Facebook moves fast: one day after the news broke the social site said it was introducing a share button on its mobile site, the company revealed the feature is now available on its iOS and Android apps as well.
"Today, Facebook announced that you can now use the Share button on iOS, Android and the Facebook mobile website to share news feed stories," the company told TechRadar in an email.
"This gives people a fast way to share stories with friends from their mobile devices, just as they can from their computers."
The share button works through the Facebook for Android app, Facebook for iPhone and iPad app and Facebook mobile website.
Spreading stories
Facebook also posted the announcement in its Newsroom, explaining how the feature works (not that most Facebookers aren't familiar with sharing).
"When you click share on a news feed story in your Facebook app or on m-site, you can re-post the story on your own Timeline so your friends can see it," the announcement outlined.
Something like this has been missing from Facebook's mobile presence for an oddly long time, so it's not too surprising the social network wanted to push this out as soon as possible.
Vodafone has today launched its new Red Hot smartphone tariffs, which will enable customers to rent a new handset each year.
Similar to car-leasing arrangements, users can borrow a smartphone like the iPhone 5 or Samsung Galaxy S3 for a higher monthly rate and then swap it out for the new model at the end of the year.
For the all-conquering Galaxy S3, the Red Hot deal will set you back £47 per month for handset rental, 2GB of data, unlimited calls and texts and insurance on the device.
If you want to own the handset, the same plan (minus insurance) is £42 on a 24-month contract with a free phone. Alternatively the 12-month equivalent of owning the phone costs £51, offers 1GB of data, no insurance and requires a one-off £99 fee.
Goodbye early-upgrade fees
The plans are likely to be popular with smartphone users on two-year contracts who find themselves coughing up early-upgrade fees each year, in order to get the latest model.
That second year with a previous generation iPhone can be a long one for some Apple loyalists, so the Red Hot deal could be a fine option for those who want the latest and greatest.
If you'd like to obtain an iPhone 5 on the Red Hot plan, it'll cost £59 a month, while the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 will be £52 a month.
O2 currently gives its customers a similar option with the O2 Lease plan.
How does the BlackBerry L-Series device size up to the iPhone 5? (credit: CrackBerry)
Yet another photo of Research in Motion's upcoming BlackBerry 10 L-Series leaked online Thursday, though the latest image adds a new dimension to the speculation.
That is, the photo shows the BB10 phone snuggled up next to Apple's iPhone 5.
RIM is keeping a tight lid on any news related to the new BlackBerry L-Series and its BlackBerry 10 OS, despite fans' patience wearing thin after seemingly interminable delays.
Thus Thursday's leak marks the first time the BlackBerry L-Series has been directly compared to another device - and it's not an unfavorable comparison.
A bigger screen - what else?
With the L-Series and the iPhone 5 sitting next to one another, it's easy to see that the L-Series carries a larger display and a slightly bigger chassis overall.
Conspicuously absent from the L-Series is the iPhone's prominent home button, a feature that Apple continues to indulge in while other smartphone makers turn instead to multi-touch controls.
Lacking a home button (Credit: CrackBerry)
In addition, there's no front-facing camera evident on the BlackBerry L-Series - though that doesn't mean it doesn't have one.
One commenter on BB community site CrackBerry suggested that the front-facing camera is hidden, which hould be considered an interesting bit of speculation until more L-Series specs surface.
BlackBerry 10: doomed to fail?
At least one analyst, Pacific Crest's Securities' James Faucette, claimed in early November that RIM's new BB10 OS will be dead on arrival.
The device maker's future may well hinge on BlackBerry 10, though, and it probably won't be so black and white - RIM's not likely to go down without a fight, at least, when BB10 launches in late January.
And there is at least one market that won't stop using BlackBerry any time soon: government organizations, which no doubt appreciate RIM's high security standards.
The tech world is eagerly awaiting more concrete information regarding the BlackBerry L-Series (as well as the QWERY-packing N-Series), but until then, these regular image leaks (the first in September, a video in October and another in early November) will have to do.
For those of you who have been wondering when will the global version of the Verizon exclusive HTC DROID DNA become official, we have some great news. A press shot of the HTC Deluxe has made its way to Twitter. The yet to be announced smartphone will be the internationally available relative of the 5" 1080p display sporting HTC beast for Verizon Wireless.
There is no information on when will the HTC Deluxe become official. We doubt however that it will be a long wait before it gets announced. HTC can surely use a device of such stature to boost its sales. The combination of 5" full HD display, quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro, and two gigs of RAM is currently the best hardware available for Android.
While you are waiting for the official announcement of the HTC Deluxe, feel free to check out our extensive preview of its US sibling - the DROID DNA for Verizon Wireless.
How does the BlackBerry L-Series device size up to the iPhone 5? (credit: CrackBerry)
Yet another photo of Research in Motion's upcoming BlackBerry L-Series leaked online on Thursday, though the latest image adds a new dimension to the speculation.
That is, the photo shows the BB L-Series device sitting directly next to Apple's iPhone 5.
RIM is keeping a very tight lid on any news related to the new BlackBerry L-Series and the BlackBerry 10 OS, despite fans' patience wearing thin after seemingly interminable delays.
Thus Thursday's leak marks the first time the BlackBerry L-Series has been directly compared to another device - and it's not an unfavorable comparison.
A bigger screen - what else?
With the BlackBerry L-Series and the iPhone 5 sitting next to one another, it's easy to see that the L-Series carries a larger display and a slightly bigger chassis overall.
Conspicuously absent from the L-Series is the iPhone's prominent home button, a feature that Apple continues to indulge in while other smartphone makers turn instead to multi-touch controls.
In addition, there's no front-facing camera evident on the BlackBerry L-Series - though that doesn't mean it doesn't have one.
One commenter on BB community site CrackBerry suggests that the front-facing camera is hidden, which should be considered an interesting bit of speculation until more L-Series specs surface.
BlackBerry 10: doomed to fail?
At least one analyst, Pacific Crest's Securities' James Faucette, claimed in early november that RIM's new BB10 OS will be dead on arrival.
The device maker's future may well hinge on BlackBerry 10, though, and it probably won't be so black and white - RIM's not likely to go down without a fight, at least, when BB10 launches in January.
And there is at least one market that won't stop using BlackBerry any time soon: government organizations, which no doubt appreciate RIM's high security standards.
The tech world is eagerly awaiting more concrete information regarding the BlackBerry L-Series, but until that arrives these regular image leaks (the first in September, a video in October, and another in early November) will have to do.
The ZTE Kis comes locked to Virgin, but at a rather respectable price of £59.99 with 12 months' free data on PAYG, ZTE are looking to really challenge the big guns.
It also means they are clearly targeting first-time smartphone buyers, as well as students. Our model was white, but the Kis also comes in black. So, what do you get for your money?
Bundled in the box comes just about everything you would expect. Phone? Check. Charger? Check. USB Cable? Headphones? Check and check. There's even a 2GB microSD card to help you store all your pictures and music.
Looking at the ZTE Kis, you would have expected to pay a lot more. However, the specifications are more akin to the price tag.
The 800MHz processor, HVGA screen and 3.2MP rear camera (no front-facing offering) are by no means mind blowing. But then we didn't expect them to be. The lack of 3G, though, is rather disappointing.
As we said, looking at the Kis you'd be forgiven for thinking you had paid a lot more - the HTC Salsa immediately comes to mind.
Following an almost standard Android layout, the front is dominated by the screen, wrapped in a thick, black, glass front.
At the bottom of the screen are the four capacitive soft keys; Menu, Home, Back and Search. Just below this in a similarly-large plastic chassis is the rather visible microphone.
Also concealed behind the black wrapping is an LED light that flashes when you have a new notification, or when you are charging the Kis. It's not immediately visible, but it's just to the right of the speaker.
The top of the ZTE Kis houses both the 3.5mm headphone port moulded into the body, and the power/lock button. The lock button doesn't stand out massively from the body, but is easy to locate and hit one handed.
On the left of the Kis is the volume rocker. It's a bit firm for our liking, and the way it curves up at the edges makes it a bit sharp when you slide your finger up and down the side. Being at the top, though, means you are unlikely to hit it accidentally.
The opposite side houses an uncovered microUSB port. ZTE have left the back pretty sparse as well, with nothing but the camera, speaker and handset branding. The plastic chassis wraps around, and is the first visual clue to the price of the KIS.
Thankfully, unlike some devices, including the high-end HTC One X and the iPhone 5, the battery cover is removable.
Sliding a fingernail in the slight groove in the top right of the cover pops the cover off very easily.
The plastic is thin and flexible; again more clues as to the price of the ZTE Kis. Behind the battery cover is the SIM-card slot, 1,400mAh battery and microSD card slot.
The microSD card slot isn't easy to use, having to lay the card flat against the Kis and slide it in.
We often found ourselves dropping the card on the sofa and losing it down the back, so a pop in/out slot would have been preferred. We were impressed with the device's size, as everything is easy to hit one handed.
The 120g weight means that you notice it in your pocket, without feeling that it is weighing you down. It is also comfortable to use for long periods, and we don't envisage you dropping it (we didn't, and we're not exactly graceful).
The 3.5 inch HVGA TFT screen will never win any prizes. On the plus side, its bright enough to use outdoors and the capacitive buttons are very responsive. The viewing angle is pretty poor; we certainly can't imagine watching full-length movies on the Kis.
Overall, we can imagine you wanting to show the style of the ZTE Kis off to your friends, and making them guess how much you spent on it.
Much has been said lately about the importance of mapping technology in the wake of Apple's catastrophic failure with the iPhone 5 launch. As of late we've all taken for granted that our smartphones will not only have mapping software built-in, but we also have taken for granted that that mapping technology will not only work, but that it will be comprehensive and…well…good.
With their latest mapping technology, Here, Nokia has given users of the Nokia 920 a deep and comprehensive mapping solution the likes of which iPhone 5 users would die for.
Having acquired California-based 3D modeling company earthmine, with Here, Nokia has created a holistic mapping utility that not only uses Google-esque cars that are currently traversing the world creating 3D models of well…everywhere, Here also applies basic principles of crowd sourcing to literally "fill in the gaps."
Simply put, anyone who uses Here is helping to map the world. For instance, Nokia's technology has the ability to discern that there happens to be a road in a previously un-mapped area simply by recording data that it gathers from its users. For instance, if Here doesn't have a record of a street but users are seen travelling on the same "path," Here senses that there must be a road there and they'll dispatch a car there to verify it.
In a nutshell Here consists of four basic features: Nokia Maps, Nokia City Lens, Nokia Drive+, Nokia Transit.
Nokia Maps is essentially the anchor of Here and is the feature that users will use the most. It looks a lot like Google Maps so users will quickly be able to jump in and start using it without encountering a significant learning curve. One of the key selling points of Here is the fact that you can easily use it offline.
Before travelling abroad say, you can download all of the map data of a particular place before you even get there. This data is also reasonably sized an entire country will probably only occupy a few GBs of data. If you're using the Nokia Lumia 920 with its 32GB of storage this is in no way an issue.
A big part of the Here experience is helping users get to the places that are most likely to be of interest to them. This is where Nokia City Lens comes in. Once you fire it up it opens the camera app and shows you points of interest that happen to be near you. While this can sometimes be overwhelming if you happen to be in a densely populated area like San Francisco or New York, Nokia City Lens also boasts filters that let you only view things that may be of specific interest to you.
If you're hungry hit the restaurant icon and City Lens will only show local eateries that happen to be nearby. Being a relatively new service however, in our tests, restaurants we know are only one block away didn't show up. Similarly when we attempted to look at Attractions from the front porch of a house in Oakland City Lens only showed us the Golden Gate Bridge (13 miles away) and Hawaii (2,500 miles away). Obviously some updates are in order.
Nokia Drive+ Beta aims to be a great tool. With turn by turn navigation it also uses 3D modeling to let you see through buildings to better guide you along your route. In our tests however the beta was a bit hit or miss. There were times when the app wouldn't launch on our test Nokia Lumia 920 and off course, being relatively new, don't expect the level of detail that Google Maps currently enjoy
For commuters Nokia Transit is a great way to find public transportation options. We tested the product in San Francisco and it accurately provided several options to get the user to their destination. When travelling from San Francisco to a home in Oakland, Nokia Transit accurately predicted how long it would take to walk from your current location to the various public transportation stops.
Again, being relatively new, Nokia Transit did lack certain options. For instance, one can travel from Oakland to Future's South San Francisco office via a ferry. Nokia Transit didn't have the ferry as an option. That said, utilizing travel data from users Here will either discern that Jesus works at Future and is walking across the San Francisco Bay or that there must be some form of transportation that it doesn't know about yet.
As a competitor to Google Maps Nokia Here definitely gives them a run for their money. Utilizing the two-fold plan of earthmine's cars to gather data as well as crowd sourcing Here has the ability to gather data from an extremely high number of sources. While it's still relatively new we expect hiccups. That said, on a device that has multiple mapping options Nokia Here is our mapping technology of choice.
