Thursday 10 January 2013

The iPhone mini Would Help Apple Reach 580 Million New Customers







Were Apple to make available a less expensive iPhone, it would allow the company to reach 580 million potential consumers. These users represent 65 percent of the smartphone market, according to AppleInsider.
Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray is out with his initial take on the so-called iPhone mini. The technology analyst believes that the device would not only prove successful, but also not hurt Apple’s profit margins.
He believe a low-cost iPhone would generate $6.5 billion in revenue for Apple in 2013 alone. He expects Apple to charge $199 for the phone, which will be geared towards emerging markets such as China.

Monday 7 January 2013

Windows Phone programming for iOS programmers (and iOS coding tips)





With the release of Windows Phone 8 and backed by (at least when it comes to Nokia) truly excellent and unique hardware manufacturers, Microsoft's mobile platform has become really interesting. Therefore, I, a seasoned iOS programmer (and iOS programming lecturer) decided to provide you, preferably an iOS programmer (or at least a geek interested in coding) a long tutorial series specifically tailored for fellow iOS programmers to greatly help getting up to speed with Windows Phone (WP for short) programming.

Sunday 6 January 2013

Find Out Who Is Checking Out Your LinkedIn Profile













If you want to see if potential employers are viewing your resume Reddit user benjimusprime found any easy way to see who is viewing your profile. On the LinkedIn stats page you'll often see a message that "1 of these 10 industry professionals" has viewed your profile. Take a screenshot of the list of names and go back the next day where you will have 9 new randomly-generated "industry professionals" and the real person from yesterday who viewed your profile.
Who knows how long this exploit will work until LinkedIn updates their algorithm but until then enjoy finding out which potential employers are evaluating you.



Who knows how long this exploit will work until LinkedIn updates their algorithm but until then enjoy finding out which potential employers are evaluating you.

Samsung to test the waters with Tizen OS in 2013






Samsung and Android go together like peanut butter and jelly. Android wouldn’t have gained so much market dominance without Samsung’s Galaxy line, and that Galaxy lineup wouldn’t exist without Android. Surely these two would enjoy a long, peaceful relationship for the foreseeable future, right? Maybe not. Samsung is reportedly looking at launching several phones running Tizen instead of Android in 2013. Now, this isn’t weird for Samsung, as they do have other phones running Bada, although they don’t have the success Android does, but if Tizen does well enough in its initial Eastern launch, don’t be surprised to see Samsung slowly bring a few devices across the sea.
Samsung is understandably in a position where it really needs to make sure it isn’t too dependent on another partner, like Google. If Google were to take Android down a path that Samsung didn’t agree with, for instance, it wouldn’t hurt to have a backup plan. This is obviously speculation for something that won’t happen for another several years, so no one should worry about the Galaxy S IV running something other than our beloved Android. But if Samsung did launch a competing OS and app ecosystem, would any of you give it a chance?



source: BGR

Crytek: Crysis 4 might not be an FPS

Prophet’s William Tell LARPing session takes a turn for the interesting.
After the glossy trilogy’s completion, Crytek could explore other genres for the Crysis franchise. Speaking to Dusty Cartridge, Crytek Producer Michael Read said he believed the don’t-call-it-Crysis-4 sequel would keep the saga going, but not necessarily as a shooter.


Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli’s dedication to solidifying a free-to-play version of Crysis might hint at future releases incorporating similar business models, but the studio hasn’t elaborated on its actual design plans. So long as I’m able to continually bewilder Tyler with nothing but an overgrown lawn, I’m up for anything.


 source






  

The Pirate Bay Is Down Across the Globe

If you sketchily poked on over to the Pirate Bay to do a little downloading of a legal, quasi-legal, or outright illegal nature recently, you may have noticed you can't get through. No, your ISP hasn't started blocking it; it's down for everyone, everywhere. Proxies too.
It's not uncommon for the Pirate Bay (or any site really) to have a spell of downtime now and then, but considering all the enemies the Bay has, there's always that lingering question: "Is this the time it doesn't come back?" So far the Pirate Bay admins haven't weighed in on a cause, but it's probably just a glitch, but you never know with these things. [TorrentFreak]

 source

Samsung Galaxy S IV tipped for May release

While we all know Samsung is preparing their next generation smartphone, today the folks from Samsung Lebanon posted to their Facebook Page and revealed some information — of sorts. During some discussion the release date of the upcoming device was brought up, and was clearly detailed as May of 2013. For those expecting a CES reveal, sorry to let you down.


We probably won’t see it at MWC either as Samsung will hold their own event for the Galaxy S IV specifically, just as they did with their new flagship Galaxy S III. They want their own stage, and the smartphone rightfully deserves one. The actual comment on Facebook was “The Galaxy SIV won’t be released before May 2013.” Which not only confirms the name, but also confirms its existence — even though we all know it’s coming.
Their yearly release schedule shouldn’t really be a surprise to anyone. Samsung released the Galaxy S II around the same April date, followed by the exact same thing with their Galaxy S III. Just like many others, they will release a new flagship each year around the same time. So this only makes sense and is no way anything extremely exciting.
“Hello guys,
What we said is only trivial since all Galaxy S series are released between late April and Early May, yet there’s no way for anyone to know the exact release date ” – Samsung Lebanon
Then after a few blogs went wild with the news, Samsung’s Facebook page updated with the comment you see above. Basically stating exactly what we all thought. That the comment wasn’t trivial and we should all relax. With that news, we’ll just let you check out the multiple links, details, and leaks below that we’ve gathered on Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy S IV smartphone. Hopefully we see a few leaks soon and can all get excited.

source

Wilson Electronics announces Sleek 4G signal booster with multi-carrier support






If you've ever found yourself on a lone road in the middle of nowhere with zero bars of reception on your phone, it's quite likely that you've entertained the idea of grabbing a signal booster. Wilson Electronics, one of the best known manufacturers of such devices, is introducing its latest Sleek 4G booster at CES. What makes this version different from the models launched just a few months ago? Instead of needing separate boosters for AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile, it's now capable of supporting phones, tablets and hotspots on all three, as well as legacy signals for all other US carriers. Head to the press release for more details.

source

Fulton's latest innovation: a tablet that also functions as a wireless charging mat









Fulton Innovation has been showing off advances in wireless power at CES for years now, and while the technology still isn't exactly mainstream, it got a bit of a boost in 2012. High-profile phones like the Nokia Lumia 920, HTC Droid DNA, and Nexus 4 are all compatible with the Qi standard that Fulton supports, and we'd expect to see even more devices include the feature in 2013.

source

Saturday 5 January 2013

Wii U buyers can reportedly redownload games bought by the previous owner






Wii or Wii U owners already know that transferring account data between consoles can be a nightmare, with Nintendo network accounts strongly linked to the hardware they're on. In many cases, selling a console or having one break means losing the games you've downloaded. But a NeoGAF forum member who bought the Wii U used is now saying that he's reaped an unexpected benefit from the policy. User "DSN2K" says that after setting up a used Wii U with a new account, he was able to redownload games the previous owner had purchased in the eShop despite the console having been wiped. We've reached out to Nintendo for comment on the matter and will update with any further information.
Other users have reported similar stories with the 3DS and original Wii, and Nintendo's nigh-permanent pairing of accounts and consoles mean it's not that surprising if it's happening with the Wii U. In theory, it's possible for Nintendo to manually transfer games to a different console, but the system is unwieldy, and leaving the games associated with the old machine under a new account may be the best people can expect. We haven't, however, been able to confirm this story ourselves, and actually finding the games on a system may require examining each title to see if it's freely downloadable. If this is happening, it's yet another sign of the widening gap between Nintendo's digital distribution system and the more portable model used in the rest of the gaming world.

Sources: Sony could launch world's first 4K OLED TV at CES




Sony backed away from OLED TVs by showing off its Crystal LED TV prototype at CES last year, but it looks like the company could be competing with LG and Samsung this time around. Sources tell us that Sony will show off a 4K OLED TV at CES 2013, meaning it could be our first chance to see an Ultra High-Definition OLED display. LG said last year that it plans to launch a 4K OLED set in 2013, but we haven't heard anything since.
Sony was the first company to announce a commercial OLED TV back in 2007, but its XEL-1 set was only 11 inches big; unsurprisingly, it failed to make much of a splash in the consumer space. The company did tell us at last year's CES that it was continuing to work on OLED technology — we'll see if this is the year that it returns to the field.

Is it crazy to think that can we see a Yahoo! phone or mobile OS at some point?






There is a major Internet brand in Silicon Valley that has hundreds of millions of users, significantly improving mobile apps, a position that places it between the Big 4 of Apple, Google, Microsoft and Amazon, and it may not be out of the realm of possibility that it could come out with a smartphone or OS or both sometime in the not-too-distant future.
Facebook? Sure, most likely – maybe even a sure bet. But, as Yoda would say, there is another…
Yep, Yahoo!
A year ago, suggesting this post would have been laughed right out of The Next Web back-channel, right? Well, funny thing is, 14 months ago in Japan, someone (Softbank) actually released a Yahoo! phone, with full-on Yahoo! branding and quick access to the portal’s many services, including mail, calendar, etc. Of course that was in Japan where Yahoo! is the #1 site in the land and it was released by Softbank, which is a major shareholder in Yahoo! Japan. Oh, and it was just a custom skin built on Android 2.3, on a more or less run-of-the-mill Android phone. But still, it shows that the idea is not completely insane (right?).
It’s pretty clear that new CEO Marissa Mayer is (rightly so) aiming at mobile for the company’s resurgence, and the recent successful revamp of Yahoo!’s Mail and Flickr apps are encouraging signs that the company is on the right track. Obviously, revamping apps is a far cry from a phone or mobile OS - Mayer has said that Yahoo! doesn’t need an OS to compete– but let’s just say for a few minutes that that Yahoo! will ramp up its mobile strategy to enter the handset market and think about what it might take…
Like Facebook, it is extremely doubtful that Yahoo! would build the hardware of any Yahoo! phone. While Microsoft has gone that route with the Surface, and Google is most likely on thecusp of a homegrown phone, both companies have more resources than Yahoo!. However, there is no reason that Yahoo! couldn’t find a strong hardware partner to work with.

Library of Congress Twitter Collection: 170 Billion Tweets Strong

When future generations look back to get a general sense of the zeitgeist from the past six years or so, they'll have plenty of digital information to look at – it'll just be limited to 140 characters or less.
At least, that's the premise put forth by the "Twitter collection" at the Library of Congress. If you've been curious about how much data the Library has amassed as part of its plan to archive all public tweets, first announced in April 2010, the Library has a pretty beefy number that it's now able to announce: 170 billion tweets.
Just to put that number into a bit of perspective, the Library received around 140 million tweets for archiving – each day – in Feb. 2011. The pipe expanded to approximately half a billion daily tweets by Oct. 2012, and it stands to reason that the Library will likely be processing...

Apple now selling refurbished 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display beginning at $1,869

  



We can't say we're exactly surprised to see Apple's next-generation MacBook Pro show up on the company's "Certified Refurbished" online store -- still, it's good news for folks looking to save a little cash while getting a taste of Retina MBP straight from the source. Currently, Apple is only offering the 15-inch model (with a 2.3GHz, quad-core i7 CPU, 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD) for $1,869, making it about $330 less than its non-refurbished counterpart -- of course, that premium price tag also includes the accustomed one-year manufacturer's warranty, which is a good security blanket to have when shelling out this much capital. As is usually the case with Cupertino's rejuvenated goods, though, supplies may be somewhat limited, so now could be a great time to jump on the MacBook Pro with Retina display bandwagon.



Source: Apple

Samsung Korea posts Galaxy S II Jelly Bean update details, but not the release date






Samsung Galaxy S II owners waiting for an update that adds features (instead of taking them away) may not have long to wait, now that support pages for the official Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update -- announced months ago -- have been found on the company's Korean website. Listing details for all three local carriers, the update will arrive via KIES and change the amount of available internal memory from 12GB to 11GB. Other than the usual list of Android 4.1 features, it will also preload the Google+ and some additional Play apps while adding Samsung features like Smart Stay. There's no word yet on exactly when the official update will arrive (or a schedule for rollout on US carrier editions), but once it's out in Korea it shouldn't take much for owners of the GT-I9100 international version to try it out as well.


Source: Samsung Korea, XDA-Developers