Today In The News, Blackberry, Samsung, Apple & More!

T-Mobiles Apple iPhone 5 is expected to sell a healthy 3 million units this year which is kind of a big deal since T-Mob hasn't really had a big launch event for any flagship phone as of late. Also in the news we have a review for the Samsung Galaxy S IV vs. Apple iPhone 5 here at the link. Blackberry Z10 is now available on Verizon's network. Also in Apple world we have a patent that was leaked on the web today that is quite innovative and shows a wrap around amoled screen which would be an amazing feat. Samsung seems to be asking a premium price for their new flagship, at least on AT&T anyway. Lastly Motorola rumors suggest that their new "X" phone will not be as awesome as some have hoped for. Meh....

Pocketnow Apple Article I Love

Pocketnow has an article up talking about Apple and how they need more than the iPhone 5s in order to compete again and I whole heartily agree. Check out the link here!

Are Smartphones Really That Smart?

So instead of writing about talking about Samsung or Apple today per the usual I am emphasizing more on core features of the smartphone and what makes them so smart. First and foremost internet browsing is great to have but even non smart phones could do that before we had today's smartphones. Cameras were also prevalent on non smartphones too as well as texting capabilities. So what is it that makes smartphones stand out so much? It certainly isn't their battery life, my old phones used to last me two days before needing a charge and that was with texting and making a few calls a day. In fact the only smart phone that I am aware of that actually last for a couple days without charge is the Droid Razor Maxx. So again I reiterate what makes a smartphone so special? Hint, Apple has made a killing off of it since the beginning of the iPhone. Apps and if you guessed that then goo job. Most non smart phones are only capable of carrier made apps or if you have a phone that supports J2ME(Java To Micro Edition). With the introduction to apps we have a world full of customization, or lack there of depending on the platform, which makes our smartphones just that much more smart. However there is a cost to this. First and foremost you pay a premium for the handset, the service, the carrier plans, and the battery life. On average app can drain you battery life by 25% and some as much as half depending on what app you are using. Pandora is one of the power hungry ones that I personally love but hate too. So where or what is the fix for this? So far it seems power sipping processors and customizing the software is helping but what really makes the phones last longer? The battery of course! The problem with the battery is that they can only be so big before compromising the size and aesthetics of the phone. Hence the screen wars. Everyone thinks the bigger the better the screen but is it really because manufacturers want bigger screens or are there underlying reasons, cough Larger battery placement cough, that is the question here. So is their another solution besides processors and larger batteries? Yes and the solution is not as simple as the answer. Solar power for your cellular phones. Yes you still need a battery to run a solar powered phone and yes you still will have to charge the phone from time to time and you will also be sacrificing the aesthetics a bit and size will be an issue but what if you didn't mind having the back of the phone covered in solar panels and just used a clear case for extra protection? Technology is advanced enough to be able to do this and sorry to say the money hungry corporations out there that want you to buy new batteries and new phones all the time are whats making solar power not just for phones difficult to accomplish. So with all of this said I ask you the consumer. What kind of smartphone do you want for the future? One that's truly smart or one that's just what the manufacturers want you to think is smart?

T-Mobile's Big Surprise Err Not So Much Surprise

So today T-Mob announced(officially) their new uncarrier plans and that they will be carrying the iPhone 5, $99 on contract, as well as the Samsung Galaxy SIV. The cool thing here is that you can buy a phone and pay an up front fee without having to be in a contract. In theory this is awesome right? Well there's always a catch. Yes you pay a small up front fee and only $20 a month for 20 months which is $500 for an iPhone 5 but if you decide to leave T-Mobile and go elsewhere you have to pay for the phone up front of make monthly payments until the phone can be unlocked from T-Mobile and used elsewhere. So is that necessarily a bad thing? Not really but it's still a catch but hey they have to look out for themselves someway. In other news T-Mobile has the Blackberry Z10 available today and lets just say the trend I saw with AT&T is sticking. No marketing and reps barely knew anything about the device. Either Rim hasn't been sending out enough field reps for training in store reps or something is amiss.

Uber For Windows Phone and BB7 Now Available

Uber just released an updated version of it's ingenious application for Android recently; which, in turn, brought it up to snuff. According to the official announcement, the latest version introduces a plethora of new, desirable features -- 4sq integration, a fare calculator and a redesigned UI. 

But what's more interesting is the release of Uber for Windows Phone (7.8+) and BB7. Now everyone and their mother can easily summon a private car at will. There's been no indication that Uber intends to support BB10, but chances are they will. It seems the company aims to get their app on every device imaginable, and you can't be mad at that. Follow the link for store links and more information. 

Called It! Blackberry Sales Are Amiss!

With the launch of the Z10 from Blackberry last week the sales have been more than lacking. I decided to check out a few AT&T stores to get some input here in Richmond and my original thoughts were spot on. None of the stores had any marketing for the Z10 at all and when I spoke with the reps one even said sales were less than sub par and even said they will be a flop and dead in the water within a year. Did I agree with him? You bet I did and here's why. I reiterate that history repeats itself here and Blackberry sure seems to be going the same route as Palm did. Maybe not so much in the new OS route but definitely in the way of having lackluster hardware and marketing to push their new flagship model. I mean even Palm pushed marketing for their Pre in the weirdest television ads I have seen for mobile devices to date but at least they did something. So this leads me to believe that if Blackberry doesn't do something quick, and not announcing a better future device before the newest flagship is available, they are dead in the water... 

Remembering the Words of Wisdom: "HUAWEI"

Huawei Premia 4G now available at MetroPCS

The carrier's second Huawei 4G LTE smartphone runs Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and features a 4.0-inch display.

by Scott Webster

@swebster77

The Huawei Premia 4G is MetroPCS's latest Android smartphone.

(Credit: MetroPCS)

Today, MetroPCS and Huawei announced their latest collaboration, the Huawei Premia 4G.

Related stories:

• Feds approves T-Mobile and MetroPCS merger
• LG Spirit 4G now available from MetroPCS
• T-Mobile reportedly plans layoffs ahead of MetroPCS merger

Powered by Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, the Huawei Premia 4G is the carrier's second smartphone to feature 4G LTE connectivity.
Hardware details include a 4-inch display, a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 1GB RAM, and a 5-megapixel camera. Falling somewhere between the ZTE Avid 4G and the LG Spirit 4G, the Premia 4G should appeal to first-time smartphone buyers.
While the handset does run an older version of Android, Ice Cream Sandwich is still modern enough to hold its appeal. As an affordable smartphone capable of 4G data speeds, the Premia 4G features Joyn by MetroPCS, as well as access to Rhapsody Unlimited Music service.
The Huawei Premia 4G is available in stores and online beginning today for $149.99 and can be paired with rate plans starting at $40 per month.

Blackberry Available For AT&T Today & More!

Blackberry has the Z10 available through AT&T today and I for one am curious as to how they will sell. Apparently Thorsten Heins has said that they have a even better device in the works for the holidays. Double edged sword? Maybe but who knows how the consumers will respond to this news and how it will affect the Z10 sales. I for one think history repeats itself and Blackberry has been brushed off as another Palm. In other news we have ZTE bringing to light the Grand X Quad which looks to be a pretty decent device and a sibling to the Grand S running a quad core processor clocked at 1.2GHz. HTC says the One will be available in the US at the end of April which may or not be a good thing since Samsung Galaxy S IV will be available just around the corner. Lastly here's a bit of info on T-Mobile value plans and that's it so far!

Google Releases Evernote Competitor

Following the announcement of the tragic demise of Reader [I know, it breaks my heart, too,] Google pulls the veil off their latest take on a product that already exists in an effort to garner an audience that seeks a solution to a problem that's already been addressed accordingly. 

Google Keep, for all intents and purposes, is a direct reflection of  Evernote.The app is a tool that allows one to efficiently organize and record their thoughts in one place. It supports a variety of media -- text, audio, photo etc. -- and is fully integrated with Google Drive, keeping your data insanely secure and wildly accessible. It also has a web component, adding yet another layer of accessibility. 

Keep is currently exclusive to Android devices, so I haven't had the opportunity to use it yet. However, judging from what I've seen, it's very well-designed. The interface is slick and vibrant; you've got a little tile-action going on there, which I like. It strikes me as an app that's pretty easy to use. I think it'll be well-received by those that choose to try it. Will those users find value in it? I don't know. Is it any better than products like Evernote or, let's say, Catch? Well that's to be determined. 

Keep is currently live in Google Play. Install it, toy around with it, and let me know how you feel about it. I'm intrigued. 

Pandora for Windows Phone 8 Finally!

So Pandora finally has come out with their Windows Phone 8 app, which is amazingly done by the way. It also supports unlimited skipping which is nice and is commercial free. So now Android and iOS users have something to be jealous about. I am for once a tid bit jealous. Apple has come in once again on top with customer satisfaction from J.D. Power. Blackberry is touting that they now have topped one hundred thousand apps in their market, which I doubt will save them if they are't major apps. Eric Schmidt hinted at a Google now app for iOS which Apple may or may not approve. Also one company to look out for is Huawei as a whole they are starting to gain ground in the Android market, small but nonetheless something you shouldn't overlook. Thanks for reading!

What's Going On With Samsung & Microsoft?

In the news today we have more Samsung babble and jibber jabber but here's an interesting take on Windows attacking Samsung. Apparently Samsung has ruffled Window's feathers a bit especially with not adapting their Windows Mobile platform on their devices which may or may not be a way to cripple Windows in order to promote their own OS Tizen. In other news we have rumors of potential Kindle Fire HD tablets running at $99 which would be a noticeable competitor in the low end tablet category. Also in today's news Google is working on their Babble project in order to unify multiple chat clients to go head to head with BBM and Apple ios messaging. Lastly there are rumors floating around about Nokia working on solar powered devices which is interesting to hear because the devices size would be compromised and since thinner is apparently better would it be something people would actually be interested in for the long haul. Thanks for reading folks!

The Day Of Samsung?

So today in news we have more trash talk coming from HTC against Samsung. HTC also was showing off their new HTC One in NYC last week to compete against Samsung. Also in news Samsung has a watch in the works to go head to head with Apples new watch. LG has its sites also on Samsung for infringing on certain patents. Also in Samsung world we have new benchmarks that have been done by Geekbench testing the new Galaxy S IV out against Apple's iPhone 5, HTC One, and the Nexus 4, the results are impressive. Lastly in Samsung world we have a controller being used to play games on the Samsung S IV to compete against actual consoles apparently.

In the rumor mill we have Motorola dropping a few code names, Yeti, Sasquatch, and Ghost, one of which could be the next Google X phone and that's it so far for today folks!

HTC ONE, SAMSUNG GALAXY S IV, APPLE & MORE

Today is Monday folks, we all have our Monday stories but to distract us from the Monday blues here's some for the day. Verizon twitters no HTC One in the works for them. Disappointing? I'm not because it only means they'll do something along the lines as with what they did for the incredible series. Nokia 928 apparently had some camera time in beta mode recently. Apple has become stagnant? Samsung CEO defends the cheap materials used on the SGSIV,and Asus apparently is prepping another nexus device. Any other noteworthy news cones up and I'll update accordingly. Thanks fit reading folks!

EVER WANTED TO BUILD YOUR OWN PHONE? GOOGLE THINKS SO!

So I have had talks before with friends about why can;t you just make a phone how you want it to be. I mean really want it to be, spec wise. I was told that though it is possible that it would make the phone cost way too much money as well as you'd still be limited in upgrades due to how difficult it is to take apart a phone and install actual hardware upgrades. Well it looks as though Google is possibly working on doing just that, or at least paving the roadway to this crazy dream of mine in the future.

Was The Samunsung Announcement What You Were Hoping For?

The Samsung announcement dust has settled and quite frankly it wasn't as action packed as I was hoping for but this doesn't mean that it's not going to be a great seller. However I'd like to know what everyone else's opinion is so I created a poll that you can take in order to give a more accurate answer to the public.
Vote here!

Samsung Galaxy S IV!

So with the announcement of the SGSIV being officially over and done with what are your thoughts? Were you wowed by the specs or overall design or was it another iteration or rehash on another companies trend? The more I look at the trend that Apple has made the more I can't help but to compare the two. It seems as if Samsung took a history lesson and made it their own with the announcement of the SGSIV. Sure the specs are better and the phone is bigger but it still seems that the revolutionary change that was to hit was more or less of an incremental update. Am I the only one disappointed by this or are there others out there who feel the same?

Ting Mobile Service, Samsung Galaxy S IV, LG Optimus G Trolling & More!

So far in today's news we have Ting announcing that they will be supporting the Samsung Galaxy S IV and also the HTC One in the coming months which is quite surprising coming from a smaller service provider that piggybacks off of Sprint's network. Also LG decided to put a banner over in Times Square directly over the Samsung banner to try and steal some of the spotlight. Wonder how much that cost them? Samsung rumors are flying off the shelves as fast as I can type and supposedly support floating touch control and much more. We also have a few high resolution photos floating around the web now as well. In other news we have the Blackberry Z10 apparently selling out in markets in India and that's all I have folks.

Samsung Event Today Stay Tuned!

Today in New York Samsung will be unveiling or should I say announcing the Samsung Galaxy S IV. There hasn't been this much hype about a release since Apples event for the iPhone 5 which was somewhat a lackluster event. This time around it's going to be interesting to see if Samsung is going to follow in the footsteps of Apple or not. The renders are out there of the SGSIV and it looks like a larger version of the S3 so is this becoming a trend for the mobile world? Lets hope not. Also it looks like the Nokia 928 for Verizon will be coming in four shades of color which follows the trend of Microsoft Windows Phones. Stay tuned for more on Samsung and more tomorrow.

No Eye Scrolling For Samsung S IV!? Sim City issues? HTC One delayed!?

Well we already knew that the U.S. version wasn't going to be carrying the octagon processor but another blow came today that we might also be missing out on the eye scrolling technology. Does this really concern anyone out there? Is it really a useful feature or just a gimmicky ploy to make the phone seem more desirable and top notch? Well for starters the eye scrolling technology was/is supposed to be implemented for ease of use with reading things on the screen such as emails, webpages, books, etc. So it is necessary or a make or break deal? I personally don't think so but it would have been a nice feature to have nonetheless.
Microsoft looks to be recruiting for Windows Phone 9 just in time for the next holiday season and looks to be using Nokia and HTC with Qualcomm per the norm. Motorola looks to have a new mystery device with mid range specs coming soon as well.  Oh and how about this concept phone up top courtesy of Phone Arena and Apple Conspiracy. That's a nice looking concept phone. In other news we have the delay of the HTC One and Sim City Fiasco. Look for an live update tomorrow for Samsung's event in New York and thanks for reading!

T-MOBILE & METROPCS MERGER, NOKIA LUMINA 928 & MORE!

Today in the news T-Mobile and MetroPCS seems to have been approved by the FCC. What does this mean to the consumer and to the other carriers on the market? Well if it actually goes through it should be a step in the right direction for T-Mobiles Lte market. More info on that here. Also the rumor mill seems to be throwing us bones with talks of the Nokia Lumina 928 which supposedly will be released in April. Htc is also apparently delaying its One series phone launch till March 29th in the UK. Also in the "Rumor Mill" we have Verizon missing out on the Htc One but possibly offering the Htc Dna Plus to make up for the Ones omission. As always thanks for reading!

Phosphorescent Phones

You can't go to a tech show without running across booths showing off the next great display that can be bent, rolled, twisted and flapped around. We've been hearing about digital newspapers, magazines, etc. on such devices for the last decade, with really nothing to show for it.  While the idea of a smartphone roll-up is a neat thought, unless Samsung, Qualcomm and alike have some crazy technologies up their sleeves to make flexible processors, RAM, modems, etc. I'm pretty certain something like this is a long way off.

So let's focus on the here an now. Over the last couple of years, the major focus for smartphone displays has been on pixel density.  I haven't heard DPI/PPI fought over this hard since the bubble-jet vs. inkjet vs. laser printing debates a decade and a half ago. I'm very happy to look at my 250+ PPI screen, but the increasing size and pixel density and brightness comes with a price...the display eats battery! New ARM processors have all sorts of power saving technologies that get active consumption for the CPU below 1W in normal running states, and lower yet when doing simple tasks like browsing the web, checking email or reading an eBook. Factor in the screen, and consumption has all of the sudden doubled, or in some cases more than doubled. I'm sure android users out there have seen shots similar to this one where better than half of their consumption is eaten up by the display. Apple has curbed this effect by keeping their screens small and sticking with LCD technologies (IPS), but even the  iPhone 5 screen can consume close to 1W of power. Monster AMOLED screens like those on the GS3 can consume up to 2W at full brightness.

Another issue with the screen technologies being used to hit these resolutions is the fact that they all use glass.  Glass is part of the major basis of IPS panels as it requires treated plates of glass to make the technology work. The current AMOLED technologies are also reliant on glass, although they could be made to work with any transparent surface layer.  While the implementation of Gorilla Glass has made a huge impact on scratches, chips and even some level of hard impacts, screen breakage is still a major problem with current smartphones.  I sometimes miss my old Nokia with the plastic screen that you could drop from 10ft off the ground and it would survive 9 out of 10 times!


So, what are companies doing to address these issues...the ones that really matter. Enter PHOLED technology.  PHOLEDs or Phosphorescent Organic Light-Emitting Diodes are similar to other OLED technologies, but in one regard. They use a phosphorescent dopants, which allow for converting nearly 100% of quantum energy generated by the the organic decay versus 25% in current fluorescent dopants. This means that in theory, PHOLED displays will be 4x as efficient as current displays.  If your display makes up 30%-40% of your consumption, you can expect to get 25%-30% better consumption. Additionally, PHOLED displays do not rely on a glass substrate, so flexible materials could be used as the surface layer to eliminate breakage issues.

So what's the catch?  Well, PHOLED displays aren't really that new. The technology has been around for a while, but as with all OLED displays, the organics have a limited operating life. PHOLEDs have much larger variance between colors, and the lifetime numbers are lower. The table below is a sample table showing the aging effects on each PHOLED color. So what does this mean?  Well, as the display ages, the luminosity of each color may fade unevenly, creating color distortion in the display.  In the case of PHOLEDs, the display could potentially start to shift in color over the course of a few months of use. Obviously this is not ideal.

So while PHOLED technology isn't exactly ready for prime time, the geniuses at Samsung have figured out a nifty way to include this technology in their next device. In short, the GSIV is rumored to be replacing a single color in their display with PHOLED technology, specifically the Green-Yellow.  This color has similar life to that of current AMOLEDs, so color distortion should be small and easily correctable. Now, this approach does not give the 4x improvement in efficiency for the entire display, but doing a little nifty math...

Red + Green + Blue = 33.3% + (33.3% / 4) + 33.3% = 75% Consumption

This should at least bring screen consumption back under 1W, and give a few hours extra life to the GSIV, a big step in the right direction.  Future versions (maybe in the GSV?) could be able to do the same with red, making another large step in reducing consumption. This may push OLEDs back into the forefront of energy efficient displays once again. Only time will tell.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphorescent_organic_light-emitting_diode
http://www.universaldisplay.com/

Samsung's big week and Xolo too?

So this Thursday most of the tech world is well aware of Samsung's announcement of their flagship the Galaxy S IV but there is another company who is making an announcement ahead of Samsungs to try to steal some of the spotlight. Xolo is claiming to have the fastest Intel smartphone ever. This company isn't known nearly as well as some other competitors worldwide but it will be interesting to see what they come out with to try to compete in todays competitive market. Also we have more Motorola rumors going on about their "X" phone for Google, with some pretty impressive looking specs. As some of you may know we have announced that we will be doing a live blog feed of the upcoming Samsung even in New York this Thursday courtesy of one of our editors, Khalid A. So this week should be an event filled one. As always thanks for reading! Here's another teaser link for the SGSIV!

Geek & Knots Exclusive! Live Coverage GS4 Launch Party NYC

Samsung Galaxy S4:



Not Actual Phone(cool concept though:)...Stay tuned for the latest updates as they happen with Exclusive Live Coverage of the Samsung Galaxy S4 Launch Party in Time Square NYC(3/14/13).

See it Live! on Geeks & Knots



WORD FROM THE WISE..."REMEMBER HUAWEI"

 

Huawei get SAP HANA approval

Huawei continues its enterprise push

By Mikael Ricknäs | Published: 14:45, 08 March 2013

---

Huawei Technologies' enterprise division is ramping up its European presence, helped by the announcement this week that SAP has certified the company's servers to run its HANA in-memory platform. Such deals with SAP and other big software vendors will be key for Huawei to succeed in the enterprise.
This week's CeBIT trade show illustrated how serious the Chinese vendor is about making its mark in the enterprise sector. Buses ferrying people between the halls were plastered with the company's ads, and its 900-square-meter stand was filled with servers, storage and networking equipment.
But big news from Hanover was that SAP has certified Huawei's Tecal RH5885 V2 server for use as a HANA appliance. HANA stores information to be processed in-memory, instead of moving it on and off of disks, which speeds up performance, according to SAP.

Huawei promises £1.2bn investment in UK by 2017

The direct benefit is that Huawei can now sell systems in an important growth area of the market, according to Gartner research director Adrian O'Connell. There are also indirect benefits in terms of raising the profile of Huawei as a server vendor, both for users and other technology partners, increasing the credibility of the technology capabilities of its offerings, he said via email.
Huawei accounted for around 5 percent of server volumes in Asia Pacific during the last three months of 2012, but its share in Europe, the Middle East and Africa was less than 1 percent, according to Gartner's data.
Growing that to meaningful volumes won't be easy. The server market in Europe is very mature and highly consolidated, with the top three vendors accounting for nearly 75 percent of volumes, according to O'Connell.
"New vendors not only have to contend with the challenges of setting up a business operation across the geography and then scaling it, but also convince users that they provide a better option than vendors that they've been working with for a long time," O'Connell said.
To succeed, Huawei could learn a thing or two from Cisco Systems, the last vendor that managed to break into the server market, according to Giorgio Nebuloni, research manager at IDC.
"It should learn from Cisco's focus on ISVs. It started with VMware, and has expanded with SAP, Microsoft and Oracle to create communities around the different software platforms," Nebuloni said.
The deal with SAP is a step forward for Huawei, but it needs a whole ecosystem of software partners. If that isn't in place it might be able to sell some boxes, but not whole enterprise solutions, according to Nebuloni. It also needs to build out a channel and work on improving its brand, he said.
Getting a foothold in the storage market may turn out to be easier for Huawei. While the server market is very consolidated, the storage sector is more fragmented and growing faster.
"You still have lots of innovation going on. So with disruptive technologies you can innovate and gain a larger share," Nebuloni said.
Like any company Huawei wants to play off its strengths when entering the enterprise sector, and for Huawei that's networking. That the company decided to place its CeBIT booth in the networking hall is no coincidence.

In this sector, Huawei is already a vendor to be reckoned with, according to Alan Weckel, vice president at Dell'Oro Group. Huawei is already a top 5 vendor in enterprise networking, but most of that is in China, Weckel said via email.
Again execution and channel expansion are the keys to success. Huawei is aware of this and has prioritized partnerships with the enterprise business branches of several European telecommunication operators, to whom it is already a strategic partner by supplying telco network equipment, the company said.
For Huawei, the Enterprise division is still only in start-up mode, as it was created just two years ago.

Straight talk trial!

So I have decided to give straight talk a try and see how well the service is for a month. Currently it's a service provided by Walmart and runs off either at&t or T mobile network. I will follow up with a full review in a month. Happy weekend viewers!

Windows 8 and where it's heading with Windows Mobile 8

In the mobile ecosystem we see a healthy dominance by Apple and Android at the moment. Blackberry has fallen on the wayside and Palm/Web Os is all but a memory. This leaves Microsoft with Windows and their mobile platform at the time Windows Phone 8. In a market that's dominated by Android and Apple it's hard to say who will come out on top in the next few years but lets look at the integration aspects of each operating system as well as overall functionality. Apple for starters has a dedicated following of consumers and has a more prestigious following when it comes to their pc hardware. As far as mobile they have been dominant in almost every aspect since the release of the original iPhone, but they aren't without their flaws. Sure their mobile division has a huge selection of apps and many useful features but for the business eccentric people they have been been lacking in more ways than one. Android on the other hand has a plethora of apps and usually provides more bang for the buck but is still very young at having an actual pc division, tablets on the other hand they are almost over saturated. Still this leads to the element that apparently seems to still be missing for most business oriented consumers which leads to most consumers buying Windows devices, Desktops, Laptops, and Ultrabooks. This is beginning to change and it looks like it's for the good of business minded consumers. Windows 8 tablets are starting to become more prevalent and in fact I do not need to reiterate what phonearena did today. I however am going to discuss more on the topic of Windows Phones which seemingly are geared towards total future integration with Windows Phone 8 Operating System in general. Obviously there are key differences but with Skydrive and Office Next we are beginning to see an overlap in operating systems to tightly integrate the two to work hand in hand. Yes it's been done before, Rim/Blackberry Playbook and Blackberry Phones, but it has never totally come to fruition. Seeing live tiles and having the integration between your mobile device and your personal computer is a feature that could be and hopefully will be the future of Windows as a whole. Not only would it secure the company as having consistency but also it would make the user experience more easy to understand and absorb. Innovation is still the key to keeping the crowd coming but consistency is also a huge part of having a stable and dependable operating system as well. So whats in store for Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8? Hopefully a bright future...

Why are you into technology?

People every day ask me why I am interested so much in technology and my friends all know that the only answer is one thing. It's just that cool. This very moment I am blogging away from my phone using SwiftKey keyboard and am barely having to use anything other than my index finger to write this post. I'm amazed at the ease of use it is to just wake up and download an app and just go. With that said I ask you, the reader, what is it that makes you love, live, have warm fuzzy feelings for technology?  In other news Samsung is prepping for the release of the Galaxy S IV and more leaks of screenshots can be seen today.  Get ready because it's going to be a good next couple of weeks!

STEROIDS for Wi-Fi! ...Game Changer?

Wired

BUSINESS

7 Massive Ideas That Could Change the World

BY WIRED STAFF01.17.13

BIG IDEA 3 
SPRAY Wi-Fi Hot Spots on
Everything

Photo: Victoria Ling 

The entire mobile economy is based on a tenuous assumption—that we’ll be able to access the mobile web, whenever and wherever we want it, at ever-increasing speeds. The reality is not so rosy: We’ve already seen mobile carriers like AT&T and Verizon stop offering their unlimited data plans—and the struggle for bandwidth is going to be even more grueling as the number of tablets and smartphones continues to explode.

Limited access is more than just an annoyance, it’s a mortal threat to innovation. By 2020, wireless technology is expected to have a global impact of $4.5 trillion. But growth depends on our ability to scale up. We need access that matches the number of devices demanding it.

Readily available Wi-Fi could help fix that problem. Internet and phone companies are already starting to deploy small cells—essentially tiny mobile phone towers that serve Wi-Fi along with 4G—in densely populated areas. But those companies have little incentive to build out the massive infrastructure required to connect the rest of the world.

One company has come up with a uniquely audacious solution—a Wi-Fi antenna in a spray can. Chamtech Enterprises has developed a liquid filled with millions of nano-capacitors, which when sprayed on a surface can receive radio signals better than a standard metal rod. With a router, Chamtech’s antennas can communicate with a fiber network, receive signals from targeted satellites, and set up a daisy chain with nearby nodes, potentially creating a mesh network of low-cost, broadband Wi-Fi hot spots. Because the antennas can be painted onto any surface, there would be none of the NIMBY-ism that greets every new cell phone tower. If that’s not fantastic enough, try this: No more cursing AT&T. —Rachel Swaby

Let the iPhone rumors begin!

So with Samsung announcing next week their new flagship phone everyone is beginning to start wondering more and more as to what Apples next and best will be. Here are some of the rumors so far. Honestly I think it's going to be the same ole same ole. It seems that Apple is keeping the trend of making something old new again, but who knows maybe they have something other that their new watch up there sleeves. Blackberry is having price cuts on their newest flagship which isn't looking good. Other news for the day we have a possible buyout from Verizon and Vodafone for the remaining shares Vodafone holds, Google is pissing off China(Shocker) and that's all I have for this morning. Hope you guys have a good one!

A month with HTC 8X & Samsung Galaxy S3 & Iphone

One month in with the Htc 8x, SGS3, and Iphone 4s and I can say each has their strengths and weaknesses. I will start with the iPhone 4s/5 as I have owned both of them. The built in mapping is well, I guess I do not even need to say. It's just bad, period. The newest updates have plagued the phone with short battery life, security holes, and even made the phones internals get warm to the touch. The newest update has seemed to fix the battery life, somewhat, and it's not hot to the touch anymore either but still there is the security loop hole for the screen lock. Overall though performance is about the same on the iPhone 4s as it always has been as well as the iPhone 5. On to the Samsung Galaxy S 3. For overall features and performance this is a hard one to beat yet it has its shortcomings. The screen is barely visible outdoors when the sun is at its highest. The stock keyboard is not the best I have had the pleasure of testing either. I also have had a few lagging issues from time to time switching between apps, especially after adding swift key to replace my stock keyboard. Yet this phone is still a great phone overall performance and feature wise its a great phone overall. Lastly this brings me to the Htc 8X Windows Phone. Of all the phones I have had the time to test out and go through the paces with I have to say this is the easiest and most performance friendly phone. Let me clarify performance friendly. It works and works well, touch responsiveness is amazing, the phone in general is super sensitive to touch and responds well to overall text input and its predictive text learns from your conversations rather smoothly. The designated camera button is a nice feature though the lack of panorama view without an third party app is much needed. Pictures come out pretty clear but really need a focus option before taking the picture. Wireless charging is always nice to have to though not a necessity. Overall sound and volume from the speaker and the earpiece are loud enough even for someone who is down the hall to here. Ease of use is surprisingly good as well. The phone has its shortcomings, mainly the camera and the limited apps, however this is a newer mobile os for Windows and there are plenty of apps out there such as Spotify, Slacker Radio, Ebay, Facebook, Pandora(free for a year coming) and more. Overall I would personally say the Htc 8X has been my favorite phone so far but with so many new devices around the corner to come we will see what I have in my pocket in a few months.

This week in the news! Samsung Galaxy S IV!!

Last week was a relatively slow one so sorry for the lack of posts. This week we are starting up on the headline of Samsung's new Galaxy S IV which should be announced on the 14th of this month in NYC. So far a plethora of leaks have been displayed all over the web. Video hype as well as other spec leaks have been all but shown reaffirming the hype for the new phone. Other news this week it looks like the petition for making unlocking phones not illegal has taken a turn for the better. Windows and Nokia apparently have a new model coming out for Verizon which may or may not be a great device. Other than that there have been talks of Apples new wrist watch, Blackberry Z10 not being carried by Sprint, and Sony making high goals of shooting for number three in the mobile market. That's all for today and as always if anything new or exciting pops up today I will be updating as I hear, read, or see it.