Latest Gadgets, Tablets and Smartphones
Windows 8 looks like it could do extremely well when it launches. When Microsoft [MSFT] first announced it recently, bloggers around the world were positive with what they saw.
Today we get to take another look at how the OS will work when running on a tablet.
A few weeks ago we wrote that TomTom was about to make TomTom for the iPhone in to an iPad compatible app. This update has now arrived and brings with it support for both the iPhone and iPad in a single app.
As TomTom has decided not to charge again for the iPad version of the app, this also means that any in-app purchases you have made on the iPhone version can also be carried over to the iPad version.
Samsung has confirmed to Clove in the UK that the Samsung Galaxy Nexus release date will be November 17. At this point we are not sure if that means only the unlocked version priced at £515 will be available or if the networks around the UK will also be selling the device at that time on contract. Either way, prepare for a mid November launch perhaps with pre-orders being taken early in November for those devices sold on contract.
One of the unusual specs of the Galaxy Nexus is the built in barometer. This particular sensor is usually associated with forecasting weather and pressure changes. We’ve now had confirmation as to why a smartphone needs a barometer.
The iPhone 4S launched last week and within just a few days, 4 million of them were sold. As usual, iSuppli has decided to take a look at what components are used and then estimate the cost of building each device. The cost for each 16GB model was estimated to be $188 although this doesn’t include the build cost of $8 per item.
Toshiba has created a new 6.1 inch display that has an extremely impressive resolution of 2,560 x 1,600 pixels. This many pixels crammed in to a 6.1 inch screen gives it a pixel density of 498ppi which is far more than that of the Retina display of the iPhone.
With the resolution that it has it also is better than full HD although it isn’t clear at the moment what is needed to keep the screen being used to its full potential (meaning the graphics chip on a tablet it will be attached to).
Looking over the specs page of the iPhone 4S you might have noticed that as well as supporting GPS, the new smartphone also has support for GLONASS. GLONASS (meaning GLObalnaya NAvigatsionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema) is Russias answer to the US GPS system. The project started as far back as 1976 and is essentially a different system to track you around the globe. At the moment GLONASS isn’t active although the last satellite was sent in to space very recently.
As the day of launch moves on we are now finding out more of the details of the new Samsung Galaxy Nexus smartphone. Clove in the UK has just announced that it is selling the 16GB model for £514.80 inc VAT. This is of course the unlocked price. We have also been told that the 32GB model is not coming to the UK. We’ll wait for a bit more clarification on that as it could mean Clove is not stocking the 32GB model or that the larger model will only be available locked and on contract.
iPhone 4S users seem to be getting a little upset about the battery not lasting as long as expected. In most cases, users are reporting that the iPhone 4S has a worse battery life than the iPhone 4.
I have a mixed experience with the iPhone 4S compared to the iPhone 4 running iOS 5. Both do really well or both can perform bad depending on what features are used. It’s hard to confirm if this is all hardware related or if Apple just needs to tweak iOS 5 a little more to be more effective at getting the information it needs for location based reminders and iMessage etc… Below is a list of new features that seem to cause the battery to die.
iOS 5 on the iPhone 4S lacks an API that allows developers to integrate with Siri, we assume this will happen when Siri is taken out of Beta, but this restriction hasn’t prevented some smart ways of getting data in to apps that you want to use with voice control.
One of these is the Remember the Milk app which is used for task management. Siri by default does not speak to Remember the Milk but thanks to some smart ideas the developers can now let you add a reminder to Remember the Milk.
Google [GOOG] has launched the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich SDK to developers. The new operating system was announced earlier today and brings a number of new features to the Android platform. This includes rich notifications, multitasking as well as a number of other tweaks and features.
Instapaper for iOS has received a BIG update. The new version is 4.0 and brings with it a few changes as well as design changes on the iPad to make better use of the larger screen.
The iPhone version, pictured below, shows a more unified navigation system. The design for the iPhone has also been tweaked a little. When reading an article the top navigation has been removed (can be put back if desired) so that the screen is less cluttered and provides more reading space.
