Analyst reports on PC sales are hitting the wire and they’re not good. Should this surprise? Not really when you consider how more capable and cheaper mobile devices are selling like hotcakes. The PC certainly isn’t dead, but it is dying a slow painful death. Read more »
Smartphones and tablets are getting more complex while folks new to this market are jumping in. How do you stay informed of news, tips and tricks for your device? Try Drippler. It’s like a Flipboard edition for your mobile device and 2.5 million have downloaded it. Read more »
On Tuesday, Google announced Android 4.1.2 for the Android Open Source Project, which brings home screen rotation to Android devices. Third-party apps have supported this feature in the past, but Google needed to add it and avoid new users from having a bad experience. Read more »
My Samsung Galaxy Note 2 arrived and so did an update that adds the ability to run two apps on the screen at the same time. Atooma, a free beta app, is making all of my Androids smarter and Sony launched PlayStation Mobile this week. Read more »
The Galaxy Note 2 model for the Korean market has a nifty multi-window feature, but my international version of the 5.5-inch Android phone didn’t have it. Now it does thanks to a software update and this nifty functionality is quite useful on a larger display. Read more »
Here come the Windows 8 device announcements: Acer’s first Windows 8 tablet, the Iconia W700, hits the market on Oct. 26 with a starting price of $799. That price includes a keyboard and unique case / cradle, giving hints on Windows 8 RT pricing. Read more »
Sharp has started production of a 5-inch smartphone screen with the same resolution as top-end HDTVs, 1920 x 1080, which is a whopping 443 pixels per inch. What’s driving the trend for larger displays with more clarity? Thank mobile app maturity and online video content. Read more »
So I broke down and ordered a Galaxy Note 2 from overseas. Why spend the money when I have a Galaxy Nexus phone and Nexus 7 tablet? A video demo shows how Samsung is further bridging the mobile and traditional computing space and I bought in. Read more »
When it comes to tech, San Francisco is the company town, but that isn’t necessarily a good thing. Martin Amis things writing should be about longevity, something no one can accuse Malcolm Gadwell of writing. And an American made car! These are this week’s recommended reading. Read more »
App developers are the cornerstones of the multibillion-dollar app market, but the overall community remains largely unknown. As app downloads increase, organizations that can bring tools, resources, and a collective voice to this group will be an important factor in the evolution of mobile-app development. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Samsung’s Galaxy Note II launched in Korea with sales over the next three months expected to be triple that of the original Galaxy Note. The 5.5-inch phone / tablet is following Apple’s iPhone 5 launch as Samsung tries to stay in the smartphone spotlight. Read more »
Barnes & Noble’s new Nook HD tablets, priced starting at $199, aim to stand out from the pack with reader-centric features and enhanced reading experiences for magazines and catalogs. The company’s goal is to drive book discovery and purchasing through the tablets in new ways. Read more »
Welcome to the fast-growing world of work media, a class of social tools oriented toward the needs of enterprises. Their emergence is due to the shifting expectations of an increasingly social workforce and the sense that older approaches to work like email are arguably approaching obsolescence. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Should the same app have a different interface on different devices? Netflix doesn’t think so, updating its Android app for smartphones to replicate the tablet interface found on Android slates and on Apple’s iPad. The improvements make it easier to find and watch content. Read more »
With multiple Amazon Kindle Fire tablets that differ in screen size, display resolution and even hardware capabilities, how will developers manage their mobile apps across the platform? A new “device targeting” feature will help and it supports Android devices through Amazon’s app store as well. Read more »
Whether it’s the iPhone 5, the importance of LTE, or BYOD trends disrupting the enterprise, there are always technologies, trends, and companies changing the way we define mobile. Here are some noteworthy segments to watch in the coming months, from location-based shopping to apps to wireless networks. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
What happens when an industrial designer gets fed up with the many mobile device charging cords and cables in his house? He designs a solution, of course! Thanks to the xWallDock Kickstarter project, you can get in on this simple, but elegant, docking face plate. Read more »
Small slates are expected to account for 32 percent of all tablet sales this year says iHS iSuppli. After nearly two years of saying there’s a market for the 7-inch tablet, it’s good to see the analysts reaffirm my own experiences. Now: Where’s that 7.85-inch iPad? Read more »
In the five years since the iPhone hit the market, Apple and Google have delivered more than 40 billion cumulative downloads of apps. Other sources predict the app marketplace will swell to surpass 66 billion downloads in 2016, a growth fueled by tablet, entertainment, and enterprise apps. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
As the volume of connected devices increases, so too will the probability of hackers targeting these systems to exploit networks, steal data, hijack systems, and compromise workflows. Security specialists recognize the potential risks and are already developing technologies and methodologies for hardening M2M systems from attack. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
The lack of a rear camera on the Nexus 7 disappointed some and even the front camera is limited. The sensor is 1.3 megapixels, but only captures VGA video. Adding a few lines of code to a rooted Nexus 7 changes that to 720p video. Read more »
Amazon’s new Kindle Fire HD tablets are impressive and aggressively priced, but unlike prior Kindles, you can’t pay extra to turn off the special offer ads. Business models are clearly changing to reflect the new digital economy, but has Amazon gone too far this time? Read more »
What’s normally a quiet time turned into a busy week: Before the new Kindle Fire HD tablets launched, Motorola introduced three new Razr phones while Samsung touted its Galaxy S III sales figures: 20 million to date. Android tablets sales are on the rise too. Read more »
The common belief that “there’s no tablet market, just an iPad market” may be changing. Based on the number of daily device activations, the gap between Google tablet sales and those of Apple’s iPad is closing. Improved software and the Nexus 7 tablet are likely reasons. Read more »
Tablet makers: Amazon just put you on notice with several new products, all of which are low in price and high in content. The new Kindle Fire HD line brings high-definition to Amazon’s tablets as well as an innovative, but limited, 4G LTE plan. Read more »
Though most eyes are on Amazon’s Thursday press conference, Kobo is angling for early attention with its announcement of two new e-readers and a new 7-inch Android tablet called the Arc. How do the devices stack up to the competition? Read more »
Wireless charging of phones and tablets is up in a big way: The number of devices supporting this feature has doubled in the last 7 months alone, according to the Wireless Power Consortium. Helping is the Qi standard, but I have another idea to advance growth. Read more »
Amazon says the Kindle Fire is sold out, meaning the company will definitely announce a new tablet at its press event next week. Meanwhile, Amazon says the Fire makes up 22% of the U.S. tablet market — suggesting actual sales far lower than early analyst estimates. Read more at paidContent »
While cloud, mobility, social, and analytics have been driving demand for IT products and services in 2012, the worldwide IT spending picture has become dimmer as the year has progressed: We’re looking at 5.1 percent worldwide IT spending growth in 2012. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Personalized tablet magazine Zite is releasing a large upgrade to its Android app Tuesday afternoon. Among the changes: The end of support for large-screen Android tablets, enhanced sharing options and bug fixes. Read more at paidContent »
With more devices at our disposal, users are finding ways to spread out their tasks between screens, moving from smartphones to PCs and tablets. That’s one of the findings of a new multi-screen study by Google. Read more »
The week ended badly for Samsung, but did it do the same for Android in general? Perhaps, since Apple’s patents protect navigation features used by all Android devices. My new Nexus 7 case and Nikon’s Coolpix S800s camera with Android uses patented features too – uh oh. Read more »
I was planning to buy Google’s official Nexus 7 case but it’s not in stock. That’s actually a good thing because this case from Blurex looks better, has more features — including magnetic smart wake and sleep — and costs $5 less than Google’s own product. Read more »
Don’t have the $2.5 billion budget that Nasa spent to design, build and launch the Mars Curiosity rover? For a fraction of the price you can virtually be in two places at once thanks to telepresence robots for every budget, including those using iPads or smartphones. Read more »
LG is taking a page out of Samsung’s playbook with the Optimus Vu: A 5-inch Android smartphone that doubles as a tablet. LG is launching the phone internationally next month but it could be a tough sell due to the wide form-factor and aspect ratio. Read more »
Though the legal drama hasn’t offered the most flattering view of either company, Apple, particularly, has taken a huge gamble with this trial. It’s hard to believe it would squander the ability to exact a legal judgment by opting for resolution outside of court. Read more »
Global positioning systems provide better location accuracy over solutions that use Wi-Fi networks, but just how much better is GPS? Yelp sifted through its check-in data to see and not only found out the accuracy variance, but also an interesting location tidbit on iPhones vs Androids. Read more »
After months with a sub-par user experience, the Google Play store is gaining needed improvements. Application updates comprised of just changed code now helps limit mobile broadband use while gift cards and wishlists are coming soon, per the latest version of Google Play. Read more »
Microsoft released Windows 8 to hardware makers but you can get your own free copy. Don’t get too excited: This is an evaluation copy that lasts for 90 days and can’t be upgraded. I’m going to take it for a spin on a Windows 7 slate. Read more »
