iPad 6 Case

2014年2月9日星期日

Apple granted a broad location-services patent that would be really hard to go around

Apple was granted a pretty stiff location-services patent that was retrieved from Xerox about two years ago. Originally Xerox filed for it in 1998 and had received it in the year 2000. The patent is quite broad in its terms so this could mean trouble for Android and company.

The patent refers to any system that is location-based, that needs to transmit a location to a network and receive information back.

Those in jeopardy of this patent also include online location check-in services such as Facebook and Foursquare. It could very well grant Apple the right to ask for payments for the use of their patented technology.

The questions now are how serious this patent will turn out to be and how is Apple going to use it.

Source

ASUS Transformer Prime update to come tomorrow with LAN support and lockscreen notifications

ASUS US just announced that the Transformer Prime is getting “awesome new features” thanks to an upcoming update. However, it didn’t provide any details about the said update so ASUS Italy had to come to the rescue and reveal the mystery.

And the news are heart-warming indeed. ASUS will launch an important update tomorrow, March 29 which will bring support for a new accessory called “Prime LAN cable”. Yes, the Transformer Prime will be able to rock an Ethernet LAN connection thus getting one step closer to being a full-fledged netbook.

The accessory in question will hook up to the tablet’s USB port (found on the keyboard dock) allowing you to just plug in your regular Ethernet cable. The update, version 9.4.2.21 for those of you keeping track, also makes the camera app a part of the firmware itselt, so it doesn’t need to be updated separately in the future.

Other notable changes include Face Unlock, controlling notifications from the lockscreen, renaming Android Market to Play Store and ASUS Vibe will go to v2.0 sporting an improved UI and more content.

And if that wasn’t enough, ASUS also added Ad-hoc Wi-Fi support alongside numerous wireless bugfixes and the ability to scale video displayed through the HDMI port. ASUS Italy also hinted that the next update for the Transformer Prime is already in the works, but we didn’t get a date for the release of that one.

Source (1) | Via | Source (2)

Android 4

Android 4.1 Jelly Bean ported to the T-Mobile G1

The opensource nature of the Android OS means new updates are often found running on older phones before they officially hit the newer devices.

Keeping with that tradition, today we are about to see the very latest version of Android running on the very first commercially sold Android phone. Yes, you are about to see Jelly Bean running on the T-Mobile G1.

This hack was put together by the folks at SoCal Devs and they have details on how to go about doing it on xda-developers forums. While it’s not exactly Project Butter (more like Project Stutter) nor is it particularly stable, the phone does seem to be able to run it somehow.

If you still have this phone lying around you can try this hack and have some fun with it. Just don’t expect to be able to use it on a daily basis.

Source

2014年1月6日星期一

Android handsets batteries should last for more than a day

Android handsets batteries should last for more than a day, Google says

While we never experienced this with our review units, there are plenty of Andriod handsets owners who claim that their batteries cannot last even a day on a single charge. One of Google co-founders Larry Page, however, denied that this has anything to do with the OS and claimed that there is something wrong with the third-party software installed on the devices experiencing such problems.

A member of the audience at the Google Zeitgeist annual partner forum asked Page if his company planned to do something about the battery life of Android handsets, but he responded that he was happy with the endurance of Android-powered smartphones batteries.

Page accused the installed apps of causing the problems and claimed that software running in the background exhausts the battery quickly. If you listen really hard you will hear Steve Jobs’ laughter all the way from his Cupertino office.

Source

Android Market app gets updated to 3

Android Market app gets updated to 3.3.11, lets you auto update all apps

Google has released a newer version of the Android Market app. v3.3.11 is currently rolling out to devices and should be available for download soon on your device.

Among the list of changes is the ability to auto-update all the apps. Initially, you had to manually go to every app on the Market and select the auto-update option. Now the phone will update the apps in the background whenever a new update comes out.

Another new feature is the ability to restrict auto app updates only over Wi-Fi, so even if you have auto-update enabled, you don’t have to worry about large apps getting downloaded in the background and consuming expensive data.

Third major feature is the ability to automatically put an icon for the app on the homescreen once it finishes downloading, something that Honeycomb could already do.

Apart from these there are minor changes to the UI, such as a smaller font, new icon, rating chart on app pages and a microphone button in search menu for voice search.

You can download the app from the source link below.

Source

2013年12月15日星期日

Microsoft Surface announcement event is now online

Microsoft Surface announcement event is now online, watch it here

Yesterday, Microsoft unveiled the Surface and Surface Pro tablets at its event in Los Angeles and now the full keynote has been uploaded online for your viewing pleasure.

The event goes on for about 48 minutes and demonstrates the cool Touch Cover and Type Cover and how they function on the Surface and Surface Pro.

So, grab yourself some popcorn and enjoy the video below. Note that you’ll need an HTML5 enabled browser to view it here. If you want a direct link to the video, head to the source link below.

Source | Via

Google acquires popular email client Sparrow

In an interesting move, Google has acquired Sparrow, a popular email client for OS X and iOS. The acquisition was announced by Sparrow’s CEO Dom Leca on their website. According to The Verge, this acquisition cost Google under $25 million.

Now, if you are wondering whether this move will somehow result in a better version of the app then you are in for disappointment. This is basically a talent acquisition, which means Google will be using the talented team behind the excellent Sparrow app to improve their own email client. Sparrow, meanwhile, will be pretty much abandoned, with no new features to be added in future. You can also forget about that iPad app that was supposedly in the works.

This move has naturally met with criticisms from those who purchased and have been using this app for a while now. Although the apps are already pretty awesome and will continue to be sold through the App Store, the fact that there won’t be any further improvements is quite a bummer.

Hopefully, Google makes it all worthwhile by releasing some slick new Gmail apps in the future.

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