Tuesday, 23 July 2013

Motorola's Droid Ultra is the thinnest Droid

  Motorola's new Droid Maxx is the top dog of today's Verizon Wireless announcement, but close behind is the Motorola Droid Ultra. Though it lacks the promised 48 hours of battery life of its sibling, or the compact size of the Droid Mini, the midrange Ultra is supposed to deliver a very respectable 28 hours of battery life in a trim design.
  In fact, its 7.18-millimeter (0.28-inch) profile makes it the thinnest Droid ever. Indeed it's even thinner than the Samsung Galaxy S4(0.3 inch), HTC One (0.37), and Motorola's previous Droid Razr HD. Oddly enough, you don't really notice the difference in girth between it and the Maxx, but the Ultra does feel lighter. The Ultra has a 5-inch AMOLED 720p display as well, and a 2,130mAh battery. It will come in both black and red.
  The back of the Ultra has a glossy coating that feels slippery to the touch. Frankly, we prefer the backing seen on the Maxx. Its soft-touch matte coating doesn't attract grease or fingerprints like the Ultra's, and it feels easier to grip.
  Like the new Droid Mini, which Verizon also announced today, the Ultra will have only 16GB of storage. All Droids, however, have a 1.7GHz dual-core processor with the same X8 system, Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, 2GB of RAM, a 10-megapixel rear-facing camera with 1080p HD recording, and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera.
  Also standard on the three new devices are a few touchless controls that will make it possible to make phone calls and search for directions without touching the screen -- a useful function when driving. Furthermore, they'll have a "Quick Capture" camera launch feature, wireless charging, and "Droid Zap." With Zap you can send images within 300 feet of you, and you can swipe with your fingers to share media files.
  Additional software functions include an Active Display that will light up certain parts of your screen for important notifications, and a Droid Command Center, where you can launch Miracast TV for wireless media streaming.
  Both the Droid Ultra and Droid Maxx will go on sale August 20 (preorders begin today). The Droid Ultra is $199.99 with a contract.

For many buyers Windows represents perform

  The iPad garnered the reputation as a brand new type of device designed for undertaking enjoyable things at property. People have been promptly taken with all the truth that the iPad could do numerous enjoyable factors, endearing it for the masses. Then developers began writing a huge number of apps for the iPad that started to bridge entertaining stuff with activities usually performed on a Pc, even Windows PCs. Shoppers noticed that the Windows Pc (desktop or laptop) that they kept at home was becoming employed significantly less and much less. In the end they had been only applying Windows at operate.
  A familiar sight in public is someone with an iPad in hand, or one getting utilized using a keyboard case. Where it utilized to be much more frequent to see persons making use of Windows laptops of varying sizes in public venues several of them happen to be replaced with all the iPad windows 7 professional retail. A lot more considerably, iPad customers aren't just doing entertaining stuff that tablets are believed to become developed for, they're performing every thing they made use of to accomplish with the forgotten Windows laptop back at house.
  Microsoft saw this coming and radically changed the design and style of Windows to function on tablets, desktops, and laptops. The folks in Redmond saw the writing around the wall and knew they had to modify the OS into a tablet OS to keep Windows inside the house. They currently had the enterprise locked up so bringing Windows towards the tablet was an work to maintain folks employing the OS at property.
  Make no mistake, the Surface RT was firmly aimed at finding customers to visualize Windows on home tablets, and that effort has failed. Those wanting to make use of a straightforward tablet at house have fairly significantly already adopted the iPad. It sports a mobile form issue that runs a uncomplicated OS created particularly for the tablet. Certain iOS is also a phone platform but Apple has adapted it to deal with the iPad nicely. It was also in a position to get app developers to adapt or generate iPad-specific versions of apps to operate properly around the slate.
  I like my ThinkPad Tablet 2, a good Windows tablet. It takes benefit of Windows eight, especially all the tablet attributes Microsoft implemented for that goal. But when I show it (or any Windows tablet) to folks I get quite much the exact same reaction.

The discussion proceeds with me explaining how you may run Windows apps and how new apps are being written for the Windows eight app retailer. This can be followed by a conversation that tends to make it clear the other celebration not simply has no want to run Windows and its apps on a tablet, they genuinely can not see why any one would desire to do that. The iPad does anything they want a tablet to complete and more so why would they wish to use a tablet with Windows?
  For many buyers Windows represents perform. It is around the computer system in the office and they "have" to work with it there. They keep in mind all of the times they had to get the IT folks to come repair the Computer that stopped doing a thing. They consider of how they can not visit all the cool websites simply because they're blocked at work, which they come to assume of as a Windows thing. They believe of how trouble-free their property computing has develop into given that they just naturally began undertaking it all on the iPad at household.
  The majority of the people I interact with about Windows on tablets who like it, and are excited about Windows eight, are people that either make a living within the Windows ecosystem or have a special want for utilizing Windows outdoors the scope of standard home computing. Getting full Windows within a tablet type is just what they have to do what they want each for function and at house.
  Sadly for Microsoft, there are not enough of those enthusiasts to make a difference, as proven by both the Surface RT debacle, and low Surface Pro sales (in comparison to the iPad). The vast majority have currently been shown that their beloved iPad is all they require outside of perform. The iPad has entirely replaced Computer usage within the home for many owners and kicked Windows back for the workplace.

Sunday, 14 July 2013

Leaked promo shows off the Moto X’s always-on voice commands, new camera gesture, and more

  The Moto X leaks just keep on coming.
  Days after Google’s Eric Schmidt was spotted using Google’s still-secret new smartphone, a leak from Canadian carrier Rogers Wireless gives us our best look yet at some of the device’s new and enticing software features.
  One of the big changes comes from how the Moto X will handle voice commands. Similar to Google Glass, the Moto X will have an always-on voice command system, which users can initiate by saying “OK, Google Now.” The video below gives you a sense of how it works, but basically its Google’s touch-free answer to Siri.
  “Your Moto X is ready to listen and respond. Talk to it and it learns your voice. With the power of Google Now, it tells you what you need to know even when you’re not touching the screen,” Rogers says in the video.
  With the Moto X, Google is also doing some interesting things with notifications. Unlike with the unspecific LED notification light on your current phone, notifications on the Moto X are meant to be instantly useful and more easily dismissed as they popup on the device’s screen. Google calls the more discreet system “Active Updates.”
  Last, and perhaps, most notably, Google is changing the way users open up the camera app on the Moto X. Rather than poke the app’s icon, Moto X owners can start the camera app by twisting their wrist twice in succession. Photos can then be taken by pressing anywhere on the touchscreen.
  The video also confirms that the Moto X will hit Rogers in August in two colors — black and white.
  Google and Motorola can’t possibly be happy about this leak, so expect the video below to disappear (and reappear) very soon.

The future update expected in early 2014

  Microsoft published details of its upcoming Windows Telephone 8 update on Thursday, revealing the minor changes that happen to be on account of roll out shortly. Identified as General Distribution Release 2 (GDR2), the update incorporates fixes to Xbox Music to supply precise metadata, the restoration of the FM radio feature, a Data Sense app that is not exclusive to specific carriers, in addition to a new option to set windows 7 professional activation key a Lens app as the default camera. You'll find some HTML5 updates in Net Explorer, improved Skype and Lync stability, and Gmail CardDAV / CalDAV assistance, but overall the changes are very minor for an update eight months after the original Windows Phone eight release.
  In line with sources acquainted with Microsoft's Windows Telephone plans, the business is within a "shut up and ship" mode. We're told that the lack of significant modifications is as a consequence of the focus on Windows Phone's "Blue" update. The future update, expected in early 2014, appears set to contain a notification center, enhanced multitasking, and alterations to built-in apps. We realize that Microsoft is contemplating back porting some of the "Blue" features, such as a rotation lock selection, to a GDR3 update due later this year. Any ported capabilities are said to assistance future hardware arriving later this year, and in some cases in the request of certain phone makers like Nokia. In comparison, Windows 8.1 incorporates a complete host of adjustments and feature additions designed for tablets and PCs that is anticipated to become delivered in late August ?a just ten months immediately after the original Windows eight release.
  We've learned that Microsoft had planned to roll out a variety of Windows Telephone updates a lot more regularly, but delays in testing new chipsets and bugs in some of the GDR updates have slowed down feature additions. A single unique bug with unbranded devices not sold by carriers is said to possess affected the way a handset is identified on a network. We're told that Microsoft had a tough time fixing this particular challenge, resulting in delays to other planned work.
  We're told that a lot of the concentrate for Windows Phone software program improvements is related to hardware release and refreshes. The future GDR3 update will contain assistance for 5- and 6-inch Windows Phones with 1080p resolutions, and quad-core chipsets. These devices will debut later this year, and Microsoft has been functioning closely with OEMs to ensure Windows Telephone contains the hardware assistance required. Microsoft revealed on Thursday that collectively with Nokia it "shared early builds of software program and hardware" to ready the Lumia 1020. "I wrote greater than ten pages of feedback myself around the Nokia Pro Camera app since it was being created," says Microsoft's Joe Belfiore.
  The message from Microsoft on Windows Telephone updates is mixed. Although the company promised a year ago that it was producing an enthusiasts plan to provide early access to updates, Microsoft has yet to detail when it plans to provide it. The plan was stated to "keep your telephone fresher than ever prior to." For now though, all update signs point to early 2014. Microsoft confirmed it is planning a "feature pack" update within the 1st half of subsequent year that should incorporate some enterprise improvements and VPN assistance. Regrettably, it isn't sharing additional information and facts about any other additions. It leaves Nokia and also other telephone makers possessing to depend on hardware promoting points, figuring out full nicely that the Windows Telephone software and ecosystem nonetheless lags the competitors.
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