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An 8 inch Windows 8 tablet gets outed

May 11, 2013 by admin

An 8 inch tablet that will run Windows 8 pro has been outed by French website called Minimachines. This tablet is to be made by a company called Acer and it is to be called the Acer Iconia W3.

It is rumoured to have a dual-core Atom Z2760 1.8GHz processor,32gb of memory, 2GB of RAM, as well as a micro usb and hdmi connection. It is also likely to come packed with a front and back camera and dual speakers and a keyboard dock.

This tablet is needed if the Windows OS is ever to make a major indent into the tablet market, because its within the 7 or 8 inch size is where the most growth has occurred recently within the tablet arena .

This comes after rumours that Microsoft might be developing a smaller tablet of its own. The release date is rumoured to around summertime.

Filed Under: Tablets & PCs Tagged With: 8 inch Windows 8 tablet, Acer Iconia W3

Rumours of a 7 inch Windows tablet intensify

April 19, 2013 by admin

The outgoing chief financial officer of Microsoft Peter Klein has hinted that the firm could be soon entering the burgeoning 7-inch tablet market.

He says that during the firm’s third-quarter earnings call that ”smaller touch screen devices running the Windows operating system are due to arrive on the market “in the coming months”.

He also pointed out that “a new suite of small touch devices powered by Windows” will be competing soon with the likes of the iPad mini and the Google Nexus 7, according to CNET.

His comments seem to appear to support a recent Wall Street Journal report claiming that Microsoft has already begun work on a tablet device with a 7-inch display.

It worth pointing out it not been officially confirmed whether Microsoft will develop the product itself, its recent move into the tablet hardware market with Surface indicates that this could indeed be a possibility.

Microsoft needs to bring out a 7 inch tablet as soon as possible, because that’s where the consumer demand seems to be coming these days. Just look at the success of the iPad mini Kindle fire Nexus 7 for evidence of this. Its vital that Microsoft crash that party soon.

Filed Under: Microsoft Tagged With: windows 7 inch table

A budget version of the iPhone 5 could be on its way soon

April 19, 2013 by admin

Tactus who are a company who manufacture phone cases have a leaked image of what appears to be an iPhone with a polycarbonate body. They claim to have captured it at a factory in China that provides parts for principle Apple manufacturer called Foxconn.

It seems to have a resemblance of the older 3g and 3gs models, but it looks taller with a flatter back. It also reportedly to be taller, wider and thicker than the iPhone 4 and 4S versions.

The polycarbonate body will undoubtedly lower the manufacturing costs. If this leaked photo is true then Apple could be on to a winner, because Apple urgently needs a budget model out to compete in the middle end of the market.

Other rumours have suggested that the next iPhone model will come in various colours and will come packed with ios 7 which will be a much needed update to the ageing ios software.

Source: Tactus

Filed Under: Iphone XS and G8 news Tagged With: budget iphone 5, ios7, low cost iphone 5

Now that the Samsung Galaxy s4 has been released is it worth the upgrade

April 7, 2013 by admin

As far as i can see, there are only a few advantages in upgrading to the newer S4 model, the first reason is because of the improved optics of the camera, now it has a 13mp shooter compared to the s3 8 mp camera that often never performed as well in the evening when there was less light to go around. Another good reason to upgrade is because of the larger full HD 5 inch screen that gives more space for texting and for doing other tasks, the size increase from 4.8 inches to 5 inches in real terms does make that difference.

Some things have unchanged such as the amount of storage that is offered compared to the previous model which matched the iPhone with 16GB, 32GB and 64GB models plus a micro SD card slot. Also on the software front is not any reason to upgrade, because the s3 and the s4 are both running the latest Android os, which is Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean. However the Galaxy S4 does have a few newer features that include Smart Scroll, Smart Pause and Air Gesture to name a couple. However that the Galaxy S3 will be updated with some of the new features in the near future.

The other reasons listed why you should upgrade to this model seem to be marketing gimmicks to make you buy it. For example they say that the screen 441ppi pixel density is higher than the Samsung s3 which had a ppi density of 306, but in the real world that does not mean that much, due the the human eye not being able to tell the difference between that of the Samsung s3 and s4 screens. due to the ppi density of the screens being so high on both of the models.

Often it is quoted as having a better battery than the s3, because it has been upgraded from 2,100mAh to 2,600mAh. However in real terms it will not perform much longer than the s3, due to the larger screen using more power and there being more processing power in the s4 version. For example the new Exynos 5 Octa processor has four Cortex-A15 cores clocked at 1.6GHz for performance while the remaining four are Cortex-A7s clocked at 1.2GHz for less demanding tasks and power saving. However in real terms the new Exynos 5 Octo-core processor in the s4 is likely to be prove to be more power hungry than the previous Exynos 4 Quad processor which was used in the s3 version which was clocked at 1.4GHz.

So to conclude if want a better performing camera and a larger screen size go for the upgrade otherwise it just not worth upgrading to the s4.

Filed Under: Android Tagged With: Samsung Galaxy S3, Samsung Galaxy S4

The bbc iplayer will be launching soon on the windows phone

March 5, 2013 by admin

The bbc has posted today on it’s blog that it intends to launch the bbc iPlayer soon on the Windows phone. This is great news for the users of the OS, the iPlayer has been on the other most popular OS’s such as Android and iOS for some time. At the moment users can access the iPlayer via the phones web browser, but when the new app is released it will provide Windows users with an option to access the iPlayer via the tile interface on the home screen. This will be most welcomed by Windows users.

The BBC Future Media head of business development Cyrus Saihan sayin a blog post,: “We will be releasing a shortcut to BBC iPlayer in the near future which will be available in the Windows Phone Store, enabling the BBC iPlayer website to work on Windows Phone 7.5 and 8 via a live tile.

“This shortcut will wrap the BBC iPlayer mobile website together with our media player. Hopefully these and other developments will help to expand our online reach further.”

He also points out that: “Our latest figures show that over 650 different device types can access BBC iPlayer. Working with the industry in ways like this helps our digital services reach more of the UK’s online population and gives our audiences ever increasing ways to access BBC services.”

It was inevitable that the BBC would eventually support the OS, because the Windows OS is growing fast within the UK. According to the popular website Digitalspy, it has grown by as much as 250% within the past year. They also claim that the OS has now over 6% of the UK market share and they say that it is set to grow further in the years to follow.

Filed Under: Microsoft Tagged With: BBC Online, iPlayer, mobile, Windows mobile iplayer

The Xbox 720 could be launched as early as April 26

March 2, 2013 by admin

The seems to be an increasing frequency of new rumours, reports and leaks, that seems to suggest that an official launch date of the Xbox 720 is not too far away. For example a website called pc-tablet says it could even be launched as early as April the 26th and they also claim that they could be partnering with EA who are a major games developer. This would certainly give Microsoft leverage within the gaming arena.

The new Xbox 720 is expected to get a major upgrade, rumours indicate that the consoles 7000 series graphics card that is made by AMD will get a major revision, which is based on its 28nm Graphics Core Next (GCN) Southern Islands tech.

According to unnamed sources on the VG247 website that the graphics set up in the Xbox 720 is going to be “like two PCs taped together” which if that’s true will produce a better overall gaming experience.

The sources go on to say that the two GPUs in the Xbox 720 “aren’t structured as they are in a normal dual PC set-up,” with each chip working separately to draw different items simultaneously. This hardware configuration if true should also help further increase the overall performance of the hardware.

The enhanced graphic capabilities provided by the new graphics chip should be able to elevate the new Xbox to the level of the rumoured specs of the Sony PS4 which is also expected to contain AMD Southern Islands graphics as well as an AMD x86 CPU processor. However there are some other rumours on the VG247 website that suggest that the new Xbox will be slightly less powerful than the rumoured Ps4, but to compensate for this more ram will be used.

But there is an interesting fact that needs to be noted, if you compare gaming consoles with the most advanced gaming pc’s they appear to be underwhelming and slightly out of date amd pc’s.

There are more rumours that suggest that Microsoft are planning something more ground breaking. These rumours come from a website called computerandvideogames that suggest that the new Xbox 720 is likely to come packed with a 16-core CPU, which would certainly add some much needed muscle to the maybe-possibly underpowered graphics card that is rumoured to be coming with this gaming device.

The new Xbox is also expected to come with blue ray and is likely to also come packed with dvr features.

If most of these rumours turn out to be true then we will be in for an super gaming and multimedia device that will have many more uses than just simply gaming.

Filed Under: Other tech news and developments Tagged With: 16-core CPU, amd 7000 series graphics card, blue ray, sony ps4, xbox 720

The Samsung Galaxy S4 is rumoured to be dropping Amoled screen technology

February 24, 2013 by admin

As the Samsung Galaxy S4 release date is getting closer, more and more leaked images and details of the device seem to be hitting the web.

The rumours indicate that the release of the Samsung Galaxy S4 is getting really close, in fact according to Reuters the release could be as early as next month.

According to a recent post on the SamMobile website, the S4 will not be coming with a AMOLED display and a Exynos processor. Instead it will be powered by a Snapdragon 600 quad-core processor with 1.9 GHz clock speed. This is the same processor that is currently being used in the HTC One. The reason they are not using the next generation Exynos 5 Octo processor is due to over heating issues. The AMOLED display that is currently being used in the S3 model is going to be replaced with a display based on SoLux display technology.

Other rumours state that the phone is most likely to come with 4.99 inch full-HD display which will be almost edge to edge, 2GB RAM, 13 megapixel camera. The phone is also expected to be offered in three storage sizes, such as 16GB, 32GB and 64GB.

If all these rumours are true then this will be the ultimate smart phone ever made like its predecessor the Galaxy S3 and Samsung will continue to hold the crown of having the best smart phone ever made. The competition such as Apple will have to bring out something special in order to top this. However according to the website slashgear Apple are considering bringing out an iPhone with a larger 4.8 display to fight off the competition. Another website called apple24seven also claims that iO7 is likely to also get a major update in order to further fight off the competition.

Filed Under: Android Tagged With: amoled, apple, release date march, Samsung Galaxy S4, SoLux display technology

Windows tablets will only have 10.3% of the market in 2016

February 23, 2013 by admin

A recent IDC report about tablets concludes that Windows tablet sales will only command 10.3% of the market in the next three years. But on the lighter note the market will see an explosion of tablets sold in 3 years time, according to report by 2016. The IDC expects a whopping 282.7 million tablets to be sold. This explosion in the use sage of tablets could be attributed to the cheaper availability of tablets and the improved performance and capabilities of tablets.

However they go on to state that Windows tablets are only expected to grow from a mere 2.9% market share which it has now to 10.3% in 2016. But in terms of actual shipments, Windows tablets will see a 69.2% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), while Apple will see a 20.9% CAGR and Android a 21% CAGR.

While that 69.2% CAGR appears to be impressive on paper, but you need to keep in mind that Microsoft has just started shipping tablets, so it’s very easy for them to be able to rack up these high numbers. In real terms Apple’s 20.9% and Android’s 21% is much more impressive.

Apple will continue to be the dominant player in the field rule for years to come, but their market share will continue to see a gradual erosion in the coming years according to the IDC report. For example Apple in 2012 had around 53.8% of the market, and by 2016 it will have 49.7% of the market according to the report. Interestingly they also state that Android’s market share is likely to suffer from erosion too. For example their market share is expected to fall from 42.7% to 39.7% in 2016.

In conclusion it is not surprising that Apples market share is slowly being eroded, which is largely due to the market becoming an ever more crowded place. However if these 2016 figures turn out to be true for Microsoft then it not good news for Microsoft. It would have clearly demonstrated that the Windows 8 experiment of designing a tablet operating system for PCs as a way to get people used to the tablet interface in order for them to purchase tablets has been a failure.

Filed Under: Microsoft Tagged With: 2016, Android, apple, Microsoft, Windows tablets. 10.3% market share

Evasi0n is the most popular jailbreak of all time

February 9, 2013 by admin

According to Alexa, since the launch of the jailbreak 6 days ago the jailbreak website called Evasion has seen an unprecedented amount of visitors. Almost seven million iPhone, iPad and iPod touch owners have cracked Apple’s restrictions on their devices using the jail breaking tool.

Jay Freeman, the administrator of the app store for jailbroken devices known as Cydia also confirms this by stating,”As of Thursday night, Cydia the alternative app store had received visits from 5.15 million iPhones, 1.35 million iPads, and 400,000 iPod touches that were jailbroken with evasi0n, the first jail breaking software for the iPhone 5 and iOS 6.1.”

He also says: “That makes the iOS-hacking app the fastest-adopted jailbreak software of all time”.

There are a few reasons behind the popularity of this jailbreak. Firstly there is a much larger number of iOS devices than ever before circulating around than when there was a previous jailbreak available. Apple sold 136 million phones in 2012, according to the latest figures from analyst firm Canalys.

The other reason fuelling the popularity is the fact that Apple locks down too many too many things on iOS devices. People desperately just want more options, like what Android users are accustomed too such as the option to customise their phone appearance or the option to choose their favourite app what has been banned by apple.

Apple unfortunately seem to be slowly gaining an advantage in this constant cat and mouse game, because Apple are getting better that keeping jailbreak hackers at bay through improved security. It took hackers as much as 136 days to crack iOS 6.1, compared to just 98 days for the iPhone 4S, 38 days for the iPhone 4, and just 14 days for the iPhone 3GS. Who knows when iOS7 is released how long it will take for the jailbreak to become available, their could become a time where is no jailbreak possible. Apple really need to allow users to do more with their devices. If they continue not to listen, then they will continue to loose customers to Android.

Filed Under: Apple Tagged With: Android, cydia, Evasi0n jailbreak, Evasion, ios, Ipad, iphone, ipod, Jay Freeman, most popular