Apple releases iOS 8.1.3

January 28, 2015 by

Apple today has released iOS 8.1.3, this update was not was not seeded to developers before being released to the public, due to it being a minor release. This update addresses a number of minor problems that have been experienced by some users such as passwords not being recognised when entering Apple ID passwords for FaceTime and Messages. 

The other problems this update addressed were related to spotlight not being able to display app results and there was a problem that prevented multitasking gestures from functioning on the iPad.

New configuration options have been added for education standardised testing. This update reduces also the amount of storage space required to perform an a software update, which will be welcome news for some 16gb iphone users who are struggling to free space up on their iPhones.

The next major up date is expected to be iOS 8.2. This will be a major update that contains WatchKit SDK software and a programme that enables the iPhone to integrate with the rumoured Apple watch, which could be coming as soon as March this year.So it would be wise to guess that this update could be  released alongside Apples watch.

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Bad news for iOS what’s app users

January 26, 2015 by

WhatsApp_logo-color-vertical.svgFacebook the owners of What’s app have introduced the ability to share it’s connection with a chrome browser running on a desktop,laptop, tablet etc. This is all made possible by simply scanning a QR code with a smartphone that is located within the Whats app webpage on the Chrome browser. However this option is available to all the os’s except iOS.

WhatsApp have made a statement regarding this matter on their blog: “Unfortunately for now, we will not be able to provide web client to our iOS users due to Apple platform limitations.

“Our web client is simply an extension of your phone: the web browser mirrors conversations and messages from your mobile device — this means all of your messages still live on your phone.”

Its possible they might able to solve this by simply adding a barcode scanner to their iOS whats app application. Whether they can resolve this problem by doing this is anyones guess.  

If iOS users are desperate to use the whats app application they can do it by simply installing a programme called bluestacks. This programme enables you to run the Android os and its apps on a Windows and Mac pc.

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Windows 10 is announced and its partly a blast from the past

January 22, 2015 by

windows-10-start-menuWindows 10 has been announced. It is largely a departure from its recent versions, that is windows 8 and 8.1 which tried to bring together mobile touched based devices and traditional personal computers. But this move proved to be widely unpopular move on there part, because operating the touched based apps proved to be a clunky and unpleasant experience for the user also these versions of the os were highly confusing to navigate. The abolition of the start screen did not help matters. Microsoft a year later released Windows 8.1 as an attempt to win customers back, they made some  navigational improvements such as giving the user the option to boot strait into desktop mode and by putting the Power and Search Buttons next to the start Start button. These subtle changes to the os and some other minor tweaks were not enough to effectively win people back.  The poor user uptake was reflected in the poor interest from app developers. 

Windows 10 is a departure from the previous two versions of the os.Its going to come with a newly named browser and it will bring back some of the best aspects of Windows 7 such as a start menu which makes navigating the os less of an headache. Windows 10 is also very intuitive it adapts to what device you are using, if for example you are using a tablet it will make the touch based tile apps centre stage but if your using a desktop or laptop it will make the desktop mode the centre point of the os like it did in Windows 7. Its worth noting that its the first os to port a voice assistant to its desktop os. Apples Mac os have not got around to it yet but expect it soon.

Windows 10 will merge all the competing software platforms into a single platform, so this means that every app will work on every device running the new os.This will make everything simpler for app developers and it will give the user a wider selection of apps to choose from. Windows 10 will be able to even run universal apps on the xbox that will also be able to run on all other newer windows devices. These apps will offer a sort of follow you anywhere computing experience across phone and PC: a mobile version of Microsoft’s Inbox app for email, using Outlook, Calendar, a Photos app, a People app, Maps, and more. Basically they’re core apps that will cover the entire bases for everyday communication and the bad news is that it looks like they are only going to work on the new Xbox One. Xbox users will also have the ability to stream the content of the xbox to your laptop in Windows 10 which will open up even more possibilities for the end user.

Microsoft have another thing up its sleeve its called HoloLens. Its a headset that allows you to see holograms overlaid in the real world, that will integrate with your physical places, spaces, and things

The good news is that previous customers going back as far as Windows 7 will get a free upgrade to Windows 10. But after a year if they don’t upgrade they will lose that privilege. In practice it should be offered free for all its customers like Apple does for its Mac os customers. This move could further alienate older users and it could even encourage them to move to competing operating systems such as Linux, Mac or Android.

Windows 10 will be released later this year. But if you want to try it now its available in beta mode, which means its has not had all its bugs ironed out of it and it has not been fully finished, so don’t expect everything to work,heres the link 

Filed Under: Microsoft Tagged With: , ,

3 mobile abolishes roaming in two more countries in April

January 19, 2015 by

Three-UKThree have announced that they are adding more countries to its feel at home scheme that abolishes roaming in certain countries. Spain and New Zealand are now joining the list of countries in April, taking its country total up to 18.

Three Uk have built a niche market with regards to this scheme.  When three adds Spain to its list of roaming exempt countries in April its likely to prove popular, because Spain is likely to be topping the charts once again with more than 13 million people traveling to Spain on a yearly bases.  

Dave Dyson, Chief Executive at Three, said: “Feel at Home is unique to Three and offers freedom from unfair roaming charges. It is already hugely popular, with more than a million of our customers enjoying its benefits since launch. Adding France last year and Spain in 2015 means the two most popular destinations with British holiday makers will be covered. Currently, 49% of our customers’ overseas trips are to Feel At Home destinations. With the addition of Spain and New Zealand, that should rise to about 65%. “However, my ambition continues to be to eliminate excessive roaming charges globally and we’re working hard to open up even more opportunities for our customers to stay connected and enjoy their phones whilst they’re abroad.”

These two new destinations will join France, Switzerland, Israel, Finland, Norway, USA, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Macau, Australia, Italy, Austria, Hong Kong, Sweden, Denmark and Republic of Ireland. All of three customers are eligible for this scheme. Those who are on pay monthly, Pay-As-You-Go, SIM-only and mobile broadband have the freedom to use Feel At Home within the limits of their current Three price plan allowance, as long as international roaming is activated⁵. Calls and texts to non-UK numbers will be charged at reduced roaming rates. Tethering is not included. Pay-As-You-Go customers will require an add-on. Data is also capped at 25gb, which applies to all customers.

A website called TripReporter have recently reviewed Three’s Feel at Home service and they have praised the network for identifying the need for fairer roaming charges and for being the first provider to abolish roaming in selected countries.

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A new 4inch iphone maybe in the works

January 18, 2015 by

A iphone 6c that comes with a 4 inch display is possible later on in the year. With the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus iPhone Apple has made the long-awaited step toward larger displays. But there is a considerable minority of users that are dissatisfied with the new display sizes. There are enough users to warrant 4-inch display. Its worth noting that last years iPhone 5s does simply lye better in the hand.  Currently there are conflicting rumours around to whether or not they are going to make the device or not. 

On the 6th of January evidence emerged that apple is not working on another 4-inch iPhone. According to a website called Feng, sources within Apple’s supply chain have made it clear that Apple have not made “any new production tasks” related to a 4-inch device.  However an earlier report in December states that they are indeed going to produce a 4 inch iphone, this is according to a Taiwanese parts manufacturer. The source was initially also credited on a website called Feng. More information regarding this debate to whether or not they are going to release the 4 inch version can be found on Appleinsider,Macworld and gforgames.

If demand is sufficiently large and Apple can realize that even a small screen can achieve great things for the user, it will most probably release the iphone mini after September 2015. Steve Jobs did think that the four inch version was  perfectly adequate when he was alive, but it remains to be seen whether or not he would have took the same view today.

Filed Under: Iphone XS and G8 news Tagged With: , ,

Why Android could be more prone to future virus attacks

January 18, 2015 by

Android symbol 1Thomas Fox-Brewster who is from a website called Forbes states that Google has stopped pushing security updates to the WebView tool if you are using Android 4.3 Jelly Bean (or any earlier flavour of Android).

This all happened without warning.  There are 949 devices that are running these versions of the Android os that can be affected at anytime.

Over 60% of Android devices which connected to Google Play between Dec 30 2014 and Jan 5 2015 (via Google’s Android dashboard) ran the older version of Android. All of these devices will no longer receive the security updates.

Google when asked refused to answer this question.

Reference: Appalled security researchers and Forbes

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Apple buys Beats Music for $3 billion dollars

June 4, 2014 by

After a considerable amount of rumours, Apple has finally bought Beats Musiciphone 5 eb version for $3 billion dollars.

From Apple’s press release:

“Apple® today announced it has agreed to acquire the critically acclaimed subscription streaming music service Beats Music, and Beats Electronics, which makes the popular Beats headphones, speakers and audio software. As part of the acquisition, Beats co-founders Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre will join Apple. Apple is acquiring the two companies for a total of $3 billion, consisting of a purchase price of approximately $2.6 billion and approximately $400 million that will vest over time.

“Music is such an important part of all of our lives and holds a special place within our hearts at Apple,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “That’s why we have kept investing in music and are bringing together these extraordinary teams so we can continue to create the most innovative music products and services in the world.”

“I’ve always known in my heart that Beats belonged with Apple,” said Jimmy Iovine. “The idea when we started the company was inspired by Apple’s unmatched ability to marry culture and technology. Apple’s deep commitment to music fans, artists, songwriters and the music industry is something special.”

Tim Cook also sent an email to staff saying:

“Apple’s history in music began with selling Macs to musicians. That remains important to us today, but we also bring music to hundreds of millions of customers with iTunes, which is at the forefront of the digital music revolution. Music holds a special place in our hearts at Apple, and we know that we can make an even bigger contribution to something that is so important to our society. That’s why we have kept investing in music and why we’re bringing together these extraordinary teams — so we can continue to create the most innovative music products and services in the world.

Beats co-founders and music industry pioneers Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre will join Apple, along with their team of employees. Jimmy has been on the cutting edge of innovation in the music industry for decades, including as a key partner for Apple in the launch of the iTunes Music Store more than ten years ago. He has produced or collaborated with some of the most popular artists in history, and been an important contributor to the success of the iTunes Store.

Beats Music was built with deep respect for both artists and fans. We think it’s the first subscription service to really get it right. Both Apple and Beats believe that a great music service requires a strong editorial and curation team, and we will continue to expand what we do in those areas. The addition of Beats will make our incredible iTunes lineup even better, extending the emotional connection our customers have with music.”

It will be interesting to see how Apple is going to integrate the streaming service into its iTunes.

(Source:Apple,9to5mac) 

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Itv finally releases an app for Window 8 mobile digital devices

May 28, 2014 by

Itv finally releases an app for Window 8 mobile digital devices. The ITV Player app finally after some time joins the likes of BBC iPlayer, 4oD and Demand 5 app. The app went live yesterday in1401200316 the Windows mobile phone store. It will offer 30 days of catchup up from all the companies digital channels such as citv, itv 1 etc. With this app the user will be able to stream over 3g which will prove to be very useful when out and about.  Also the app will be able to make use of an adaptive bitrate system that will help to reduce glitching when the bitrate becomes variable. This app also includes subtitle options and live TV streaming. ITV’s, Paul Kanareck, director of online and brands, said: “We are very excited to have launched the ITV Player app on Windows Phone 8 devices. Mobile is becoming an increasingly important route for audiences to access our content with over 50% of long form requests for the ITV Player coming from mobiles and tablets in 2013. We will continue to expand our reach across suitable devices going forward.” The good news is that its been launched just in time for the world cup, so now the Windows 8 mobile  user will  be able to catch up on all the action in the world cup. However this does not fully address the shortfall of apps that are available in the windows app store, Its still remains a distant third in the mobile world. Important apps such as Sky Go and Virgin TV Anywhere are not available on the Windows Phone platform and according to Virgin Media, TV Anywhere won’t be coming to the third biggest mobile platform anytime soon

Filed Under: Microsoft Tagged With: , , ,

The Samsung Galaxy S5

April 30, 2014 by

Samsung-Galaxy-S5 The Galaxy S5 is the flagship of Samsung for 2014. The model follows the immensely popular Galaxy S4 that Samsung released in March 2013.   The Galaxy S5 has a large 5.1 inch screen (1080 p) thanks to the amoled technology is easy to read in direct sunlight. The unit has a 16 Megapixel camera and 2.5 GHz quadcore processor. There is 2 GB of main memory and a hefty 2800 mAh battery on board. All features at a glance: Sharp 5.1 inch super-amoled screen (1080 p) Snapdragon 801-chip with 2.5 GHz quadcore processor 2 GB of main memory, there is also 16 GB or 32 GB of internal storage space to choose from. The phone has a fingerprint scanner that is implemented in to the home button. The housing is also dust and water resistant and it comes with a 16 mega pixel camera that can shoot 4k-video.   The phone is 8.1 millimetres thick, 142 millimetres high and 72.5 mm wide. That is just slightly thicker, taller and wider than its predecessor. Also the weight of the Galaxy S5 has been increased to 145 grams while the Galaxy S4 was just 130 grams. The Galaxy Galaxy S5t back is also now comes with a soft-touch material. The back seems similar to the material that was used by Google’s Asus Nexus 7 tablet back in 2012. Furthermore, the back is also dust and water resistant. The Galaxy S5 is also available in black, white, blue and gold versions. The new stiff back should fend off the criticisms which the previous model suffered from about the back being cheap and plastically.   The Galaxy S5 has of course the latest version of Android with an additional Samsung new TouchWiz skin. Many Samsung apps have had also a fine makeover, including the S Health-app that lets you measure sports activities, this app also can be used in combination with the heart rate monitor. The settings menu has been given a major makeover too. Now the icons have more of a rounded appearance. The menus are now less crowded and also the notifications menu is now clearer to read. One thing that is worth noting is that the software takes up as much as 8 GB of storage space. This means that  the 16 GB version of the Galaxy S5 has over half the storage space taken up by TouchWiz and its associated apps. Its recommended to get either the 32 GB variant of the device or a hefty micro sd card. The 16 Megapixel camera also features a new chip for processing images. Now the camera can now focus in as little as 0.3 seconds. This is the fastest autofocus system that Samsung has ever fitted to a device. The camera app from the Galaxy S5 has also been taken care of which makes the editing of photos a lot easier. At the front of the phone it has a 2.1 megapixel camera for conducting video calls. Also there is a new HDR feature that will work when taking videos, that will provide more detail to both the light and dark portions of the video. According to Samsung, it is the first hdr function for a video camera. Another fine addition is the ability to shoot in 4k videos. That will provide the user with super clear and sharp images. Furthermore flagship smartphone is very dust and water resistant. At the bottom there is a cover that allows the micro-usb port to be protected against dirt and water. The Active version of the Galaxy S4 is also completely dust and water resistant and features the same protective cover on the underside. A splash in the toilet will therefore no longer mean a broken mobile phone. In addition there is a tailgate that makes it easy to remove the battery Sim card, so you can easily remove the micro-sd card. Another advantage with the device weighting 145 grams is that its relatively thin and light for its size. The S5 measures 142 at 72.5 at 8.1 millimetres is relatively large, but can still fit in an average pocket. The tailgate has a kind of polka dot embossing and its  soft to the touch, but can’t camouflage the fact that the Galaxy S5 is mainly made of plastic.  This kind of  makes it feel simply not as ‘ premium ‘ as the shiny aluminum of the HTC One M8. Both phones have a suggested retail price of 699 euro. Samsung is trying to justify this by means of the fingerprint scanner, heart rate monitor and 400 euros offer for free apps and subscriptions (read more about this Galaxy S5 goodies) that the M8 then again does not have that. Those additions are a bonus, but the question is will the user ever make use of them. The Galaxy S5 however is a nice smartphone to see. The display is large and colourful with a thin screen and edges and the volume button and power buttons within easy reach. In addition, the physical home button is also easy to access. Furthermore it gives use peace of mind that the mobile phone is water resistant and it comes with a removable battery which is a bonus. So you can drop the phone into the toilet bowl or the S5 so bring on a beach on your holidays with peace of mind. The screen resolution is ok by todays standards and its bright too. When Samsung announced that the Galaxy S5 ‘ but ‘ would get a 1080 p screen, we could not suppress a sense of disappointment. But its been tested, we can say that that disappointment is unfounded. We are however very pleased with the quality of super-amoled screen of the device that measures 5.1 inch which is just slightly larger than that of the Galaxy S4. The pixel density of the screen is slightly lower, with 432 ppi but the brightness can be cranked up to 450 nits. In practice, the high resolution does not have individual pixels that are distinct, for example, texts on zoomed websites are clearly legible. The screen automatically adjusts itself to be perfectly readable in sunlight that makes it virtually always easy-to-read in any environment.   The screen also corrects itself in the evening in the dark which makes it perfect for late reading. The screen also provides excellent viewing angles too. It doesn’t matter from what angle you look at the screen the colours always look amazing. That makes viewing photos and videos a pleasure. In addition the scratch comes with Gorilla Glass 3, that makes it almost scratch resistant. The accuracy of the fingerprint scanner is good, though it’s not easy to unlock your device with one hand as it is with the iPhone 5S. This is probably due to its size. Samsung is positioning the S5 among other things as a smartphone for active users, and the unit features a heart rate monitor. This is located on the rear of the appliance next to the Flash and works only in combination with the renewed S Health-app. You can go running or cycling by entering what you’ve eaten and check out how many calories you will need to burn off in order to either lose weight or to maintain the same weight. The app can also be used for counting your steps with the sport armband that can be purchased separately.  However, the accessory is not necessary in order to use the Samsung sports app. From S Health you can directly measure your heart rate, to activate this function it takes some seconds to activate while keeping your finger on the sensor. Next you’ll see how many beats per minute your heart is working at. By measuring your heart rate at regular intervals, you can get an impression of your physical condition. Samsung emphasizes that the sensor should not be seen as a medical instrument. Its important to note that the heart rate monitor gives only an indication of your actual heart rate. For truly accurate measurements you’re always better off with a more professional heart rate monitor.  It should be viewed as a humorous addition,consumers should not purchase the device because of this feature.

To sum up its a good phone whether the features are enough to convince people to upgrade from the Samsung S4 remains to be seen.

Filed Under: Android Tagged With: , ,

WhatsApp will soon be offering unlimited messaging through a specific sim card deal in Germany

April 9, 2014 by

WhatsApp will begin offering unlimited messaging through a German screen-shot-2014-04-07-at-16-10-511network provider called e-Plus, the company is to launch its own SIM card with unlimited messaging. The sim card will cost 10 euros and it will be only available in Germany for the time being. 

WhatsApp seems to be slowly moving towards becoming a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO).

“WhatsApp has over 50 carrier deals globally. The WhatsApp ePlus SIM card is WhatsApp’s first partnership with e-Plus to launch an MVNO brand,” said WhatsApp head of business development Neeraj Arora.

“This is the first kind of its deal globally between a technology company and a carrier. Carriers are important strategic partners for WhatsApp and we’re constantly working with them to bring innovative offerings to users globally.” 

Earlier this year WhatsApp was purchased by Facebook, It is however unknown at the moment whether or not What app is going to release its own SIM cards in other territories. But don’t be surprised if they do expand in to other territories within the near future. 

 

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