Titan II on the market, the III may also be the previously rumored HTC Zenith. Named among the HTC Rio and HTC Accord (which were eventually released as the Windows Phone 8S and Windows Phone 8X), the Zenith was to be the marque WP8 phone, one due out later than its predecessors.
Top dog
The Zenith cropped up mid-summer and was said to house a 4.7-inch 720p Super LCD 2 screen and quad-core Snapdragon processor, a chip that trounces the 8X's 1.5GHz dual-core.
An 8MP camera - the same found mounted in the Windows Phone 8X - and 42Mbps HSPA+ are also rumored features for the phone, which, if it's ever released, would be HTC's top-end Windows Phone 8 handset.
The addition of the third "I" could very well be a typo by the Xbox Live Rewards crew, though the Titan II debuted early last year and hardly fits in the new-phone time frame of the other gift options.
While we probably won't see it before 2012 punches out, there stands an excellent chance HTC is waiting until the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) next month to unveil the Titan III.
TechRadar asked HTC for comment and was told the company cannot comment on rumors and speculation.
Until we know more about the Titan III (or a possible over-anxious typer over at Xbox Live) check out our CES 2013 hub page for all the latest rumors, reports and news for the Vegas show.
AdBlock Plus is making the jump from browser plug-in to Android app. Do we need to block mobile ads, or is this bad news for users and app developers?
At this point, most Internet users are used to being accosted by online advertising. Whether generic banner ads, skyscrapers, text-based touts from the likes of Google and Amazon, sponsorships, fly-outs, fly-overs, or even the dreaded pop-up windows, ads have been part of the browsing experience almost as long as the Web browser itself. However, while online advertising continues to be big business, mobile advertising is growing at a record pace. Hundreds of millions of consumers are spending their quality time on smartphones and tablets – and, by and large, those devices are happily sharing many details of user’s lives (including contacts, location, and online activities) with advertisers, who collate it all then attempt to deliver mobile ads based on what they can discern about those users’ tastes and habits.
Some of the most popular add-ons for desktop Web browsers are ad blockers: basically, software that identifies different types of online advertising and prevents them from loading based on users’ preferences. Now, Adblock Plus, one of the most popular ad-blockers for the desktop, has made the jump to Android. It’s available on Google Play and directly from the developer.
Like its desktop counterpart, Adblock Plus for Android can block advertising appearing in most mobile browsers – like Chrome, Firefox, Opera, and the default browser built into older versions of Android. However, it can also block ads appearing in many apps – and given how many apps try to support themselves via mobile advertising, ad blocking could mean developers need to re-think their apps – or at least rethink their advertising.
Do we need mobile ad blocking? Does ad blocking improve the experience of using our mobile devices? Or does it have consequences that may make those devices less useful in the future?
How Adblock Plus for Android works
Adblock Plus got started way back in 2002 as a browser extension called “AdBlock,” but (despite popularity) it was largely abandoned for years until Wladimir Palant came along in 2006 and re-wrote it from the ground up. The project is now in the hands of startup Eyeo, but Palant is still the lead developer. Adblock Plus is free, but accepts donations to support development.
At a basic level, Adblock Plus is a filter that sits between a Web browser and the Internet. Each time the Web browser requests something from a remote site (whether that be a Web page, an image, a script, or something else), Adblock Plus quickly compares the request against a sizable (and constantly-changing) list of identifiers known to be associated with online ads. If there’s a match, Adblock Plus blocks the request, and voilà: the ad never appears. Adblock Plus also has other tricks that can hide some ads that get past its lists. Users are free to make their own lists, as well as choose between different filter sets and modify their criteria.
Adblock Plus’s system relies on constantly-updated lists to identify ads, and by default it lets “acceptable ads” through – basically, ads Eyeo feels are done responsibly and aren’t annoying. (Users can choose to block all ads via a manual setting.) Nevertheless, Adblock is tremendously popular and is available as a browser extension for Firefox, Chrome, Opera, and K-Meleon (but notably not for Internet Explorer or Apple’s Safari). Adblock Plus claims 15 million daily users and more than 100,000 downloads a day. At the beginning of 2012, Eyeo co-founder Till Faida estimated about 3.5 percent of desktop Internet users had Adblock Plus installed – and in Germany (where Adblock Plus’s developers are based) that number was 12 percent.
Adblock Plus’s approach on Android is a little different. Most Android browsers do not allow for browser extensions (Firefox being an exception). Also, while ads certainly appear in mobile Web browsers, most mobile ads are actually served to mobile apps, meaning browser-based filtering can’t block them at all.
So, Adblock Plus for Android runs as a background application that attempts to filter all Web traffic on Android 2.1 or higher, using the same filtering lists as the desktop versions of Adblock Plus. However, traffic filtering possibilities on Android devices are more limited than desktop computers, so there are some limitations:
On Android 3.0 and older, Adblock Plus needs to be manually configured as a proxy server. If a device doesn’t support proxy configuration, it can’t use Adblock Plus.
On stock Android devices running Android 3.1 or higher, Adblock Plus will be able to filter ads over Wi-Fi only. It won’t be able to filter over mobile connections.
On rooted Android devices, Adblock Plus can filter all unencrypted Web traffic from browsers or apps, but:
Ads served via SSL-encrypted Web sites get through no matter what.
Eyeo notes Adblock Plus for Android is in early development stages; possible future features include more security and privacy features to enable users to better customize their experience.
The upside of blocking mobile ads
The most obvious reason to consider blocking mobile ads is the same as blocking ads in a desktop browser: plenty of ads are annoying. Whether they’re flashing banners, overlays that get in the way of content, pre-rolls before a video, or sneaky things interwoven with (and often indistinguishable from) actual content, mobile ads can be a tremendous frustration. Moreover, on mobile devices screen space is at a premium, and every pixel devoted to mobile advertising is that much more scrolling and fussing users have to do to simply use their devices. Moreover, for folks on mobile data connections rather than Wi-Fi, all the bandwidth consumed by ads can count against monthly data limits. (And it’s not unusual for 75 percent or more of the data transfer in a Web page to be taken up by ads.) Eyeo claims these savings from Adblock Plus for Android can make browsing up to 40 percent faster.
On mobile devices, users also need to consider privacy and security. On Android in particular, apps are infamous for sharing users’ personal data without asking (like phone numbers, contacts, location, even messages). Much of this “leaking” personal information is associated with ad networks, particularly in ad-supported and “freemium” applications that try to support themselves using mobile advertising. Worse, there’s no way for users (or even app developers) to know whether the ad networks they’re supporting in their programs are reputable: plenty of mobile ads are misleading, while others are outright scams or try to trick users into installing malware.
Adblock Plus doesn’t take the position that all advertising is bad; in fact, before it decided to let “acceptable” advertising through by default, a survey of its users found that only about 25 percent wanted to block ads altogether. The majority of users were fine with ads that weren’t annoying, intrusive, or malicious.
“Most people realize that ads are necessary for free content and products, said Eyeo co-founder Till Faida via email. “We have noticed a trend that mobile ads are becoming increasingly intrusive that’s why we think it is the right time to launch Adblock Plus for Android now in order to incentivize better advertising practices.”
The downside of blocking mobile ads
Not everyone will want to block mobile ads. While there are absolutely obnoxious mobile ads (and normal ads on everyday Web sites can be atrocious in mobile browsers), many mobile users aren’t bothered by them at all. Individual mobile advertising experiences vary widely with usage. Some people see almost no mobile advertising, particularly if they tend to use paid apps that get their revenue directly from users. Moreover, some people actually like mobile ads: after all, mobile ads are the kinds of things that might offer you a 25-percent-off coupon next time you wander by a local coffee shop.
If blocking mobile ads became widespread, it could impact development of mobile apps. After all, many “free” apps are ad-supported: users don’t have to pay anything up front for the app, in exchange for being shown advertisements. App developers get revenue based on the number of people who view and jump into those ads: if the number of people viewing and clicking those ads declines significantly, so does the revenue going to the developer – and, eventually, that could mean fewer apps, or at least fewer free, ad-supported apps.
Developer Eyeo hopes both developers and mobile ad networks will take notice of Adblock Plus for Android and choose to focus on “acceptable” mobile ad formats – which would presumably be let through Adblock Plus’s filters by default.
“We have only launched the app and the user base is way to small for now,” noted Eyeo co-founder Faida. “But in the future, when Adblock Plus for Android has reached a certain level of popularity, we will make sure to find a reasonable middle ground between app developers and our users.”
It could be a fine line: on the desktop, Adblock Plus has already engaged in a few arms races with advertising networks, some of which have come up with ways to detect whether Adblock Plus’s common filters are in effect and either serve ads to those users another way or (in a handful of cases) refuse to let users access the content unless they allow ads or disable Adblock Plus. So far, Adblock Plus’s filter lists have quickly caught up with these cases, but there’s always the possibility ad networks will choose to fight rather than play nice. Similarly, mobile ad networks might just shift to SSL connections and sidestep Adblock Plus entirely – at least for now.
There’s also a question about whether Adblock Plus will gain enough traction on mobile devices that advertisers will even pay attention to it. While Android is the market leader in smartphones – so Adblock Plus has a lot of potential users – it’s only Android’s comparatively open architecture: a product like Adblock Plus isn’t currently possible for closed platforms like iOS or Windows Phone.
Bottom line
Whether or not you’re personally bothered by mobile ads, most Internet users want to be in control of their devices and their own Internet experience. That includes what browsers and apps to use, and whether or not they’re willing to disclose personal information to advertisers and marketers.
“Adblock Plus comes in by putting users in control over what kind of ads they are willing to accept,” wrote Faida. “On mobile there is also the added benefit of increased security and blocking ads saves bandwidth and screen size consumption.”
Even though this first version of Adblock Plus for Android has some significant limitations, it gives users more options and the ability to control their browsing and app experiences. That seems like a step in the right direction.
Fourth time's a charm? Samsung Galaxy S IV rumored for April debut
Samsung's Galaxy S III has enjoyed quite a ride in 2012, and there's little doubt the manufacturer is already hard at work readying a follow-up for next year, which could be the recently-leaked handset codenamed "Project J."
SlashGear reported Monday that Samsung may already have its next flagship Android smartphone lined up for an April, 2013 launch, which promises to one-up the Galaxy S III that has kept the company flying high throughout 2012.
Codenamed "Project J," the presumed Samsung Galaxy S IV is rumored to include a five-inch 1080p display, quad-core processor, at least 2GB of RAM and a 13MP rear camera.
Assuming the rumors pan out, it seems likely Samsung will use the Consumer Electronics Show next month in Las Vegas to announce the fourth chapter in the company's popular Galaxy S lineup.
And that's not all
The same report also noted that a less-expensive Samsung Galaxy Note II may soon be winging its way to the European market as well.
To facilitate the cheaper price, Samsung is likely to ditch the stylus and downgrade the AMOLED display used on the current model.
Last but not least, Samsung may be readying a 13.3-inch tablet to take on rival ASUS and their well-received Transformer series, complete with QWERTY keyboard dock.
Aside from the rumored April date for "Project J," there's no further word on when Samsung might bring these leaked products to market next year.
Apple will add more than 50 countries to the list where the iPhone 5 is available over the coming weeks, meaning despite a rocky start, it will surpass its own target of offering the phone for sale in more than 100 countries by the end of the year.
It appears Apple has finally solved its iPhone 5 production problems, as not only have delivery times dropped to a considerably more acceptable time through its online store, but the company has announced more than 50 countries will be receiving its latest smartphone over the coming weeks.
Things looked rosy last week, as Apple confirmed the iPhone 5, along with the new iPad 4 and the iPad Mini, would be arriving in China on December 14, plus an unlocked, SIM-free iPhone 5 went on sale in the U.S. through the online Apple Store too. It still has a one week turnaround before it ships, but in certain other stores — Australia for example — the shipping time has dropped to between two and four business days.
Who’s up next then? South Korea will get its own dedicated release day on December 7, followed by a host of countries including Russia, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Turkey, Israel, Cyprus, Malaysia and of course, China on December 14. Then, on December 21 everyone from Barbados to Vietnam will be added to the list. In total, Apple will bring the iPhone 5 to another 55 countries by December 21.
This is added to its existing total of 47 countries where the smartphone is already on sale, meaning in a few short weeks time, the iPhone 5 will be able to be purchased in 102 countries around the world. This is an important figure, as it has not only surpassed the iPhone 4S’s 70-country availability at the end of 2011, but it’s also — crucially — two more than Apple’s self-imposed target of 100 countries by the end of the year.
The last time we looked at Apple’s international rollout schedule, it was beginning to look like its plan to engineer a record-breaking final quarter would backfire, and demand would so drastically outstrip supply, that sales would suffer. Despite the launch of the iPad Mini, the iPad 4, new iPods and the new iMac, Apple will, somewhat impressively, manage to meet its target by the end of 2012; making the iPhone 5 Apple’s fastest product rollout yet.
Once, The Daily was viewed as a potential savior of the newspaper publishing industry, but now, less than two years after its launch, its virtual presses will stop printing on December 15.
On February 2 2011, the first iPad-only newspaper was launched. The Daily was hailed as a potentially industry-saving blend of traditional journalism and contemporary technology, incorporating multimedia content with hard-hitting articles. It was rumored for a while, delayed several times, and finally launched with Apple’s blessing at a large event held in New York’s Guggenheim Museum.
Published once a day, updates could be pushed through so the content remained up to date. It had fancy graphics, videos, audio, and interactive elements, plus a certain degree of social interaction. If it was launched today, it would be given that “disruptive” tag so many commentators adore.
Except it’s not launching today, it’s being closed, as News Corp. has announced it will cease publication of The Daily on December 15. Rupert Murdoch said in a statement “From its launch, The Daily was a bold experiment in digital publishing and an amazing vehicle for innovation. Unfortunately, our experience was that we could not find a large enough audience quickly enough to convince us the business model was sustainable in the long-term.”
The closure of The Daily probably won’t come as a complete shock, as a report published recently by the New York Observer claimed Murdoch was seriously contemplating the iPad newspaper’s future, and its fate would be decided once the U.S. elections had been completed. A sad end then, to a publication that a former reporter called “a really cool, hip product,” a viewpoint shared by him, Rupert Murdoch, but few others.
Exciting plans
The Daily had far from humble beginnings. Murdoch was supposedly inspired to create the digital newspaper after a survey revealed readers were spending more time using their iPad than browsing the Internet. A Guardian article from 2010 says he saw a prediction there would be 40 million iPads in use by the end of 2011, spurring him on to capture the attention of this new, exciting market with a newspaper for the digital age. The sales figure turned out to be on the conservative side, with sources suggesting Apple had sold more than 55 million iPad tablets by the end of 2011.
In his editorial, Murdoch said of The Daily, “New times demand new journalism, so we built The Daily completely from scratch on the most innovative device to come about in my time, the iPad. The magic of great newspapers, and great blogs, lies in their serendipity and surprise, and the touch of a good editor. We’re going to bring that magic to The Daily, to inform people, to make them think, to help them engage in the great issues of the day.”
According to Walter Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs, he and Rupert Murdoch were friends, and the pair worked together to come up with the design. Murdoch’s plan was to make The Daily a pithier version of the USA Today, and in a well-worn anecdote, told an executive inquiring about who it would be aimed at, simply said “everybody.”
Early promise
It’s widely accepted that The Daily cost $30 million to develop and $500,000 per week to operate. At launch, The Daily was offered with a free trial, which was extended due to problems with getting Apple’s new iOS subscription model up and running, and technical problems with the app. In May 2011 News Corp’s President, Chase Carey, said The Daily had already lost $10 million thanks to a delay in it becoming a pay app.
The Daily was priced at $1 per week, or $40 for a year. Carey also revealed it had amassed 800,000 downloads between February and May 2011. In October 2011, The Daily’s publisher told AdAge it had about 80,000 subscribers, and the conversion from readers enjoying the two-week trial to eventually paying for the newspaper was 15 percent.
This early promise didn’t pan out though. Fast forward to the beginning of 2012 and The New York Times claims The Daily had 100,000 subscribers and, at the time, was on target to only break even after five years. This was a long way off from the 500,000 subscribers Murdoch said it would take to make The Daily a viable business.
The Daily diversifies as News Corp splits
Initially restricted to iPads in the USA, The Daily was launched in the UK in September 2011, but this was a token effort as the content was still focused on the U.S.; much of it had no bearing on reader’s lives. In January 2012, The Daily branched out onto the Android platform, and a deal was struck with Verizon which saw the newspaper pre-installed on all Galaxy Tab 7.7 tablets sold through the network. It has subsequently been released on the iPhone and the Amazon Kindle Fire.
Then came the layoffs. In July 2012, 50 members of staff, mostly from the sports and editorial team, left the company. At the same time, News Corp. was going through changes of its own. It was announced that the company would split in two, with its publishing arm becoming a separate entity to its film and media business. At this point The Daily was supposedly “put on watch,” and its situation was set to be “reassessed after the November 6 election.” The future of Murdoch’s pet project looked murky, as the split would inevitably bring with it potentially calamitous, for The Daily at least, accounting changes.
Its Demise
Money was of course, at the center of The Daily’s death. At the beginning of 2012, a study of the top 100 grossing publications for the iPad found The Daily was pulling in around $70,000 per day, which placed it at the very top of the tree. If we look at Distimo’s charts today we find The Daily has slipped down to third place in the U.S. top grossing app list and number 32 in the popularity chart. To prove how utterly irrelevant The Daily is in the UK, it sits at position 267.
It wasn’t only money that sealed The Daily’s fate, but social media, as well. Back when The Daily was released, the iPad was still relatively new on the digital publishing scene. Apps such as Flipboard and Pulse News Reader were still in their infancy, and fellow newspapers and magazines were trying to find ways to avoid paying Apple’s commission by creating HTML5 apps outside of the App Store. Today they’re almost all a part of the Store, having realized they were fighting a losing battle, and the social news scene has exploded. Many people use Twitter or Facebook to get the latest news. Google, Yahoo, and even pretentious teenagers produce free news aggregation apps. Even the mighty Huffington Post has made its iPad app free because nobody was paying to read it. Most of the successful apps work because they link to news on the Web. The Daily had next to no Web element.
The Daily was an experiment, a news factory in digital form. From the very beginning, it was at risk of being replaced by a robotic workforce. Its way of working – from its single collection of daily stories to its complete lack of deep links – and its print newspaper sensibility appeared quaint once everyone else began using social media or free, well-designed news aggregation apps to keep up to date. By not adapting to current news consumption trends, and not allowing other online news sources, blogs, and websites to link to its content, it was an online dinosaur, despite its flashy modern exterior. News Corp’s split may have seen the funding dry up, but The Daily did a good job of preparing its retirement home long before that.
Apple is expanding the iPhone 5 availability to 55 new countries this month. On December 7 the Apple's thinnest and lightest is coming to the Samsung's homeland - South Korea.
A week later, on December 14, the iPhone 5 will land in 33 more markets. Those include Albania, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Ecuador, Grenada, Indonesia, Israel, Jamaica, Jordan, Kuwait, Macedonia, Malaysia, Moldova, Montenegro, Panama, Paraguay, Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Taiwan, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela.
December 21 is when another wave of countries will get to join on the iPhone 5 fun - Barbados, Botswana, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Egypt, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Morocco, Niger, Senegal, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, St.Vincent & the Grenadines, Tunisia, Uganda and Vietnam.
The iPhone 5 is already available in 47 countries and with these new addition the list grows to 102, making this the quickest rollout of any iPhone to date.
China is a very important market for smartphone makers and mobile software developers with its vast cellphone user base. China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology reported that there are nearly 1.1 billion cellphone subscribers as of October.
Moре importantly, according to a report by Analysys International, 9 out of 10 smartphones purchased in Q3 2012 was running Android. Apple's iOS had 4.2% market share, while Symbian accounted for 2.4% of all purchases.
Part of the reason Android devices are so popular in China might be their aggressive pricing. The average price of an Android device for Q3 2012 was approximately $223 USD (CNY 1,393) compared to the average of $726 (CNY 4,523) that iOS devices cost. Symbian devices are the cheapest of the bunch, retailing for an average $178 (CNY 1,114) per device.
It's quite astonishing that 80.6% of the country's population is using a cellphone, resulting in 71.83 billion text messages sent in October alone. Overall, the usage of feature phones is declining and during Q3, just 63.73 million "dumbphones" were sold, a 4.1% decline from September, and 7.5% year-over-year.
