The demand for games such as free online slots with bonuses is huge and a whole new wold has emerged of gamers and bushiness who want to provide the right gaming experience to this relatively new market.

So what type of game do you enjoy the most?

Research shows a that a huge variety of types of games are enjoyed.

Some prefer simply to while away the hours with games that are fun and silly, while others opt for more educational tools and adventures where there is more depth and structure to the experience.

Any person who has invested time in a game will know that slot games have taken over the quick fix market.

A simple google search for game slots will bring back a slew of results that will extend well beyond page one and leave you in the full realisation that online slot machines are big business, and we mean HUGE business.

So if you are more or an RPG type player who lies to immerse themselves in a virtual reality, another way of escaping this mortal coil or you are the type of person who loves 1st person shooter and blasting the bad or good guys to kingdom come, or yet again one of these people who prefers to get into those seriously powerful race cars and pretend you are whizzing round Brands Hatch or Silverstone as an F1 racer, maybe you might like to try your hand at a slot machine.

Ok this is in no way going to compete with the immense realism that modern games can give you and you may find that you are just not into this kind of game but you never know what might happen when those shiny coins drop and you are taken into a fun game that is more simple to take part in and maybe ever earn yourself some money in the process.

In terms of shear fun and simplicity we do not think you can take away from the ease of access on mobiles and anywhere you are to a fun little slot game on a mobile device and we would suggest you at least try to download and see for yourself what a fun thing it can be to just have simple fun and games with an app designed to amuse and entertain and not take you away from reality that much, like a soap opera that you control!

So give yourself a challenge and put yourself out of your comfort zone maybe, get a slot type game on your phone and just see if you like, if you dont its a pretty simple process to delete and say not for me!

The mobile phone industry has settled into a schedule of new models being released on an annual basis. The two main competitors, Samsung and Apple, can be relied on to deliver a new model each year, which is great for a number of reasons. The industry moves along at a steady rate, and there is always something to look forward to. But, the question has to be asked; is it really necessary to buy a new model of mobile phone on an annual basis?

There are, of course, those who religiously get each new model phone from their favourite supplier. And, naturally, there is nothing wrong with this at all. Who wouldn’t want a new mobile phone each and every year? But, those who buy phones so regularly can be referred to as enthusiasts. But is it really necessary for the average person?

Let’s take a look and discuss a few of the pros and cons of getting a new mobile phone model on a yearly basis.

Advancement Is Slow

Sure, each new release of mobile phone will be trumpeted by the producing company, with attention drawn to the new features of the device. But anyone who pays close attention will surely have noticed that the advancements between each new model have become minimal. For the most part, each new model is simply a copy of the most recent version, with only a few changes made. And, it need to be pointed out, these changes are mostly negligible. The core functions of the phone, and the most used aspects, largely remain unchanged, and the user experience, whether playing the online slots Canada has to offer, or surfing the web, streaming or emailing, will remain much the same.

There have only been a few major mobile phone advancements since the early days of the technology, and not much at all that has shaken up the industry, at least to it’s core. A mobile phone from five years ago is not that much different from one released today. So, by all means, a person need not have really needed an upgrade for at least five years.

Security Improvements

The one aspect of mobile phones that has made significant upgrades, however, is related to security. Fingerprint recognition has been added to modern mobile phone devices, and the benefit of such a feature cannot be understated. This sort of security, known as biometric security, is hugely beneficial, and has greatly reduced the amount of theft resulting from stolen mobile phones.

This technology is also only getting better, with each new phone model, and so as far as phone security goes, getting new models annually does have it’s benefits. However, many would argue that it is not enough of a benefit to warrant purchasing a new phone yearly.

A Matter Of Preference

As with most things, getting a new model of phone really is a matter of preference. There will always be those who insist on a new phone each time a new model is revealed, but for the average person a new phone is really only required once in awhile, assuming that they wish to take advantage of added features. As to when the next major leap in technology happens remains to be seen, but likely won’t be for some time yet.

There are a lot of different forms of entertainment and pastimes in today’s world, ranging from fine dining, art, sport, travelling, films, and video games, among many others. Video games have become a huge part of pop culture over the last 30 years, and you’d be hard-pressed to find someone that doesn’t enjoy video games in some form or other. Computer games, console exclusives, mobile apps, and even smart watch games are available to anyone who wants to pass the time and have a little fun.

If you look at the modern shooter, or, it’s quite an incredible piece of engineering. A real, working physics engine that utilizes gravity, weather, and physical force, often set against a beautiful world of colour, vibrancy and life. It wasn’t always like this, though, and looking back at some of the world’s first video games can show you just how far they’ve come. But it does beg the question, what was the first video game?

The Classic Arcade Games

Back in the day, long before Canadian mobile casinos were around, the arcade was the only place you could play a video game, and while arcades have mostly fallen out of fashion due to modern gaming systems, many will remember going to arcade and trying out all the latest releases. The arcade was where games such as Asteroids, Pac Man, and Pong gained their fame, and most consider these to be the genesis of all modern video games.

Pong, in particular, is often regarded as the first of them all. It’s simplistic nature of bouncing a small ball (or square, back in the day) turned out to be an incredible amount of fun, and even today there is nothing quite like playing Pong with a friend. Pong was released by Atari in 1972, an age ago in terms of modern gaming, and was also the reason for the rise of modern consoles, thanks to the first Pong consoles that were released for home-use. Pong, no doubt, is a huge part of the reason that video games caught on the way that they did; but despite all this, Pong cannot lay claim to being the first of them all. That title belongs to a different game that was almost twenty years older.

The First of The First

The very first modern video game was Tennis for Two, an extremely simple game that used a radar panel to work, and was the brainchild of physicist William Higinbotham, in 1958. Higinbotham was an employee of MIT’s Radiation Lab division, and had extensive knowledge on radar systems and how they functioned. He was also part of a special visitor’s day that was held by the Brookhaven National Laboratory, where scientists much like Higinbotham could display their work.

It was here where the idea for a game first sparked in his head, after being bored from all the other exhibits. Using his experience and knowledge with radars, Higinbotham designed a system where the player was able to turn a knob for direction, and then press a button to hit the ball back at the other play.

The Rest Is History

It was the first digitized version of tennis, and the godfather to all of the video games and mobile games we have today. With something as simple as Tennis for Two, more advanced games were thought up and released, and they took the world by storm.

If you’ve played online games for any length of time, you’ve likely seen a few curious things happen, at some point. For example, one of the other players may have jolted about, teleported from location to location, or seemed to run on the spot for several seconds. These are signs that you, or the other player, are suffering from the online gaming curse of lag.

It is often extremely frustrating, and can ruin an online gaming experience. After all, being the loser of an online game due to your own skills is bearable, but losing because your opponent is teleporting about, and impossible to hit, is just plain unfair. As such, gamers are often understandably upset when lag occurs.

But, it often helps to keep in mind why lag occurs, exactly, and understand that it is sometimes impossible to avoid.

Why Does Lag Occur?

Lag is a result of players falling out of sync with one another. Or, to be more precise, computers or consoles falling out of sync with one another. Synchronisation loss occurs due to enormous amounts of information having to be sent back and forth, often across enormous distances, and unexpected hiccups forming in that information exchange. Since online multiplayer allows users to play with one another in different countries, the connection can be extremely unstable, and information hiccups occur all too often.

It is, of course, not the fault of the user that these hiccups occur, and expressing frustration to the player will in no way fix the problem. Staying civil during online games with strangers should be at the top of everyone’s list.

Solutions For Lag Problems                                                                         

There is often no permanent, all in one solution for problems revolving around lag. Since the factors that cause lag are often completely out of people’s control, sometimes it simply has to be endured until the connection between players improves.

One key aspect to keep in mind with online gameplay is that the shorter the distance between players, the less likely lag is to occur. Hence, a person should always attempt to engage with players in their own region. Many online games offer the player an option of which region they would like to look for players in. If it is possible, a player should stick to their local region. This is not always possible, however, given that players of the same game may well not be nearby. If you can play with players all within the same region you’ve basically discovered the gamers equivalent of a no deposit bonus casino, as you’ll enjoy enriching gameplay with little to no interference.

Manage Your Internet Connection

Another factor to keep in mind is that information transfer on the Internet should be carefully managed. If playing an online game, no other programmes that use the Internet should be running in the background. All webpages should be closed, in order for the game to be allowed as much bandwidth as possible.

If the game still suffers unacceptable lag, it sadly means that the game may not be playable online in your region. There are, however, likely other games that will operate better in the area, and have less of a focus on a flawless connection being required. Rather look into these games, which will offer a better playing experience.

Wearable technology is tech gadgets that people wear, not just like headphones or a watch though, these wearables contain smart sensors and make use of an internet connection, mainly Bluetooth and connect via Wi-Fi to a smartphone.  The sensors are used to connect to a person and help people with achieving certain goals which include staying fit and active or losing weight and helps people be more organised.

Types of Wearable Technology

The majority of wearable technology is worn on the wrist, but there are also some that can be attached to the body or hung around the neck.  Soon wearables will be an accessory to match the outfit of the day.  There are even rings and pendants which have some tech function, and you can also game online at places like River Belle online casino on smartwatches!.

Smartwatches and Fitness Trackers

There are currently a wide range of wearables which fit into various categories.  Smartwatches are worn on the wrist and can connect to a smartphone and will be able to not only tell the time, but will notify users of calls, messages as well as email and social media notifications.  Popular smartwatches from Samsung, Motorola, LG and Sony are the current favourites as well as the Apple Watch.  For the health conscious there are fitness trackers which come in various shapes and sizes.  These are generally wrist worn or clipped to a belt.  These fitness trackers can keep track of physical activity such as how many steps a person takes in a day.  The more sophisticated trackers will also monitor heart rate.

Fitness trackers such as the Fitbit will be able to monitor physical activity and will then integrate with software which helps people to be more active.  Fitbit has a range of different options to suit everyone and these fitness trackers can monitor sleep, water intake, diet and exercise.

Virtual Reality Technology

Head mounted wearable technology takes users into a virtual world.  Examples of these are the Oculus Rift.  With this virtual reality headgear users are transported to another world, whether it be gaming or casinos.  This is a popular technology and is set to change the future of gaming.  Many of the options are expensive, but there are cheaper options on the way which will make this type of wearable technology more accessible to many more people.  Google Glass is another option and has features which all users to record and share videos and take pictures.  Many of these technologies are currently being improved and will soon become very popular.

Implantable Technology

Implantable technology is implanted under the skin through surgery and is inserted in different forms such as pacemakers and defibrillators.  At the moment these implantables are used for people with fatal heart conditions which include a heart that beats too fast.  On the horizon are implantables such as birth control and biosensors and these wearables could well change our lives for the better.

Smart Clothing

Smart clothing is garments made with infused silver coated fibres which have conductive properties and these act as sensors which then relay information to a smartphone in real time.  Many popular fashion houses are trying out this new technology so that clothing will not only be fashionable but also functional.  Smart clothing may even be able to monitor heart rate, breathing as well as stress levels.

Wearable technology is the way of the future and continues to progress as new technologies are discovered to improve how people live, exercise and work.

It would seem that Android is one of the most successful operating systems.  Is this because of its technical quality or is it riding on the coattails of Google?

Android was established in 2003 with the purpose of developing smartphones.  In 2005 Android was acquired by Google who was using Open Source developed from the Linux kernel.  In 2007 the Open Handset Alliance was founded and the first Android smartphone, HTC Dream, was released in 2008.  What makes Android so popular is that can be used on many devices, whereas iOS is only compatible with Apple devices.

Interface

Smartphone users will notice that most interfaces all look very similar and that these interfaces have not really changed at all over the years.  With PC’s, tablets and laptops there has been some improvement and changes, possibly because of the larger screen.  Android seems to be the only OS at this time that is making advancements in making the interface more interactive.  Android devices will allow the users to customise their interface by offering hundreds of different widgets for example.  Users can make the phone their own and are able to set up their device in a way that works best for them.  With iOS the setup is not really setup for much change.

Smartphones are a universal device and everyone now has a smartphone, whether they use it for making calls, sending emails, surfing the web or playing the mobile slots Canada has to offer…  There are many people out there that do not speak English and would prefer an interface in their own language.  Android can deliver this as they support 70 languages which means that many people around the world can enjoy their device with a language they understand.

Google Play Store

Studies have shown that there are over 3 million Android apps, and mobile gaming and use is increasing all the time. The Google Play Store is the official app store, but Android has given their users the option of using other apps if they choose to.  There are many other app stores that cater to Android too, but the Google Play store remains the largest.

Security

Security has and always be one of the main factors for many people when choosing a device.  Android comes with on board security features that are designed to minimise the impact of security issues, especially with regard to apps.  Android also makes use of technologies that aim to reduce memory management issues and make use of file encryption to protect data and the retrieval of stolen devices.  The user has the option of granting permissions or restrictions when it comes to data.

Hardware

With regard to hardware, Android is compatible with various platforms which include 32 and 64 bit, MIPS, ARM architectures and MIPS64.  This means that Android can be used in many devices and not limited to only certain kinds of mobile devices.  Any developer today can make use of Android, which allows for a wider range of devices to choose from.  Cost is also an important factor to consider, we all know that iOS devices are much more expensive.  With the wide range of devices to choose from users will be able to purchase a good quality device that will not break the bank.

Choosing an operating system depends very much on a user’s personal choice and what they need the device to do, but it clear that Android offers a wider range of options without compromising important features that users require from their devices.

Virtual Reality has quickly become mainstream.  What was initially, and not so long ago, a sci-fi type phenomenon, has quickly evolved into a technology that is available to more and more users.  Developers continue to improve upon and evolve the current VR technology with the result that there is now an overwhelming variety of VR Helmets to choose from on the market.  Here we take a look at some available options, and compare them.

Best VR Headsets For PC And Console

1. The HTC Vive

The HTC Vive helmet was made in partnership with PC Games company, Valve, and operates with Steam, which is Valve’s gaming ecosystem.  HTC comes with 70 sensors which gives 360 degrees head tracking.  It comes with a 90Hz refresh rate which is what helps to prevent users getting motion sickness.

What sets the Vive apart from other headsets is that it has Lighthouse tracking which allows users to move around while wearing the headset.  It does mean loading some additional sensors in your house, but the effects it creates are worth it.

The Vive has the ability to go wireless, and eye tracking is currently in development, and this could make it ideal for playing CAD casino games in the future.

2. The Oculus Rift

The Oculus Rift is probably the most well-known VR headset on the market.  Funded by Kickstarter, and developed by Palmer Luckey and American entrepreneur, the Oculus Rift was bought by Facebook for $2 billion and landed Lucky squarely on the Forbes 2016 wealthiest entrepreneurs under the age of 40.

The Oculus Rift plugs into your PC’s USB and DVI ports tracking your head movements to provide 3D images on its screens.

The Rift also has the 90Hz refresh rate helping with preventing motion sickness and uses 2160 x 1200 resolution which works at 233 million pixels per second.

3. Sony PlayStation VR

PlayStation is a good introductory piece of VR equipment.  Although not as advanced as the            Rift or Vive, the PlayStation VR is still excellent quality and its price makes it the most affordable option in quality VR Technology today.  There is also a large variety of new titles available for playing on the Sony VR.

4. Samsung Gear VR

VR Tech is notoriously expensive so developers have worked hard to solve this issue by creating VR technology that can be used on a smartphone.  These headsets can be plugged into phones and mostly retail for under $100.  It is important to note that certain devices will only work with certain smartphones, so it is wise to check before making your purchase.

Although the Samsung Gear VR does not have a lot of changes to the look of the device on a regular basis, it does get a boost from its creators at least every 12 months.  The biggest boost this year so far is a new controller which gives players additional immersion into their VR world.  The entire experience on the Gear VR will be directly relating to which Samsung phone you use, but across the board, the Gear has a wide 101 degree viewing angle as well as a dark tint to reduce glare.

5. Google DayDream View

The Google View is currently only compatible with a few phones – some of Motorola’s, and the Google Pixel phone, but this is set to change in the near future.  Google has touted the view as being 30% lighter than any other VR device on the market.

The view comes with a great selection of launch apps as well as a bundled handheld controller.

iPhone 8 price

So how much will the iPhone 8 cost in your country? It seems that the figures currently going around suggest that the prices will be as so for the US, UK and Australia:

iPhone 8 64GB: £699, $699 and AU$1,079

iPhone 8 256GB: £849, $849 and AU$1,329

iPhone 8 design

• All‑new glass design, aluminum frame, water and dust resistant
• Similar look to the iPhone 7, with bezels and home button

As often is usual with iPhone updates there are welcome upgrades in materials and design/features as well as general enhancements in areas like audio quality.

Sound is improved with stereo speakers offering 25% increase in volume and a deeper overall bass quality. Again no headphone jack like on the Phone 7 offered.

Optional colours include:

Silver, gold and space grey.

Size: A little taller in size at 138.4 x 67.3 x 7.3mmhich could mean that older cases for the iPhone 7 may not fit even though only a fractional size increase.

Weight: 10g heavier than the iPhone 7.

iPhone 8 power

• Brand new A11 Bionic chipset
• GPU provides 70% faster graphics over iPhone 7

A brand new processor going by the name f the A11 Bionic Processor will mean that you get between 20-70% faster processing that the iPhone 7 A10 processor..

iPhone 8 display

• 4.7-inch Retina HD display

Perfect to not stray into the dodgy Phablet territory, the 4.7 inch display as seen on the iPhone 7 means that it’s a manageable size for many people and a nice balance of screen real estate v’s usability and portability.

Improved display:

The Retina HD display has been upgraded and has better colour accuracy and a wider gamut.

And with 3D touch offering pressure sensitive methods of using the phone, the True Tone Technology in the iPhone 8 will also adjust yoru screen colours for the lighting conditions you are in when you use the device.

In term of screen size, you will still get the same 1334 x 750 resolution, so no true HD action still on Apple’s 4.7-inch handset, which will give you a 326ppi pixel density.

iPhone 8 battery

• Wireless charging support
  
• An additional cost for the charging pad technology

With a fast charge options giving you 50% charge after only 30 minutes coming in hand on days wen you need to travel and use the phone a lot and can access a power point.

Wireless charging:

With the glass back offering the wireless charging option, this is technology that will be welcomed and we see growing in popularity as time goes by so no need for clumsy cables and dodgy ports.

You will need the Qi wireless charging pad however to use that feature

iPhone 8 camera features and updates

• 12MP rear facing camera
• 4K video at 60fps
• 1080p slo-mo video at 240fps

With increased light this allows for a better dynamic range and low light quality as well as reduced noise in general.

With the camera upgrade Apple has also allowed the video feature to capture at 4K with 60FPS footage and the ever cool slow-mo footage at 240FPS which is twice as slow as the iPhone 7. SO watch out for some cool videos to emerge of stuff going BOOM!

The front facing camera is pretty cool also at the same 7MP from the iPhone7 which as we know is perfect for FaceTime and selfies.

Summary:

All in all we see a capable increase in features and a worthy investment over the Phone 7 but only just!

Smartphones have become such an integral part of our lives and even more so as they continue to boast innovative and revolutionary features that continue to get better with each new release. Whether its competing names or upgrades to existing smartphones, each new release claims to have newer and more unique features than the last.

The technology is amazing and some names lead the industry but for every Samsung or iPhone that’s boasts near perfection, there have been many others that have succeeded or failed. Sometimes regardless of the amazing features.

Here are some of the biggest failed smartphones in history.

The Nokia N-Gage from 2003

Nokia has, and always will be, one the most successful mobile phone makers ever but as smartphones emerged, so did portable gaming and the famous iPod and MP3 players.

Nokia thought to combine the lot, which is how the Nokia N-Gage was born. This device was meant to be innovative and consist of a smartphone, gaming machine and media player but it unfortunately failed at being all three.

Its awkward shape made it great for gaming and playing online pokies NZ games was a pleasure, but as a phone it was a nightmare to hold and use. The media player’s features were rather limited too.

The BlackBerry Storm from 2008

Just before the iPhone’s rise to fame, BlackBerry was one of the leading names. Their smartphones such as the Curve, the Bold and the Pearl were popular and since then BlackBerry has seen quite a few failures but none as bad as the BlackBerry Storm.

This was the first to feature the innovative touch screen but in order to retain the keyboard BlackBerry was famous for, they created the touch screen where it had to be pressed in to get the same click type of feel that other BlackBerry keypads had. It was such a failure that even the software was below standard and it made playing any type of mobile game a nightmare too.

The Facebook Phone from HTC

In 2010, rumours emerged that Facebook were planning on creating their own smartphone. Rumours went on for about three years and there was a lot of hype around them because Facebook was the world’s most powerful mobile app.

In 2013, HTC released the HTC First Facebook smartphone which only really featured a launcher called Facebook home. This is where messages could be received, chats could be had and Facebook notifications were received.

This wasn’t much to boast about and the smartphone didn’t have any other unique features that made it stand out from the rest, so it failed very soon after being released.

The 2010 Microsoft Kin Smartphone

Microsoft is a massive name in desktop technology but has never quite managed to keep the same level of innovation when it comes to their mobile technology. There have been quite a few failures with Microsoft smartphones but the worst was the Microsoft Kin.

The Microsoft Kin was strangely meant to be a mix of a smartphone and a regular mobile phone with no apps but access to leading social media networks such as Facebook, Myspace and Twitter. It had its own internal network to store photographs and videos.

Its biggest downfall was due to its pricing which was a bit too extreme for a mobile phone that just wasn’t quite a smartphone. The Microsoft Kin was killed off only six weeks after it was launched.

With the news that yet another malware infected application has hit the Android marketplace, we ask what the hell does a malware infected app look like and what are developers hoping to achieve by letting unwitting smartphone owners install such applications?

So how do you get a nasty app on your phone in the first place?

Most of the time users will be downloading a “repackaged” application. One that looks like another legitimate app but simply masquerades convincingly as this while actually being a nasty bit of stuff. This graphic shows the most recent repackaged apps that have plagued and infected the android marketplace and mobile devices of late:

The prize most malware developers are aiming for:

As with most blood sweat and tears, the reasons for the effort in the first place is usually monetary gain, but how can you monetize an infected app?

Simple, with the help of graphics from a mobile security firm called Lookout who specialise in stopping malware, viruses and loss and theft related to smartphones and mobile devices.

Here are the top methods explained:

Malvertising

Simply put this is where an application offers seemingly legitimate in app advertising to cover its free cost, but in reality clicking that link will cause the application to infect your device….they are not necessarily free apps though.

This graphic shows how this would work on a mobile device.

Spyware

Spyware is designed to use or collect data without a user’s knowledge or approval. This may include targeting a users call history, location, their browsing history, text messages etc and will be other targeted at an organization or individual(s) or non-targeted in a scatter gun approach where the developer of the spyware hopes for as much information as possible from a large set of people.

Not all spyware is bad, some parents use it to track their children to make sure they are safe based on location spyware.

In the event of nasty spyware, the developer may be selling the data obtained or be doing it for an unscrupulous business or person, or like in many hacker cases, simply making a point and exposing security flaws (often in search of a job!)

Malware

This is essentially software designed to engage in nasty behaviour on an infected mobile device.

Ways in which malware can manifest itself include: Remote control of a device, sending unsolicited texts and racking up huge bulls unknown to the owner are some of the ways that malware can be an issue if it finds itself on your mobile device.

Malware can also be used to steal sensitive information such as personal details that could lead to identify fraud or financial loss.

Privacy Threats

These could be within applications that you agree to legal contracts with but do put your privacy under threat when location based services are taken into account. These may not be illegal at all.

How to stay malware safe on your mobile device:

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• Only download apps that are trusted and have some history of trust associated with them, (its easy to set a site up with fake reviews) but less likely if their are multiple reviews form trusted sites.
• Set passwords for your devices.
• Check links go to where you expect and report or abort ones that do not.
• Keep firmware updated.
• Do not trust the Android marketplace as most of the recent nasty apps that have been found have been downloadable from here.
• Be wary of Jailbreaking your iPhone which can leave your generally safe Apple device open to malware and infected applications, or in Android world allowing “sideloading” on your Android device, where you can download apps from other markets, though why we are telling you this in the Android case is unclear when their own marketplace is riddled continually with malware!

[/arrowlist]

Estimated mobile malware infection rates globally in 2011:

As you can see from the graphic above the rise of malware is starting to really present issues in such a new marketplace, I wonder if things need to be done quick in the Android case in order to stop fear and doubt spreading quickly?

People have had some weird and some wonderful ideas for gadgets and while some have stood the test of time and become quite useful, or at least popular, others have never really taken off. Some gadgets, on the other hand, have been simply incredible but never lasted long because something much better came along.

Great gadgets tend to be useful and make sense but there have been many that were simply pointless or just did not live up to expectations. Here are some of the oddest gadgets that never took off, some of which were incredibly popular for a very short time, before falling flat.

The Razor Phone of 2009

A Chinese manufacturer released the Razr Phone in 2009 which was a mobile phone with an electric razor built into it.

The electric razor head was built into the bottom of the phone where it could be hidden under a plastic covering. When the battery was fully charged it had the ability to power one full shave. It is highly doubtful this gadget ever really took off at all.

The Sony MiniDisc of 1992

When the Sony MiniDisc first came about in 1992 it was amazing and boasted many advantages over CD and tape. The MiniDisc was smaller, it was tougher and it did not skip ever. Unlike most of Sony’s other technology, the MiniDisc was licensed to other manufacturers. The Sony MiniDisc was the future.

Unfortunately, the MiniDisc didn’t last long because shortly after, the CDR arrived and then the MP3. By the time the iPod came about in 2001, it was game over for the Sony MiniDisc. Fortunately for Sony they have several other successful products both released and upcoming, that more than made up for any flops.

Windows SideShow for Windows Vista

In the run up to the launch of Windows Vista came an intriguing feature called the Windows SideShow. This was technology created to power an auxiliary screen which could display certain information without having to boot up Windows.

This extra mini screen allowed for simple tasks such as checking the laptop’s battery power for when you were enjoying games at Gaming Club NZ, to playing music, but it never took off. The technology was however still included in Windows 7 but needed compatible hardware to be utilised.

Microsoft Smart Personal Object Technology

In 2002, Microsoft SPOT launched as technology that could add software to everyday items such as pens, clocks and key chains. This technology saw things such as coffee makers that displayed the weather reports and smart alarm clocks but never really took off.

Microsoft SPOT technology was discontinued in 2008 because mobile apps were on the rise and offered greater potential.

The Amstrad Emailer by Alan Sugar

Alan Sugar, a man who claimed the iPod would not succeed, was the creator of the Amstrad Emailer. It was an idea from the 1990’s that was launched in 2000 as a land line telephone with a built in keyboard that could send emails.

Perhaps technological advances and the exorbitant costs for usage of the Amstrad Emailer saw its demise but, it was a massive failure that costs millions in the end. They can still be found for sale on the internet but today’s mobile technology can do everything the Amstrad emailer could and much more.

Advances in technology have kept up to date with the busy lifestyles of many and brought about the convenience of on the go gaming that rivals that of gaming consoles. Smartphones have become our most coveted items and nowadays come equipped with capabilities that allow top games to be enjoyed to the max.

Everything from graphics, sound and other game settings to loading and manoeuvrability through the game is just as good on many smartphones as it is on console. While on the go gaming is becoming better and better, there are certain aspects of smartphones that mean some are better devices than others to get the most out of mobile gaming.

There are many great smartphones that provide an excellent on the go gaming experience but some are just better than others for various reasons. As the debate between OS and Android remains as discussed as the debate between console and desktop, different devices appeal to different users. Regardless of OS, these are some of the top smartphones that are the best for gaming purposes.

The Samsung Galaxy S8 Smartphone

The Samsung Galaxy S8 is considered to be one of the best Android smartphones available. It offers an overall superior experience but boasts spectacular gaming performance. The gaming software features that made the Galaxy S7 so great have been enhanced to offer an even better Game Mode experience.

The Game Mode comprises of a Game Launcher where the games are stored and a Game Tools feature which allows for the ability to change the screen mode to accommodate unsupported games amongst other things such as blocking notifications and recording gameplay. The Galaxy S8’s hardware provides a smooth and immersive gaming experience with plenty of space and battery power, making it ideal for playing at Gaming Club NZ or any other mobile optimised site.

The Samsung Galaxy S7 Smartphone

Before the S8 was the Samsung Galaxy S7 smartphone which in its time was the best mobile gaming smartphone. It is still a great gaming smartphone that has incredible hardware for quality graphics and display as well as quick charging time and long battery life.

The Galaxy S7 was the first to feature the Game Launcher software that acts as a game centre and was the first smartphone ever to support Vulkan API’s.

The Sony Xperia Z5 Smartphone

In truth, the Sony Xperia X; Z3, Z4 and the Z5 all offer the Sony Remote Play experience for Playstation 4 owners but the Sony Xperia Z5 is the latest instalment and has the most up to date features.

The Sony Remote Play experience allows the home Wi Fi connection to stream to the smartphone and a connected Dualshock 4 controller is used to play. A game control mount can attach the smartphone to a controller for better gameplay.

The iPhone 7 Plus Smartphone

The iPhone 7 Plus offers an overall better gaming experience than the regular iPhone 7 because of its higher resolution and much larger screen space with the Full HD 1080x1920p LCD display. The high end version of this smartphone comes with more than 250 GB which is massive internal storage space for games.

The iPhone 7 Plus smartphone’s storage space and the A10 Fusion, that has a quad-core CPU, makes it an incredibly fast running device that can hold many games and have them run smoothly.

Much has changed since then, and on top of the plentiful mobile casino apps that exist today, there are also many social casino apps as well. It’s one of the fastest growing segments in the casino industry and brings in huge revenue for companies.

A major reason for that is the community spirit involved in social gaming apps. It isn’t just you and the app – it’s you, the app and your friend and acquaintances. You may have to ask for help or give gifts to other players, but you can also gain bragging rights among friends.

Social casino apps also involve the usual features from normal casino apps, including jackpots and new levels and bonuses. There are a variety of games to be played, and you can find the right casino app for you via comparefreecasino.com – the ultimate casino comparison site.

There are few big hitters in the market though, including Williams Interactive, Playtika, Zynga, Huuuge Games and DoubleDown Interactive.

Williams Interactive SoCaMo (social, casual and mobile) is the division of WMS Gaming and boasts some of the top apps in the industry. These include Jackpot Party, Gold Fish Slots and Star Trek Slots.
Playtika is owned by Caesar’s Interactive Entertainment, and has a range of social casino apps available for users including Slotomania, Caesar’s Casino and Farkle Pro.

Zynga is one of the biggest names in the world of social casino gaming, making a massive name for itself for the production of viral app FarmVille. It was also the first social media gaming giant to launch real money poker on Facebook. The San Franciso-based company also owns Words with Friends and Wizard of Oz slots.

Huuuge Games is a company based in Poland striving to make its name in the social casino network, with its roster including titles such as Cats and Dogs Slots, Zeus Casino and Pharaoh’s Slots.
Finally, DoubleDown Interactive – another of the leading providers of casino games on the Net – has DoubleDown Casino, Texas Tea and DoubleDown Poker.

A number of the social casino games will require users to be linked to Facebook – with millions users signing in via their account every day.

For the first time ever US mobile users spend more time using Apps than accessing the Internet from traditional means such as browsers.

Convenience and user experience are reasons that apps are blazing ahead of traditional Internet use…but why?

Delivery

Similar to the way e-books have now surpassed traditional printed book sales. The key differentiators and drivers have been a new method of delivery and experience; in this case the trusted e-reader allows convenience and a more functional method of use when reading books on the go.

In the case of apps:

Quite simply it is easier and again functional to click a button (rather than type in a URL) and the benefits in the case of social networks and news ad games is a quicker load time, an optimised experience and quicker access to the desired application.

This shift relates to usability and is a natural progression when users are given easier options of access.

Games and Social Networks:

Games

Looking at the chart we can clearly see that Games take sup close to 50% of all consumers time, with one third using Social Networks, when combined the total reaches approximately 80% of total app time, with users of these categories using them more frequently and for longer.

This result is predictable when both categories currently offer the most engaging experience on mobile phones.

Social networking:

With Facebook being used by such large quantities of people are such long periods of time, we wonder just what will happen with the HTML5 based “Project Spartan” which aims to allow Facebook users access to apps from within the browser, this sounds like a very clear tactics to dominate use even further.

This space is likely to see three major players dominate, Google, Apple and we predict Facebook in time.

What are your thoughts on apps?

Do you prefer them over the Internet for browsing news and playing games….or is a traditional web page a preference for news or indeed your gaming desires?

But the question I have is how come we are all not simply getting a mobile internet connection, and a device that can ACTUALLY do multitasking properly and sticking our fingers up to our mobile/wireless phone networks and all getting accounts with Skype and leaving this application running full time when we want to be contacted or call out?

Skype has a rival.

Having been a big lover of Skype of many years I can safely say something has happened in the VOIP arena that has change my relationship over the last 12 months.

Namely Google talk:

And as a user of Gmail along with many of my contacts, this has become the de-facto way to communicate ad hoc….why?

I am usually available as I like to check mail through the day and it is simply open in a tabbed interface on my browser….

Similar to multitasking, if I hear that familiar call tone I simply flip to my Gmail tab and see who it is.

Interestingly both products are totally free for end to end users on the same application and in the case of Google is offered as a loss leader to compliment their other cloud based applications that now come in subscription form.

Gmail more of a beast in the US than Europe:

I understand that Gmail has aggressively marketed the talk/chat service more in the US.

And also provides a free phone number to users as well as offering free calls to landlines as well as mobiles via its application so long as they are numbers in the US and you are also in the US making the connection.

In the case of Skype (newly acquired by Microsoft) revenue is generated by selling ancillary services/products and enhancements such as a Skype to go number or cheap minutes, that can be used to call numbers globally at reduced rates.

List of alternative free VOIP services and chat clients that allow phone or video calls:

Fring – VOIP (Chat Client)

With 1 Million new users a month reported in 2010 and over 91,000 apps downloads in its first 24 hours on Apples App store; Fring is a great VOIP chat client, giving you the option of bringing in many various chat accounts into one convenient application while your mobile.

Fring also allows you to connect using various accounts with the more basic Instant messaging (IM) applications for Windows live, Yahoo messenger, Twitter, AIM and ICQ.

Voice chat test:

Tested on a Samsung S2 over Wi-Fi, using Google chat/talk, was a relatively decent experience.

Fring: Watch this space:

There is a good chance that Fring could be on to something with the way they have brought in a decent client that integrates so many communication options into the mobile arena….watch this space!

iCall – VOIP

Visit: iCall

When trialled, this was not the best experience at all, but worth trying on a Windows machine as I suspect it was a conflict with Apple and the software it provides.

Summary:

iCall for the web lets you make free 3-minute phone calls to anywhere in the US or Canada.

iCall web phone gives you free calls by VoIP and is the most popular free call calling service on the planet. Free phone calls are finally here and brought to you by iCall.

Devices that iCall currently works on:

[arrowlist]

• Windows desktop
• iPhone
• Browser (tested and not very usable, though was on a Mac)

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Tuitalk – VOIP

Visit: Tuitalk

An interesting option for Global calls with limits based on the location you are seeking to connect with:

Tuitalk works similar to EvaPhone. But they require you to download their application in order to make calls:

Summary:

Tuitalk lets allows you to make free phone calls to around 40 countries. Each country in which you make your free phone call is limited to a certain number of minutes per call and per day. For most countries, your free Internet phone call can be six minutes in length.

Before your free call with Tuitalk is connected, you have to watch several seconds of a high-quality video advertisement.

Devices that currently work:

[arrowlist]

• Windows PC
• Windows phone
• iPhone

[/arrowlist]

So will mobile network providers have to change what they offer as more and more people value Internet data over minutes?

While I am sure none of the lesser known VOIP companies is going to be a threat to the likes of Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile or 02 etc.

Current experience leaves a lot to be desired:

The problem with most of the current VOIP offerings is they do not work as well as you would like on Smartphones.

Using my Samsung S2 I have to go through the Fring client currently in order to bring in my Gmail account as the Gmail talk facility for Android is not yet available on the S2 but on devices that support Google talk the application is seemingly superior to Apples “facetime” due to the ability to run on 3G, 4G and wi-fi.

This looks like it will change soon though.

How does it work?

Not bad, but far from good, though the Skype version did work quite well while out and about.

A question does pose itself…

If you can create a business model that works so the consumer has to pay nothing but their connection fee to a wireless network how do you justify the hefty prices that many networks charge for a mediocre connection and a handset.

Surely the handset is the only real value in the deal…..and the problem that huge networks may face is that Smart Phones will become common place in a couple of years!

What are your experiences of using VOIP technology, have you seen a shift to this type of communication over mobile phones in the last few year as much as I have?

A Russian anti virus vendor has alerted the mac community that Apple Mac’s are far from immune to security issues as the site Dr.Web claims that over 550,000+ computers are now infected with a Trojan horse that apple have finally patched up last week.

*note the advice is to update your O/S now.

The Trojan which goes by the name of: “BackDoor.Flashback.39 trojan,” is easily installed onto unsuspecting macs.

The article on Dr.Web goes on to state:

“Systems get infected after a user is redirected to a bogus site from a compromised resource or via a traffic distribution system, JavaScript code is used to load a Java-applet containing an exploit. Dr. Web’s virus analysts discovered a large number of Web sites containing the code.”

Mainly North American Mac PC’s affected:

It would appear that close to 80% of computers that are affected are from North America with the U.S at (56%) and Canada at (20%) and the UK coming in at around 13%. Most other countries such as Japan and Australia as well as the rest of Europe are suspected to have infection rates below 1%.

How this Trojan works:

With most affected websites coming under the .nu domain (that famous island of “Niue” of course) and with URL’s spanning many niches and interests but often related to movies and TV streaming services, there is a chance that you could be among the victims.

The Trojan works by saving an executable file (an application I assume, rather than a notorious .exe file which would not work on a mac)….onto the hard drive of the affected mac, this is used to download a nasty payload from a remote server which then launches the application.

But, I hear you say, Macs are much safer than Windows PC’s as they have a barrier of protection via a password layer that needs to be input prior to any new software being installed.

Well passwords are great, but if you are unsuspecting then you are likely to simply input this especially now that so many believe that Apple devices are somehow impenetrable to Trojans and such like.

Here is an explanation as to how the password issue is addressed with this Trojan:

“Whether or not the user inputs the administrator password, the malware will attempt to infect the system, though entering the password will affect how the infection is done.”

I am slightly unclear as to what the different outcomes are but that is all I could find on the password issue.

How do we know the figures of infection?

Using sinkhole technology Dr.Web managed to redirect the botnet traffic to their own servers to count affected macs, and this is what they discovered:

Work out if you’re infected:

Using “terminal”, F-Secure have released a set of instructions that should help mac owners find out of they have been compromised by this Trojan and hopefully remove it.

Infection rate put in doubt:

IT security consultant Adrian Sanabria has stated that he is not convinced by the data that Dr.Web have put forward on his blog stating:

“So far, I haven’t seen any other reports numbering the victims of Flashback, but if accurate, such a large infection rate on Macs may change common perception of OS X as ‘virus-proof’ and could result in a spike in Mac antivirus software sales.”

Motivation of commercialism could be telling?

Mr Sanabria went on to say:

“However, given that the company reporting these numbers is in the business of selling antivirus software, I think we need to see their claims corroborated before we get too excited,”

As far as I am concerned, whatever the true figures are I can see that Mac’s will come under more scrutiny from hackers and malware creators for the simple fact that Mac’s are growing in popularity and owners are a bit slack on security due to a perceived invincibility to this kind of attack.

As this case highlights, all it takes is someone to offer you a crappy TV streaming service that requires an application to be installed, or such like, and many Mac owners will simply go ahead and forget that they could be installing something more nasty, as in this case it seems.

What do you think of the Mac Trojan issue, do you still feel that Mac’s are more secure or is this a time bomb ticking away with more nasty surprises on the horizon?

Alcatel-Lucent and AirTight Networks are offering designs that address the ever growing trend that is bring-your-own-device (BYOD) which is putting more and more pressure on networks.

With the recent boom in popularity of smartphones and more recently the tablet PC, employees and C-level executives are expecting to be able to access the company networks on their devices.

Cause and Effect

Despite the increase in employee productivity the BYOD trend has brought with it, it has been cause IT administrators a great number of headaches as they are having to look back at all of the security measures in place and the bandwidth which these devices will require.

The IT administrators now have to find a way of keeping the networks secure whilst granting employee’s access via the mobile devices and controlling the effect this will have on the speeds of the network. Networking companies are developing systems designed to aid IT administrators manage mobile device access, one of which is Extreme Networks and their Intelligent Mobile Edge product.

Alcatel-Lucent’s take on BYOD

Alcatel-Lucent is adding to the market with its offering of its Converged Network Solution. The application allows the networks to track what device is connected to the network and who is using the device, plus the applications that are being used. The application has been designed to identify which applications require a higher quality of connection than other dependent on business criticality.

“Our solution helps enterprises keep their employees satisfied and productive, while reducing the capacity-sapping impact of personal services and devices on their networks,”

Stephane Robineau, vice president and general manager of Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise Network Business, said in a statement.

“As importantly, by building application fluency capabilities into the network, we are also making it possible for enterprises to ensure that employees who need guaranteed service quality for bandwidth-heavy applications, like video conferencing, can get it when they need it.”

Whilst the application allows the management of mobile devices on the network it also makes the use of external services such as cloud computing much easier.

Part of Alcatel-Lucents solution is the OmniSwitch 6450 Ethernet LAN switch, a 1GbE device that offers network access and can include 10GbE uplinks. This device will be made available between April and the end of June.

AirTight’s take on BYOD

AirTight has introduced a device “fingerprinting” capability into its Spectragaurd Enterprise Wireless Prevention Services (WIPS) and AirTight Cloud Services. The new fingerprinting capability was designed to enable easy identification for mobile devices on a network and check that they meet with the requirements of corporate policies.

“AirTight uses correlation of information from over-the-air and on-the-wire packets,” Parekh said in a statement. “This method produces accurate information about all smart devices (including iPhones, iPads, Androids and BlackBerrys) connected to the network to enable automatic classification and policy enforcement of ‘approved’ versus ‘unapproved’ devices.”

Along with the device fingerprinting AirTight also have a workflow designed to simplify BYOD management (patent-pending), mobile device quarantine, hotspot authorisation, Wi-Fi device pinpointing on premise, BYOD management API that integrates with mobile device management (MDM) systems and produces BYOD reports that can be emailed to any inbox required.

As the BYOD trend gains more momentum the pressure put on IT departments is increasing as is the number of businesses that are adapting their IT systems to accommodate this is up to 60 percent, according to a report from Avande. Nearly 90 percent of business leaders understand that employees use personal devices for work, 65 percent of C-level executives have acknowledged that BYOD is a high priority for their companies.

“Despite the notion that business leaders are resisting the shift, we found that companies are investing in staff and resources to enable the consumerisation of IT and have many of the resources that are needed today,” said Tyson Hartman (Avanade CTO) when they released the report.

It would seem that the BYOD trend will continue to bring new innovations and issues as things progress.

The idea of smartwatch gambling was initially unveiled in the early part of 2014 at the yearly Mobile World Congress, and it is safe to say it has been gaining popularity, and traction, ever since.

Gambling software companies like Playtech, and betting operators like Ladbrokes are producing gambling and wagering applications for Android and Apple iOS watches, and Microgaming is ensuring it is not left behind as these devices are more widely released and easily accessible for John and Jane Average.

Overview of Games Available on Smartwatches

Currently, there is only really a selection of real money slots available for these devices, although this will change, and soon. The first of these games playable now is the classic Thunderstruck, one of Microgaming’s most famous, and you can enjoy it stripped down to its barest elements in order to render it playable from your wrist. It certainly manages to pack in all of the same action you may have enjoyed on other platforms.

The only thing smartwatch-friendly pokies have is the name of the game, the reels, and a button which outlines your balance and the amount of money you wish to bet. All the frills have been removed, and only the most vital info remains on your screen, with every available pixel devoted to the game itself.

In addition, Microgaming developed their well-liked but now discontinued Dark Knight Rises for smartwatch formats too, originally designing it officially for the Samsung Gear 2. Despite no longer being available, this game remains one for the very first internet-based pokies ever created for the device.

Whether you enjoy online pokies in NZ or slots in South Africa, the advent of wearable gambling technology is going to be music to your ears.

What to Expect When You Play Smartwatch Games

Pokies are by far the most popular real money casino game compatible with smartwatches, and you have everything you need on your wrist in order to play. What these games may lack when compared to the more graphically refined versions available for enjoyment by means of tablets and smartphones, are more than compensated for by the level of convenience they present. They are intuitive enough to enjoy anytime, and ensure that you are never far from your favourite real money entertainment. These games are easy to play, exceptionally compact, and decidedly discreet. You can play anytime, without those around you necessarily being aware of that fact.

Potential for Future Growth in the Wearables Market

While the opportunities right now for smartwatch pokies play is rather limited, this situation will not last for very long. As more and more players opt for this method of access, developers will devote more for their resources to creating formatted games that function on these devices, and players can look forward to various table games becoming a smartwatch-option very soon.

While you can already enjoy various gambling and betting on the go options by means of your smartphone and tablet, wearables add an entirely new level of access, and discretion, to gaming. You will be able to give the pokies reels a spin literally whenever you like, wherever you are, without necessarily attracting unwanted attention, and can enjoy games from anywhere at all.

It’s convenient

Arguably the biggest factor in your mobile’s favour is just that – it’s mobile! You can play whenever and anywhere you want, provided you have an internet connection. If you play on sites like Play Cosmo you don’t even need internet access. Instead, just download the app and hone your skills on the free-play games when you can’t find a 4G or Wi-Fi signal.

Even if you’re at home, the smartphone is the easiest and quickest way to get started – or carry on playing – the casino game of your choice. Just pick up the phone, tap the app icon, or go to the website and start playing. By contrast, laptops are heavier and slower to turn on.

Tablets do have larger screens, which many see as their main advantage over smartphones. Yet they are also more cumbersome. Plus, screen size is becoming less of an issue as smartphone screens begin to hit the 7-inch mark.

Many see smartphones as essential devices that they take everywhere. Of course, their smaller size makes it more convenient to do so.

It costs less

Most desktop computers cost between £300 and £2000. Smartphones are generally cheaper, ranging from £100 to £500. Plus, many phones come free with monthly contracts. This makes the mobile handset a more affordable way to enjoy your favourite casino games or slots.

Powerful

Last year, a Venture Beat article predicted that mobile graphic capabilities would soon surpass those of consoles. For years, better graphics and higher speeds have been the key advantages of desktops and consoles over smartphones – but not anymore.

The latest smartphones have stunning graphics, allow you to enjoy live dealer casinos and talk with other players with next to no latency. Smartphones now give you everything you need for a truly immersive gambling experience.

More creative

Many operators make slots and casino games especially for smartphones. The low cost of developing the titles translates to a huge variety of games to choose from. And since it is faster and cheaper to produce mobile slots, operators tend to try out new concepts more readily. The result of this is a remarkable level of creativity that just didn’t exist prior to the smartphone.

Community

Mobile phones first existed purely as a means of talking with others while on the move. When smartphones came along, they added gaming to the mix. This makes the modern handset perfect for reaching out to other players, despite the fact many see them as unsociable. Use your smartphone to share banter, post screenshots and seek advice on social media or forums before, after, or even during your game.

The ubiquity of smartphones has led to mobiles and tablets becoming the primary source of browsing the internet for most people, bringing about changes in how content is now delivered and consumed online. With mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones easily available and always connected, website owners, content creators, and developers are also increasingly tailoring their content to the format. This mobile-first approach is more than just a trend as it is increasingly clear that the future of online activity will predominantly be mobile based.

There are many reasons for this, the fact that most people own a smartphones or tablet is chief among them, and the technology’s current and potential capabilities are yet others.

In short, mobile is proving to be the perfect platform for online gaming and gambling; let’s look at some of the reasons why.

Dedicated Apps

One advantage of smartphones and tablets is that they have app stores where users can download their favourite gaming and gambling applications. These apps give you direct access to services and are usually focused on a particular niche for a more immersive experience.

Aside from dedicated app stores there are also a number of mobile optimised portal sites that allow you to find the best bingo sites uk has to offer to make it easier to discover your favourite casino games as well. Apps are another reason why mobile has grown into the perfect platform for online gambling and other video games.

Better Content

As mentioned above, many developers now create their casino and casual games specifically for mobile. This means that better content tends to be available on mobile due to the capabilities of smartphones and tablets, and since its cheaper and faster to produce mobile games, – better variety too.

Speed and Convenience

The smartphones in our pockets are increasingly powerful machines that allow us to have access the internet right at our fingertips. This gives mobile devices an advantage of convenience to the user as all it takes is to simply press your home button, select the casino game of your choice and start playing. This is in contrast to having to boot up a laptop or PC, navigating to the providers’ website and searching for your favourite games before you can start playing. Although this may not be a major barrier, it is one that mobiles eliminate and replace with speedy and convenient access to the internet.

Connectivity and Social

Another major driver of the popularity of online gaming and casino gambling platforms on mobile is the social aspect and connectivity of gaming communities. Through social media, which can be integrated into games, players can easily find people who share the same interest and become part of a group. Social connectivity is crucial in getting users to keep coming back as they feel part of something they can relate to.

Conclusion

Current and future trends show that the popularity of mobile technology and the focus on developing content for the format is a perfect match that has made smartphones and tablets the saviour of the video gaming and casino industries. With such success and mobile proving to be the perfect platform for online games and gambling, the trend will not be slowing down anytime soon.

Tablets must be at least 7 inches to be considered a tablet. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 measures 8 inches which puts it on the smaller end of its class. However, many gamers are thrilled with its dimensions as it makes it much easier to carry with them. The display is much larger than a smartphone for enjoying online casino games. The display’s resolution is an impressive 1280 x 800 display. An Android product, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 runs on the Android operating system. It comes with the 4.2 version, also known as Jelly Bean. Many gamers prefer Android for the number of gaming apps. Also, most online casinos have special Android versions of their site to work optimally with these devices.

The best tablets for gaming have a speedy processor. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 doesn’t disappoint here either. Equipped with the 1.5 GHz Exynos 4212 dual core processor, the Galaxy Tab 3 doesn’t have to worry about sluggish performance which can really be a problem when playing on sites such as http://www.gamingclub.com/au/online-roulette Battery life is also important to permit gamers to play on the go. The battery life of this device is approximately 11 hours.

Now what do we have hear? Apple’s Siri, espousing the virtues of their Nordic rival Nokia, in the shape of the Lumia 900 series, yes it appears that Siri has decided, in its infinite wisdom, that the sleek but rather boring (app wise) Nokia Lumia is king of the smartphones.

According to a report on Ubergizmo and using the data and statistics based search engine Wolfram Alpha to help determine the answers the shock reply appears to be that Siri loves Nokia Lumias, so what next for Siri?

I prefer it when it appears to have no idea what the average Scotsman has to say, and would rather hear it blurt out profanities at some smug apple loving schmuck in all honesty, but if it wants to seemingly poo on itself also, who am I not to have a good laugh.

*caveat, I genuinely and rather ironically have never seen Siri used in real!

What do you Apple iPhone 4s owners think of this, can you prove that this does in fact happen, and do you, more importantly, agree if it does in fact hold true?

Warning about the security risks that are coming to light between Twitter and mobile malware that Symantec discovered after researchers said they have noticed an increase in the number of cyber criminals utilising the micro blogging system to lure in victims.

In a post made on Symantec’s blog, employee Joji Hamada says that Twitter is becoming an increasingly popular way to lure people to Android.Opfake malware.
“Users can potentially end up infecting their mobile devices with Android.Opfake by searching for tweets on subjects such as software, mobile devices, pornography or even dieting topics, to name a few,” Hamada wrote. “Android.Opfake is not hosted on the Android Market (Play Store) and these tweets lead to malicious Websites developed for the Opfake application.”

Twitter is a hotbed for scams:

Hamada said, that the Tweets used usually contain short links that are in Russian with the odd bit of English mixed into them. If the user clicks on one of these links they are asked to install code which is made to look legitimate. Additionally despite there being these tell tale signs of malicious links there are also tactics used by the individual which are harder to pick up on without having to follow the link and seeing what happens.

In the blog post, Hamada gives examples of malicious tweets.

Malicious Tweets:

Hamada goes on to outline some of the other characteristics of malicious tweets, but he also does warn that they not all consistent and will vary on some level. One of the key things to watch for is that the tweets are being sent out at a constant rate with no variation in what is tweeted and that the account has no followers. Having said that, there will be profiles that look like they are owned by honest people because it contains content in the profile, has followers and a more common account name but it is in actual fact linking to malicious code.
Symantec found that the malware operations are running constantly across a large number of accounts and in most cases they are performed simultaneously. Bringing to our attention Hamada mentions a operation that had been running for 8 hours before it was stopped, within this time 130,000 tweets had been made across 100 accounts (more than 160 tweets per hour per account).

“There were other minor operations taking place as well,” he said in the blog post. “However, I was unable to confirm the number involved.”
Hamada, praising Twitter in the way it responds to the findings of Symantec, which alerts them on malicious tweets. Symantec has suggested that Twitter shuts down these accounts while users are still able to report accounts for spam.

“Cyber-criminals mix their game around, thereby making it difficult to recognize all bad tweets and most of all: they are persistent,” he wrote.
Hamada notes that Twitter provides advice on how to keep accounts secure.

“Smartphones have allowed users to access the Internet anytime, anywhere and perform tasks that were only possible using computers,” Hamada wrote. “While the convenience provides so many great advantages, cyber-criminals are also taking this opportunity to accomplish their bad deeds. So be wary when using mobile devices. For tweets in particular, be selective when deciding which links in the tweets to click on.

Trusted tweets?

You may want to only trust tweets you are familiar with. Tweets are similar to email. You wouldn’t open an email from an unknown sender and then click on the included link, would you? This usually means bad news and the same goes for tweets.”
Having followed the Android.Opfake malware Hamada said that while the developers are currently targeting the Android and Symbian smartphones, they are also looking to target the Apple IPhone and the iOS operating system.

“We have come across a couple of Opfake Websites that, while hosting malicious apps that Symantec detects as Android.Opfake, are also designed to perform social engineering attacks on iPhone users,” Hamada wrote. “The iPhone is designed to prevent the installation of applications outside of the Apple App Store. This makes life difficult for bad guys attempting to fool users into installing malicious apps in a similar manner to Android and Symbian devices. To get around this, the Opfake gang has developed a social engineering trick that does not require apps to scam site visitors.”

To read Juji Hamada blog post click here.

There would appear to be a magic figure that Apple want all iPads to be able to deliver and that is 10 hours use of their tablets on a single charge.

So how do you ensure that this desirable 10 hour figure stays the same when the new version of the iPad will offer 4G LTE (a notorious battery drainer) and a densely packed 3 million pixel high definition screen consuming power via quad core graphics processing?

One answer would obviously be to put in a bigger battery, but when you have got a product that is selling like hotcakes and has no reason to reinvent itself, why on earth would you redesign a winning formula to accommodate a bigger battery. Even though the new iPad is heavier and slightly larger it is hardly a full redesign.

The other would be to reduce the overall power consumption by redesigning the chip architecture.

New battery technology ensures great performance:

But the answer for Apple has come from working on the battery itself and this has resulted in an iPad 3 battery that has nearly double the capacity of the iPad 2 battery meaning you get a whipping 42Wh in teh iPad 3 compared to to only 25Wh in the iPad 2 which from my tests on wi-fi and general use is hardly a poor battery anyway.

This when measured in milliamps means that the new iPad 3 will offer 11,666 mAh compared to the iPad 2’s 6944 mAh, so almost double.

But, like we have mentioned prior, the iPad 2 is considerably less power hungry on the screen side and also with the 4G LTE option that the new iPad 3 will offer, so Apple had to do something.

So what is going on in this battery to make it so powerful without the associated weight and size growth that it would seem to need?

Apple battery labs are hard at work:

Until we see the final product and get some wise ass to do a “teardown” we can not fully say, but, it appears that Apple’s battery laboratories have been hard at work testing new technology and improving the power of their Li-ion cells, and with the battery world in serious need of a catch up to keep up with new mobile technology that is so power hungry, could Apple have found more technology with which to sue every other company who tries to take a bite.

Are you happy with your iPad battery life currently and how do you think they will manage to pull this off when the new device will be so power hungry?

Well good people the day has arrived when you can get yourself the brand new Ice Cream Sandwich Update for the Samsung Galaxy S2.

Or has it?

As Samsung seem to have gone back on their word and dismissed told Korean twitter followers that the 10th of March release date is not valid.

Other news related to the release of the highly anticipated ice cream sandwich update for the s2 have also been dismissed as a mistake from the Israeli Samsung Facebook page.

Android a bit of a mess:

Android is hardly a new operating system but at the same time it is far from a relic. But what Android is managing to do with aplomb is alienate various device owners who feel cheated when their own perfectly capable devices are not quickly furnished with new variants of the Android operating system based on.

Fragmentation is forcing people to go back to Apple or consider Windows for that more unified and safe feeling you get from a steady roll out schedule for new operating systems, and I can understand that mentality totally.

I am torn between the Apple and Android on my next update, which has to be a bad thing when the whole Android eco-system could have swallowed me up over 2 years and made me a happy droid user. But, it has not. And for that reason I may switch.

Apple lost me on an under performing 3GS handset, Android may lose me on a decidedly average operating system (IMHO) that appears to be constantly reinventing itself with issues present in many cases.

This is not an Apple is better rant, it is a Samsung/Android is a bit crap rant.

So what can we expect when they finally work out how to release the Ice Cream Sandwich update on the Galaxy S2 that does not melt your handset or force you to only use it while wearing brightly colored pink underpants in the setting sun.

Well there are some nice features we can expect to see I must say:

[arrowlist]

• Face Unlock
• Glowing-blue interface
• Multi-tasking system

[/arrowlist]

Yes I look forward to seeing the update and will be taking Samsung up on the offer but I will not be rushing into it for fear of issues that have plagued other owners of Android devices suffering at the hands of an early release.

I will keep you posted on the hopefully smooth final release.

Rumors are that Google have been snapping up domains linked to the term Google Play but in all honesty we have no idea what the name of their new tablet will be….and woudl Google really leave thing that late to ensue they had A) the right domain and B) potential affiliate marketing variations that could muddy their brand….unsure myself though when seize and desist letter are pretty cheap.

Anyway the likelihood of their new tablet being called “Google Play” does make sense, as Google have been releasing various multimedia options for Android devices in the music, video and applications sector, and have now re-branded their marketplace Google Play….a direct competitor to iTunes.

Google Play – Kindle Fire Rival?

Google are likley to be mixing it in tablet land pretty soon with either the Google “Play” or some other name such as keeping the “Nexus” device name.

Their new 7 inch “Google Experience Device” will be packing an Nvidia Tegra quadcore SoC, with ASUS being the manufacturer and incorporating Android Ice Cream Sandwich as the O/S of choice. There are also talks of a 10 inch larger brother to this new entreat to tablet land.

The expected price point for the smaller tablet is a Kindle Fire competing $199.

News sources:

Started at the Mobile World Congress last week, the talk of the new tablet device is no revelation in the tech industry, Google have been worried about the rise of various devices and were bound to forge some plan to capitalize on their traffic, reach and operating system before too long just as they have done with the Samsung Galaxy Nexus.

With Android being “open” to developers Google have seen two things happen:

1 – Devices are developed with a pure Android O/S (Ice Cream Sandwich etc) and access Google owned markets and service such as the Android Application Market and Gmail.

2 – Companies such as Amazon developing tweaked versions of the Android O/S (non-certified devices) and taking owners of these devices to a totally separate marketplace controlled by their company.

The latter version is where the issues for Google stem and the fact that the Amazon Kindle Fire is the runaway tablet success on Android means that Google are now tipped to bring out their own competing tablet.

Talking at the MWC last week, Android chief Andy Rubin talked up the potential of Google stepping up to Amazon on the tablet front:

“2012 is going to be the year that we double down and make sure we’re winning in that space,….we’re going to do a better job at making people understand what ecosystem they’re buying into.”

Loss leader to gain market control:

Google will likely take a hit financially per device, just as Amazon did in order to lock people into their own marketplace, such is the lucrative benefits of gaining a client who buys apps and downloads films for the duration of tablet ownership that this initial hit is deemed worthwhile long term.

Release Date?

Expect to see the tablet getting into production next month and perhaps being retailed properly in June/July, we will keep you posted on any further news we hear.

At a key event held in San Francisco, Apple will give further news on the anticipated release date of the new iPad 3 and offer a glimpse of the device teasing us all with some carefully chosen words to describe what to expect.

“Something you really have to see. And touch”

So sort of like the iPad 2 and pretty much any other device that uses touchscreen technology.

Aside from the fact that we know bugger all really about the expected release date, it is clear for many that the date is imminent and advice to ditch your iPad 2 now to ensure the largest sale price prior to an official release date is common.

So let us have a look at some likelihoods of the new iPad version:

[arrowlist]

• Quad Core Processing
• 2048×1536 Retina display
• Identical looking

[/arrowlist]

No big Kahuna:

So as you can see it looks like not much will really have altered on the device cosmetically apart from the insides being beefed up. And when you think that neither the Samsung nor the Amazon Kindle Fire has really affected the growth in sales of the iPad, the old adage of “why mend what’s not broken” springs to mind as the new device looks set to offer a seriously hi-res retina display and a very powerful quad core processor, meaning that the iPad moves ahead (for a while) of its nearest rivals in terms of tech inside until the next update.

Yes I am looking forward to the next iteration of the successful Apple tablet and can fully understand why they may keep with simply updating the innards rather than providing us with a whole new tablet, after all it is what it does rather than what it looks like that is the most appealing aspect of Apple products even though they also look far better than their rivals anyway.

There is a reason why they are so successful, they tick the boxes of the modern tech consumer on every level.

Thanks to their new integrated security platform: Security Intelligence and Risk Management (SIRM) HP are looking to give enterprises a better view of what is happening across their more traditional mobile and cloud environments. They claim that through the use of this new SIRM service, businesses will be able to apply more flexible and adaptive security defences that are based around organisational risk that are unique to the business sector they work in.

Getting into the Security Race:

As HP aim to play a bigger role in the security market, they have come to realise that many organisations are under more and more pressure to ensure that their security systems can keep up with the ever increasing pace that is coming and many are struggling.

The rapid increase in popularity of Smart Phones, Tablet PC’s, Cloud based applications and storage is making organisations extend their infrastructure outside of their boundaries of security to protect the new areas that employees are working in, as the term bring your own device (BYOD) is becoming more well known.

Believing that its Security Intelligence and Risk Management can bridge the gap between the IT operations and security HP say that it is “helping organisations to move beyond a bolted-on, single-purpose product strategy.” The key significance of SIRM is that due to HP’s acquisition of ArcSight, Fortify and TippingPoint, to form the HP Security Products group last year, the system integrates the products that came with the purchases.

As an example, HP says that the HP EnterpriseView tool provides a dashboard to C-level Executives with a ‘heat-map’ the shows a prioritised view of risks across the enterprise. The view provides security executives with the ability to actively address high risks and deploy adaptive defences as rapidly as possible.

Along with EnterpriseView, HP Application Security Monitor (AppSM) is able to provide visibility into application security and increases the rate at which monitoring can be setup by reducing the requirement and cost of producing custom programming required.

HP Mobile Application Security protects the mobile applications through the use of line-of-code precision which identifies any potential security vulnerabilities on both the Android and Apple iOS.

The Risk of Cloud:

The risks that are associated with the use of cloud technology have also been taken into account by HP with their offering of HP Cloud Connections Partner Programme; this gives the management the ability to track user activity in Software-as-a-Service environments
To top it all off the HP compliance stack helps ensure physical, virtual and cloud systems meet compliance requirements of its customers.

The enterprise-class systems from HP don’t come with a cheap price tag given the nature of them.

HP EnterpriseView (Starting at): £157,569

HP AppSM (Per Applications Server): £3,151

With Apple’s iOS and OSX operating systems converging ever more and Windows is doing the very same thing with Windows 8 and their metro style interface that will allow users to share a unified operating system experience on tablet and PC and *eventually ITG’s much rumoured brick of a phone the xpPhone 2.

*this seems a little unclear but has been talked about very recently, and appears that a windows phone by the name of xpPhone 2, could be arriving soon, and will run on windows phone 7/8.

If they pull this off it could be the first universal PC that can morph into a PC, notebook, GPS Sat Nav, via the addition of various attachments.

So are Ubuntu about to enter the market in the same way or is this a different value proposition they are offering their.

So what are Ubuntu doing in this space?

Ubuntu’s proposition is to allow smartphone owners running Android the option to dock your phone with the Ubuntu for Android operating system on and all your devices functionality would then be available in a fully functioning desktop operating system.

The pitch to Android device manufacturers is to have this operating system embedded into the new device so it is available by default.

So once docked your phone will work as usual and your monitor attached will be used for texts or answering calls, plus all your applications that were contained on your device.

As was pointed out by Drew Olanoff writing for The Next Web this approach could become very attractive to IT professionals who want to ensure that their staff are able to use both a desktop and mobile with out the associated costs of owning both, now you would pretty much just need a monitor to be able to plug in your phone and work as normal from a unified device wherever this was an option.

This should also decrease the risk of security issues with less devices to worry about.

Now all we need is a thin Graphene based screen that we can roll up and use with a simple wire framework at the back of it that we can pop in a case and use as a screen holder when needed at the office, truly mobile computing with ease…..screen manufacturers take note!

Well the first Kindle fire is only a few months old, but reports are emerging that the next incarnation of the popular iPad alternative (though not on specs) is due a facelift, so when will it arrive and what will make it a version 2 tablet?

Well many believe that Amazon rushed the release of the Kindle Fire 1, using a Quanta off the shelf Playbook design. They did this to get their tablet out prior to the Xmas break and cash in on all those visitors to Amazon just as they have done with the Kindle.

This worked out well for Amazon as they sold 6 million of the first gen tablets in little over 2 months.

Amazon took a loss of $50 per tablet:

Quanta charge Amazon $250 per unit and Amazon then sell the Kindle Fire for $200, but they have made up this loss as expected with sales of digital assets like movies, apps, and music.

The real Kindle Fire to arrive in June:

Many see this first run of fire’s as just that, a test drive of a decent enough tablet that could satisfy a general population, not the best on the market, but functional, minus a few things such as bluetooth, a dedicated volume control, and a Micro SD slot.

So who will manufacture anew Kindle Fore?

Bye bye Quanta hello Foxconn:

It appears the Amazon will start to use Apples trusted manufacturer in Taiwanese based Foxconn who produce a lot of Apple devices in China, with component deliveries expected in March it appears that those in the know are tipping a May/June release date though I expect things to be a little later than this.

So will this mean that the UK will never really see the first iteration but will simply get the Amazon Kindle Fire 2 as a proper release?

What would you like to see introduced to a new version of the Amazon Kindle Fire?

An intern who found a place working at Apple has shown how the Cupertino based corporation are potentially seeking to make a shift with OSX based devices to an ARM chipset, kicking the relatively recent move to Intel in 2005/6 into touch.

The interns name is Tristan Schaap who was seemingly involved in a 12 week internship with Apple at their “platforms technology group” in 2010, and while doing this internship at Apple, managed to put down enough information based in the work to create a thesis, this was loosely based on making the “lower half” of Mac OSX work on an ARM processor.

Submitted in 2010 but only just release due to its content, the report seems to suggest that Apple could be looking to shift their desktop/laptop processors to the power saving ARM option, however Tim Cook would lead us to believe otherwise by saying that if you want an ARM based macbook go get an iPad.

But who knows where Apple will go with their processors, in some ways a unified processor option makes sense and in other areas it looks less significant.

Apps drive convergence:

All this talk of unifying Apple processors does have some reasoning behind it though when you see just how similar Mountain Lion is to iOS compared to earlier versions of the desktop operating system.

In a very recent interview in the WSJ Tim Cook talks about how OSX and iOS are morphing in ways that seem natural:

“We see that people are in love with a lot of the apps and functionality here,…so, anywhere where it makes sense, we are going to move that over to Mac.”

And with the release of Mountain Lion, OSX makes no bones about wanting to be more iOS like in its functionality and overall look and feel, and will extend the iPad like functionality that saw gesture control features and integrated apps ported into OSX Lion more than in previous incarnations of the wonderfully slick operating system.

I look forward to giving it a try!

What would you do without the Internet?

We will be a bit buggered here that is for sure…:)

So, with Anonymous making plans to turn off the internet by hitting the 13 root DNS servers that supply us with access, what would this mean to you and would it make you sympathize with their cause or is this kind of showboating going a little too far to make a point.

Here is what Anonymous have to say about the proposed March 31st internet shutdown:

“SOPA, Wallstreet, our irresponsible leaders and the beloved bankers who are starving the world for their own selfish needs out of sheer sadistic fun….anonymous will shut the Internet down”

Now in essence I sympathize fully with their crusade, I detest on many levels the actions of the few that “run” this world (into the ground), and for that reason I stand by protests that are against control of communication and people, in ways that only go to serve the vested interests of the few.

But we are in a funny balance here, as perhaps some times, it is “better the devil you know”, because my suspicions are that the “establishment” would be pretty difficult to replace with anything that does not turn into much of a muchness after a while…power does this to the best of us….”new labour”…”old conservatives”.

So while I do feel that their plight is based on essentially good morals, I just fear that some of this may be slightly misguided and perhaps lacking in any real value and desires, essentially anarchy.

And while I am not keen on the “establishment” at all, and the idea of anarchy is great when you are a spotty 16 year old, the truth is in society we all have a role to play to help us all get on and live decent lives, and I just wonder if anonymous maybe shooting themselves in the foot if they are looking to gain supporters, as I really do not see what good “turning the internet off” will do them as it will be so detrimental to so many innocent people who may have sided with their corner in the past but will now most likely despise them.

How will they kill the internet then?

Essentially what will happen if they decide to attack these 13 root DNS servers is that the HTTP look up request will not be functioning properly and you will see nothing but an error page, and while this does not technically mean the whole internet is down, pretty much amounts to the same thing.

Anonymous go on to explain the system in more detail:

“A flaw that uses forged UDP packets is to be used to trigger a rush of DNS queries all redirected and reflected to those 13 IPs. The flaw is as follow; since the UDP protocol allows it, we can change the source IP of the sender to our target, thus spoofing the source of the DNS query.”

They also state that they will not be telling us how long this attack will last just that it will be global and it will affect the whole internet for hours or days.

Now with this amount of power and press coverage (assuming all goes to plan) I just hope they have a pretty convincing and detailed after dinner speech recorded so we can all finally “get” the message and hear their suggestions to providing real solutions to the issues they want to be addressed….not just p***ing people off because you can.

But is it really that easy to pull off?

Robert David Graham from Errata Security states on his blog:

“The Anonymous hackers can cause local pockets of disruption, but these disruptions are going to be localized to networks where their attack machines are located, they might affect a few of the root DNS servers, but it’s unlikely they could take all of them down, at least for any period of time. On the day of their planned Global Blackout, it’s doubtful many people would notice.”

So it seems likely that Anonymous will not get the attention that a fully blown outage would eventually deliver, but they could cause a nuisance in theory.

The trouble with anonymous is they have no face:

I know this is their face, but what I struggle with is working out exactly what they stand for apart from random attacks on “da establishment”, shows of solidarity to target big corporations via DoS attacks, and putting the spanner into misguided bills such as SOPA which already has some pretty big protest movements going on around it already that seem to be working effectively for now….(I am unsure long term)

But what I really want to know is serious alternatives to all the things that are protested against, so come on guys, let us in on the way forward…I am all ears….genuinely.

Please however note the date of this attack…..31st March…want comes next?

I love a bit of disruption in the marketplace, and where I once thought Skype would do this with aplomb I must say that when I heard that Microsoft were taking over I expected a more conservative pace to be taken up which has actually proven to be a bit mixed in reality….but what happened to the founder of Skype, Niklas Zennstrom?

Well Niklas appears to still enjoy a bit of disruption, so has taken once more to the internet airwaves with another free offering in the form of 4G LTE for the masses.

Yes his new backing seems to be the company known as FreedomPop, which is partnering with Clearwire to offer US consumers free mobile broadband to users for zilch, so how will it work?

This comes after it was expected that FreedomPop would partner with LightSquared prior to news that the FCC was going to kill LightSquared’s terrestrial network waiver on the grounds that their proposed ground-based mobile service would potentially cause GPS issues.

Tony Miller, FreedomPop’s VP of Marketing said:

“FreedomPop’s ultimate goal of providing our customers with a free mobile broadband alternative will soon be realized thanks to Clearwire’s proven 4G network services, this agreement enables FreedomPop to offer a disruptive retail service, providing free, flexible, high-speed internet access to millions of Americans.”

So the plan is to rent new 4G LTE bandwidth from Clearspace and then offer this out for free to 85% of users and charge the rest for premium access i.e those who gobble up the most data.

They will also offer rental options such as USB dongles, a mobile hotspot and a “mystery device” according to Toms Guide.

It is likely that the service will be capped for streaming video and high bandwidth use, with premium access users getting these kind of privileges, so in essence its a trusted and widely successful freemium model, where the small percentage of people pay for the bulk of the revenue generated, though there does seem to be talk of a deposit scheme being in operation so there is some small outlay at the outset it appears.

A few things have happened of recent to make me think that the release date of the next iPad will actually be early March, with some saying the 4th.

[arrowlist]

• We already predicted it!
• Certain stores are now selling discounted iPad 2’s
• Other retailers such as Carphone Warehouse and Orange are stating that they are running out of iPad 2’s
• Reliable sources at iMore say the same…so it has to be true….;)

[/arrowlist]

So with all this in mind what is all this we hear about 4G on the iPad 3?

Will the iPad have 4G capabilities?

With some 38 or so frequencies that 4G will run on internationally, it is not as easy as manufacturers would like to simply offer 4G connectivity globally, yes it can be done but it currently comes at a price, so with this in mind and the alternative being a domestic 4G device that only works within your own territory what is the likelihood of the next iPad having international LTE 4G capabilities?

Well it seems that the iPad will certainly be 4G enabled in the US as the WSJ has confirmed suspicions that AT&T and Verizon will be host to the new 4G enabled iPad 3. Wether this extends to being global 4G connectivity is doubtful but perhaps an option will emerge at a price.

Unfortunately and rather annoyingly for the UK, the delays that have presented themselves in the roll out of 4G will mean that this new technology will not be available on mass for a few years, so we will probably be on the iPad 4 or 5 by the time this becomes truly relevant in the UK.

New apps means new screen?

It is likely that the much touted retina display will finally get a showing and new Apps being developed will make the most out of the 2048 x 1536 display, processor wise things are a little unclear with reports of an A6 quad core and an improved dual core ARM Cortex A9, which, if any, make the grade I am unsure of.

With Apple being attacked about their human rights policies and lack of action at plants they use in China, run primarily by Taiwanese based Foxconn (yes its complicated).

And with the Cupertino based company now open to looking more closely to how they operate in this territory, it is interesting to note that a home grown tablet manufacturer is actually looking to outsell Apple’s iPad in their own backyard.

ErenEben

Have you heard of ErenEben?

Well you probably will have if you live in China as they currently hold the second largest tablet share in China, this is according to Analysys International, this figure is currently set at 6% which is a far cry from being a major threat to Apple but it is interestingly more than Lenovo or Samsung have in terms of market share in this vast country.

China not vast consumers of tablets yet:

Chinese gadget lovers bought around 5 million units last year and are expected to buy some 18 million tablet PC’s in 2012, a huge increase from 2011, and this is where ErenEben hope to tap into the latent potential in this niche.

ErenEben are hoping that unique hand writing technology will allow users to write on screen using a stylus which they are calling the “Mind Mark” feature, plus the installation of a Chinese copy book application that will appeal to an older, less tech savvy generation, and hopefully win hearts and draw in some more of the huge population of China that have not yet embraced tablet technology.

Writing in China different to the West:

Many of us do not think about how the East communicate in terms of writing but it is a totally different relationship than we have in the West, and for this reason ErenEben are proud to now be named the “hand-writing computer of the meeting” by the Chinese People Political Consultation thanks to there Mind Mark feature.

Not cheap:

With the tablet based on Google’s Android operating system, the actual cost for each device comes in at a considerably high 5,000 yuan compared to the base price of an iPad which is 3,688 yuan, but just under the current top priced iPad which costs some 5,288 yuan.

ErenEben’s Chief Operating Officer Fang Liyong told the South China Morning Post.

“Most government officials and business leaders are of the older generation and are used to writing in their own style. And they are the ones with strong purchasing power,”

He went on to say that these people were the ones with buying power so they believe they are pitching to the right audience with the right feature set.

Relying on one technology is dangerous:

The trouble with this new technology is that Apple will most likely just develop a fantastic Chinese application that offers exactly the same option of writing on the tablet in the Chinese style with a stylus, either that or many apps will emerge with a clear leader offering the same functionality.

Your thoughts?

The first week of March will see Apple hold an event that will hail the arrival of the iPad 3, this is according to a report on AllThingsD, this is obviously more of the same old rumour mill tripe that we sometimes churn out for you to read and get our figures up..;)…but these sources seem to be saying that the actual iPad 3 tablet will be available in the second or third week of March, with iOS 5.1 getting a showing pretty soon after.

So it looks likely that the new Apple iPad 3 will be making a showing pretty soon, and according to Japanese blog Macotakara it could well be a 9.7-inch retina display panel with 2,048 x 1,536-pixel resolution.

iLab Factory, Chinese repair parts reseller, shows a Sharp made LCD panel which is considered to be for iPad 3.

What do you think to the rumours and date expected?

According to a semi-recent blog post by Photobucket who are now independent again after leaving the internet innovation killing clutches of News Corp and detailed in an article on The Next Web.

Photobucket’s most recent report, based on the earlier method of data collection above was compiled in December of 2011 and has shown that the rise in mobile video uploads as well as mobile photography has been consistent as expected.

*Kodak should perhaps be taking note if they are to ever think about releasing any more digital cameras, dont.

Using thier 100 million subscribers, Photobucket also delivered data shared via an infographic below that highlights how people are using their mobile device and photobucket in general, this makes for interesting reading and in particular shows that we not only use our mobile more as a capturing device but we are also getting more content uploaded in general as us humans seemingly must find the choice of device much easier than whipping out a camera to use, this make a lot of sense.

Why mobile phones are so good for taking pictures:

As a semi professional photographer who gets roped into doing good friends wedding pictures quite happily, I know that this heading is against ‘purist’ photographer mentality.

But it is true that mobile devices are great for picture taking and the infographic highlights this…why?

A number of reasons:

One, mobile devices are pretty much always with us and can be ready to take pictures in a few seconds maximum.

And also because there are cool applications that make your pictures look trendy, encouraging people to take shots and apply some effects from the likes of apps like instagram etc and then upload to facebook, photobucket, whatever they wish.

Though it is also intriguing to note that consolidation seems to be taking place and I can only imagine this is as people are getting tired of spreading their content around thinly and now only focus (ha ha ha) on a few photo sharing sites.

Android and Apple rule mobile uploads:

According to “internal data” not verified here at Mobile Inquirer Photobucket sees 25% of mobile content being uploaded from Apple devices and the remaining from Android devices, yes the full 75%.

I wonder if Windows users just have no inherent creative talent or a lack of friends in general…oh I forgot they are always busy fixing stuff.

CEO of Photobucket Tom Munro states:

“We saw explosive growth in mobile in 2011; in fact, we topped 10 million mobile downloads to end the year,”

Sharing very popular:

We know that sites such as Facebook have become great big repositories of crappy photos from drunken nights out and such like, but photobucket is also in on the game here with their applications such as Snapbucket being used more and more by snap happy users, thus allowing the sharing of content to a wider audience via this technology.

With Google photos looking to get in on the game we wait to see what will happen in this dynamic field of technology.

Enjoy the infographic:

With some users already opting for an unofficial ROM to make your Samsung S2 a bit more creamy like, but most of us prefer to wait for stable versions of new operating systems that do not invalidate pointless warranties or more to the point force us to do all sorts of geeky techy stuff that may or may not actually work.

Having said this, an official release from Samsung is no reason to assume that it will work properly as many Samsung owners who have had Nexus S Ice Cream Sandwich problems will attest.

Facebook update from Samsung Norway:

It appears that the northern European Samsung guys have leaked a bit of information out that may begin to shine some light in the ICS updates that will arrive for other Samsung devices, with only the pretty dreadful Ice Cream Sandwich update for the Nexus currently being unveiled officially.

It seems like this statement is pretty clear:

Samsung plans to launch Android Ice Cream Sandwich to the Galaxy S II and Galaxy Note towards the end of the first quarter of this year. When more info is coming so we put it out here on our Facebook page!

*please note that this is a translation by Bing..;) from this update here.

And as you can see from this update, there will also be a proper ICS update for the Galaxy Note also.

Thanks must go tote ever vigilant guys at Phandroid for spotting this little tip.

With the Galaxy Note AT&T option being available from the 19th of February as we reported yesterday, many buyers will be pleased to see that the device will be getting Ice Cream Sandwich pretty soon.

So how do you take this news, is it about time or are you still curious to see what all the fuss is about ICS, and with the problems that have gone on before for many devices, perhaps you are a little skeptical that it will be worth the risk. Let us know your thoughts.

You may or many not have heard of Davos, it is a small municipality in the region of Prättigau/Davos in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland, and is home to the World Economic Congress which is a kind of forum/think tank of the powerful and mighty of global politics and business.

And what was the talk of this years Davos?

Ever so slightly in the face of the usual mobile technology articles that appear on mobile inquirer, this piece still relates to mobile technology, but has more to do with health…read on.

The world’s first mobile semiconductor-based gene sequencer:

Showcasing at Davos, this machine will offer mobile DNA sequencing and is based on its already very popular and larger older brother.

DNA sequencing is often termed the Code Of life and this machine will compute this with so much speed that Doctors will be able to assess a patients “issues” within minutes by accessing the devices data which after analysing a patients DNA, then suggests exactly what the problem is and allows the doctor to quickly deliver a suggested course of action to prevent issues such as disease progression, giving precious time to patients and health officials in general.

The new machine on show at Davos is a smaller version of an already available desktop semiconductor-based gene sequencer machine.

Superbugs quickly discovered:

There are many cases that would benefit form a very quick identification as to the strain of disease, for instance super bugs that plague health officials in hospitals or areas in general will be able to use the technology to discover the strain much sooner than currently allows meaning that treatment and an effective remedy to remove these would be in place quicker, potentially saving lives and money in the process.

Mobile DNA sequence testers:

In an even more amazing sounding development to the technology, it is suggested that the DNA sequencer will be able to be brought “in the field” using a mobile version which will be able to identify new viruses or test water quality in the open and in areas that are perhaps more difficult to get to.

Crime DNA tester:

Police officials will also benefit from the technology which will be able to quickly develop a potential suspects DNA profile saving potential time and allowing a team to focus on areas that would have perhaps taken a lot longer to assimilate.

Who is the DNA master then?

The man behind this technology is a German called Jonathan Rothberg, he is the master biotechnician and CEO of Ion Torrent, a company that is owned by US based Life Technologies who also produce the Ion Proton, the worlds first semiconductor-based gene sequencer.

Talking of the technology Rothberg says:

“It’s the first machine that can do an entire human genome for less than 1,000 dollars. It’s the first machine than can read the genome in two hours,”

With this new technology DNA samples are simply dropped onto a microchip of only an inch across, and then placed into the Proton which is similar to placing a SIM card into your phone, two hours later when the computational genius has worked its magic the 6 billion letter code of life is delivered.

Indeed the technology is so damn cool that the folks at Davos 2012 appear to have treated Jonathon Rothberg as a rock star of science such was the general gloomy topics covered by most of the attendees there.

Talking to AFP in Davos of the technology Rothberg continues…

“…previously machines would cost more than half a million dollars and it would take weeks to get information on your genome, the Proton instrument is designed to do discovery — find new genes that are involved in cancer, find new genes that are involved in autism, find new genes that are involved in diabetes, but it’s also designed to be used in a clinical practice to make sure that you give the person the right medicine or the right medicine to the right person. And to help diagnose new born children with ailments.”.

Technology based on larger model prior to desktop version:

As is usual in technology the predecessor was a more expensive and larger model that pretty much did the same thing, already the worlds best selling DNA sequencer, this earlier device was responsible for helping Germans figure out what strain of Ecoli broke out last year from food contaminated with the disease, the ability of the original printer sized device to track and work out what superbug they were dealing with is thought to have saved many lives.

“It was the precursor to this machine and one of the first chips we made that decoded that E.coli outbreak and allowed us to understand that superbug, track that superbug and have a diagnostic for that superbug.”

It is unique in being the only machine that uses a semiconductor to sequence genes, where previously any one looking to do research on DNA strands would have had to look through very powerful microscopes and work in this manner.

With many many areas of use for this technology, the main one that people are so excited about is health, and just how much this kind of technology can aid areas where outbreaks of disease are common.

According to a report in CNET and referencing a Russian blogger going by the name of Eldar Murtazin who runs mobile-review.com the Samsung S3 will make an appearance at MWC next month in Barcelona and will then appear on shelves in April.

Ok so it has gone away now, but for a brief period you could clearly see that a new model had arrived in Samsung’s inventory on their website.

The GT-I9300 was in that familiar drop down until rumours about this being the Samsung S3 obviously came flooding out.

So what was it and why would it possibly have been there for a short period?

Well my hunch is it was a tech issue, or in a more cynical plot it would have been done to stir up a little free press and start those huge rumour wheel mills up again, and here we are stoking that fire once more, how predictable we are..;)

Officially it would seem that Samsung have not got a release date and they are still in the process of sorting out the date details.

It will be interesting to see just how good the new battery will be on the Samsung S3 and I for one hope they give me one to test out as the Samsung S2 which I currently use was slated rather a lot due to the pi** poor battery life, and with Samsung telling the world that their 2012 range of smartphones will last a full day of moderate to heavy use, I am waiting to test this out.