Month: February 2013

iPad mini vs. Galaxy Note 8.0 hands on!

Phil Nickinson and Alex Dobie of are on the ground at Mobile World Congress, and they’ve just gone hands-on with the all new Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0, a tablet that sits roughly between the iPad 4 and iPad mini in size, but boasts the Wacom-style digitizer-gone-mobile that Samsung’s Note line is famous four. Since we’re all one big happy Mobile Nations family, Phil and Alex also brought along their iPad mini so they could put the two competitors head-to-head.

As we’ve been saying for a while, we’re slowly becoming convinced that the 7-to-8-inch form factor represents the sweet spot for tablets. We’ve only spent a short time with it, but the Note 8.0 seems to be a promising entry from Samsung in this category — though we’ve still yet to learn how much it’ll cost. The device is due to launch internationally in Q2 in 3G, Wifi-only and 4G flavors.

So sit back, relax, grab a tasty beverage, and hit play. Then go check out all the rest of the Galaxy Note 8.0 coverage at Android Central, and tell me what you think. How does the Note 8.0 stack up to the iPad mini for you?

iPad mini vs. Galaxy Note 8 hands on!

via iMore – The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch blog http://www.imore.com/ipad-mini-vs-galaxy-note-8-hands

[Rumor] Google Said To Be In Talks With Record Labels To Expand GMusic With A Spotify-Like Streaming Service

Well, this is exciting. We knew it was only a matter of time before El Goog decided to get into the music streaming biz, and according to the Wall Street Journal, the company is currently in talks with several record labels to fire up a Spotify-esque service.
If true, the service is said to become part of Google Music, which only makes sense. Currently, Music allows users upload their own music libraries and stream them from any web browser or Android device, and the addition of a streaming service would likely give users access to unlimited music outside of that collection for a monthly fee. While Spotify and similar services cost around $10 a month, it’s unclear at this time how much Big G would be charging, but it’s probably safe to assume it will be very competitively priced, if not even cheaper.
Similarly, the WSJ is also reporting that the company is looking to start a similar service on YouTube, where users can pay a monthly fee for both music videos and audio-only tracks.
Naturally, there’s no word as to when either service could go live, but it’s not outside the realm of possibility that Google could be looking to conclude talks in the coming weeks and announce official availability at this year’s I/O conference.
WSJ

via Android Police

Microsoft’s Azure service falls to expired SSL certificate

“Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform faced a worldwide outage in its storage services from Friday afternoon because of an expired SSL (secure sockets layer) certificate. The company reported services were restored Saturday.”

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It’s not you Facebook, it’s me — okay, it’s partly you: Why I unfriended almost everyone

“There have been a rash of posts of late from people who have quit Facebook or decided to unfriend everyone they know on the network.”

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Make a CD and Suction Cup Returning-At Indicator

“Playing off an idea we highlighted a couple weeks back that involved using a CD and suction cup as a dirty dish indicator, DIYer Sean Ragan put together this simple printable status dial project.”

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Why Android first?

A few people were bemused by our decision to release Pocket Casts 4 first on Android. I suspect a few of them even think we may have lost our marbles. I thought I’d take a few minutes to outline exactly why we did what we did.

Team Size
We’re a small team of only 2 developers and a designer. We realised late last year as we were working on a simultaneous release of Android and iOS that if we were going to have any hope of shipping either of them, we’d really have to choose one to do first. The take-away from this is simple: if we were bigger (say double our current size) we would have just done both.

Historic Sales
Pocket Casts on Android has outsold the iOS version historically at about 5:1. That means for every 1 iOS version we’ve sold, 5 were sold on Android. The Android version also costs $1 more, so we’re making more per transaction as well. The reasons for this are a blog post on their own, but it’s a fact.

Future Sales
On Android there is no native podcasting solution, and we see a massive potential to fill that space. There are other apps out there, but we feel we have what it takes to become the dominant podcasting app on that platform.

Why Not?
Team rivalries should be left on a sports field. There’s no reason not to launch on Android first or iOS first in 2013. Both are massively viable platforms full of users who want to pay for great apps. Anyone who tells you otherwise is wrong. The choice of platform all comes down to where your users are, and which one makes more sense for the kind of app you’re launching. It’s no longer a clear-cut ‘always iOS first’ world.

App Quality
Let’s be honest, 2 years ago Android really sucked. The OS was a mess, the store was a mess, the SDK was a mess and the hardware was a mess. Today all that has changed, and it’s an amazing platform. That said overall the app quality on iOS is still far higher than Android, as developers catch up with all these new changes. There’s a point coming soon when Android will be full of high-quality apps, but there’s a gap in the market right now for small developers like us who are passionate about design to create something a cut above the rest. In short it’s currently easier for a good app to stand out on Android than it is on iOS.

So there you go, a short and sweet explanation of why we did what we did. Once version 4.0 is out on Android (countdown available here), we’ll be working on the iOS one next. We won’t be starting from scratch since a few months of development has already gone into that version, but there’s still a lot to be done. If you’re fascinated by the Android vs iOS development process, there’s a great interview with me available here.

via Shifty Jelly's blog of mystery http://blog.shiftyjelly.com/2013/02/20/why-android-first/

Robert Scoble Is Switching To Android

rumour has it that this guy is known in america. i’ve never heard of him
http://readwrite.com/2013/02/19/robe…ing-to-android

Quote:

Social media maven Robert Scoble says he’s migrating from Apple to Android. “I’m no longer an Apple fanboy,” Scoble wrote in a post on Google+ yesterday. “I’m getting ready to leave the Apple platform and switch to Android.”

That might not seem like a big deal. But the fact is, a lot of people follow Scoble on social media and consider him influential. They respect his opinion. And Scoble isn’t just any fanboy. He’s the kind who camps outside Apple stores and sleeps on the sidewalk when a new Apple product is coming out and cheers like a triumphant hero when he walks out of the store with the latest iToy in his hands. (See also here and here and here.)

Scoble isn’t the first high-profile Apple defector. A few months ago we reported that legendary Apple evangelist Guy Kawasaki had become a hardcore Android fan.

Reasons For Switching

Kawasaki said he moved to Android because he simply believed that Android had leapfrogged past Apple and was delivering a better solution.

Scoble said he’s bailing because “Apple lately HAS slipped in my eyes and there are lots of examples how (Google Now, Waze maps, and tons of apps that are here already and coming on the Android platform, like SwiftKey keyboards).”

Scoble still believes that “most apps are smoother and have fewer problems on iOS,” but he’s switching anyway.

Partly Scoble seems excited about Google’s Project Glass wearable computer. He’s getting one soon, and says that “of course that will work better if you use Android.”

Yet Another Switcher

The irony is that Scoble was writing this stuff about Android in a post where he was criticizing a reporter from GigaOm who Scoble felt had unfairly criticized Apple.

The GigaOm reporter, Mathew Ingram, had written an article describing his own switch from Apple to Android.

Ingram originally adopted Android because he got sick of Apple’s walled garden, only to discover that he also likes the way Android handles notifications and finds it less intrusive than how Apple does it.
Scoble went on a rant saying you can just turn off Apple notifications if you don’t like them. But then Scoble confessed that he too is in the process of switching to Android.

What does it mean when high-profile “influencers” and devoted Apple lovers start moving to Android? They all have different reasons, and you may or may not agree with them or be persuaded by their arguments. But even the most hardcore Apple fans must recognize that these decisions are significant.

via HowardForums: Your Mobile Phone Community & Resource – Android http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php/1791402-Robert-Scoble-Is-Switching-To-Android

Galaxy S IV will definitely be announced on March 14th

Earlier today, mobile-review‘s Eldar Murtazin suggested on Twitter that March 14th would see a “big announcement,” implying that it would cause HTC to miss sales estimates on the One that is widely expected to be announced tomorrow. Murtazin made no mention of Samsung or the next-gen Galaxy S, but SamMobile — a site well-known for its Samsung leaks — followed shortly thereafter claiming that the tweet was indeed a veiled reference to the Galaxy S IV, allegedly tied to an event in New York City.

The Verge has now confirmed with sources familiar with Samsung’s plans that March 14th is “definitely” the day that the Korean giant plans on revealing one or more new devices, one of which is presumed to be the Galaxy S IV. As SamMobile says, we are also hearing that the event will be in the US, though it’s unclear whether carrier availability will be announced at that time.

DESIGN OF THE NEW MODEL IS SAID TO BE A “TIGHTLY-GUARDED SECRET”

As with the Galaxy S III — which was part of an effective campaign of misinformation waged by Samsung ahead of its announcement — design of the new model is said to be a “tightly-guarded secret.” We’re told that the company will once again emphasize features over raw specs; tricks like the eye-tracking Smart Stay were a big part of the S III’s story, and we’d expect more of the same next month. “The leap in cool new features from [Galaxy S III] to the next flagship will be bigger” than the leap from the S II to the S III, sources say.

Where does that leave Samsung at Mobile World Congress next week? Expect the Galaxy Note 8.0, which has been leaked far and wide — but maybe not in final form. “That mockup […] that has been making the rounds? That’s old news,” we’re told. If Samsung has disguised the actual Note 8.0, it’d be following in the Galaxy S III’s footsteps. When it’s revealed next week, expect the real design of the midsize tablet to foreshadow that of the Galaxy S IV, which hasn’t leaked at all.

 

Via The Verge

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