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Posts Tagged ‘mobile’

Ah, February. The favorite month of florists the world over… at least anywhere Valentine’s Day is customarily celebrated with gifts of flowers. And of all flowers throughout history, the rose is the most enduring symbol of love. Sadly, although the symbol endures, a real fresh-cut rose doesn’t stay lovely for long. But the roses in our new Windows 7 theme will remain beautiful forever.

And of course love is not limited to humans. in the new Animal Affection theme we published today, affectionate couples of many species nuzzle, kiss, play, groom, and nap together in happy companionship.

The Lovebirds and … [Read More...]

Google’s Android OS often takes a beating from security companies for it’s occasional malware scares. Google has not been silent on the matter in the past, but the OS maker revealed today that it is taking action to combat Android malware. In fact, it has been taking action for the last few months without telling us. Google’s Bouncer project is an automated security scanner that will apparently filter malware from the Market.

Google allows anyone to pay the $25 to become a developer, and start uploading apps to the Android Market. Unlike Apple, Google does not review apps by hand. … [Read More...]

Tablets are nifty, but for the most part, they’re built to be walled gardens; Apple is notorious for its heavy-handed curation, Microsoft plans on keeping Windows 8′s Metro-style apps close to the chest, and the hot-selling Kindle Fire is a deeply tweaked and thoroughly managed variant of Android. One Linux developer hopes to make things more customizable with Spark, a Mer/KDE Plasma Active-powered tablet that’s fully unlocked and open for tinkering.

Ars Technica pointed us towards the blog of Aaron Seigo, the brains behind the Spark. Seigo claims the €200 tablet (that’s around $260 USD) packs ” 1GHz AMLogic ARM … [Read More...]

The Obama presidential campaign is again pushing the bounds of technology in politics by using Square mobile payments in its fundraising efforts. Square’s mobile payment device is a secure magnetic stripe credit card reader that can be attached to the headphone jack of iPhones, iPads, and Android devices to accept payments.

The company is obviously thrilled to have the publicity, and has sanctioned a special app for the campaign to use for donations. Currently, only staff have access to the Obama Square app, but it will be released to the general public soon. This is similar to the way Square … [Read More...]

Google’s filed its 10-K with the SEC yesterday, and the numbers have revealed a staggering increase in the number of acquisitions the search giant made in 2011. Google closed the year by spending close to $2 billion on 79 separate acquisitions in 2011, a number that has grown significantly from the $1 billion it spent in 2010. This number of course doesn’t factor in the Motorola deal which is expected to clear in early 2012 to the tune of $12.5 billion, but includes dozens of other high profile startups. 

Many of the companies on its list you’ve probably never heard … [Read More...]

Motorola’s Droid Xyboard a slick, well-performing tablet that’s easy on the eyes. Too bad it has such a stupid name.

The Android device, which runs on Verizon’s 4G network and is available now in Verizon stores, is actually Motorola’s second shot at the tablet game. The Xyboard is the company’s follow-up to its pricey, not terribly popular Xoom tablet, which was released in February of 2011.

The design has been overhauled to match Motorola’s newest mobile hardware — the tablet has clipped corners like the Droid Razr. The Xyboard comes in both … [Read More...]

This is the year millions of owners of so-called feature phones — devices which handle little beyond voice calls, texts, and photos — will finally upgrade to true smartphones.

At least, that’s the hope of Microsoft and Nokia. The two tech giants have been floundering to get a foothold in the U.S. smartphone market ever since the iPhone launched in 2007. The two companies have partnered up to make a more cohesive play in the realm of touchscreens, apps, and streaming media, and this is their most accessible U.S.-bound device so far.

The Nokia Lumia 710 runs the latest version … [Read More...]

Whether you just built or bought a new PC, it pays to optimize your setup from the start

Nothing holds more promise than a brand-new PC. The hardware is fresh and full of potential, the OS is clean and clutter-free, and you have nothing but pure, unadulterated storage space awaiting your precious data. It’s an exciting time, indeed. But before you start dumping old files onto your new rig willy-nilly, and downloading every shiny bauble of an app that catches your eye, take some time to consider a more measured approach to moving in. After all, you only have this … [Read More...]

The jury is still out on Windows 7 tablets — and, at this point, it looks like it may never come in — but with the Series 7 Slate, Samsung at least gives this difficult niche the old college try.

Our last encounter with a Windows tablet dates back to March’s Viewsonic ViewPad 10, which disastrously attempted to combine Windows and Android in one device, dramatically failing at both. Here, Samsung is at least wise enough to pick … [Read More...]

Microsoft Hardware is announcing today the Bluetooth Mobile Keyboard 5000. This is like the “little brother” to the Bluetooth Mobile Keyboard 6000 – but without the separate number pad. The Bluetooth Mobile Keyboard 5000 is a full-size keyboard and is light-weight with a very slim design. It features the approved design by Microsoft’s resident Ergonomist Dr. Dan Odell. Specifically, the design has a 6-degree curve that allows the keys to stay in a contiguous arc for a more natural wrist posture.

This keyboard is perfect for new ultra-portable PCs like the ASUS ZENBOOK. I’ve been using the ASUS ZENBOOK … [Read More...]

Car nuts race their rides to see whose machine is the fastest. Fitness fanatics run marathons to test their physical limitations and endurance against that of their fellows. Geeks and gearheads? Our battles are fought and won on the basis of how capable our hardware is. While our desktops and laptops might be a thing of wonder to behold, carrying them around with us for the sake of collecting the accolades we deserve isn’t always convenient. Carrying around a smartphone or tablet, however, is. Benchmarking also provides the added benefit of telling you how well your phone manages the current … [Read More...]

Get your tinfoil hats on, folks. In the documentation released earlier this week by Microsoft on its upcoming Windows 8 Store, the software giant said that apps purchased from the App Store will come with a “kill switch.”  Redmond can use this to disable or remove the app from Windows 8 machines. Even if its intentions are good, users are likely to be suspicious of Microsoft on this one.

Microsoft claims it will use the capability in cases of security or, more troubling, if they are “required to do so for legal reasons.” This is a common capability on mobile … [Read More...]

NVidia’s founder and president Jen-Hsun Huang was on hand at this years AsiaD conference, and as usual, he put on quite the show. In addition to reconfirming the companies future plans for the Tegra platform, he offered up sage advice for Microsoft on how to manage Intel during the transition to arm, how much his company is spending on R&D, and even openly fantasized about getting his chips in future versions of the iPad. 

When asked about his feelings towards Windows on ARM, Huang was quite specific, don’t call it a PC.

“It’s important for [Microsoft] not to position these … [Read More...]

As is customary, Apple’s newest mobile device has been torn asunder by curious gawkers in search of a cheap thrill. Also, they want to see what’s inside so they can price out components, but that is pretty thrilling. The iPhone 4S bill of materials was determined by iSupplyi to be roughly $188 for the 16GB version.

The most expensive part is, unsurprisingly, the touchscreen at $37. iSupplyi estimates that manufacturing costs are just $8 per device, so Apple pays less than $200 for the device, and it sells for $200 on contract. The 32GB and 64GB models were priced out … [Read More...]

It’s not as if Maximum PC readers need any more convincing that the whole ‘post PC era’ theory is a bunch of hogwash, but just in case there remains any lingering doubt, Intel just reported yet another record quarter, for the sixth time in a row, as a matter of fact. Intel set new records for microprocessor units shipped, EPS, earnings, and revenue, which the chip maker reports was up 28 percent year-over-year.

“Intel delivered record-setting results again in Q3, surpassing $14 billion in revenue for the first time, driven largely by double-digit unit growth in notebook PCs,” said Paul … [Read More...]

Civil liberties groups are up in arms today with the news that California Governor Jerry Brown has vetoed legislation that would have forced police to obtain a search warrant before searching the mobile phones of suspects upon their arrest. The veto means that for the time being, anyone arrested in California can be forced to submit to a search of their phone. These days, that essentially means handing over your entire life to officers.

Brown’s veto message says that due to the complicated issues involved, and the contradictory court decisions, he did not feel comfortable making a decision. Some have pointed to … [Read More...]

Among a host of other things, Google is also a mighty successful browser vendor, what with both its desktop and mobile browsers occupying the third spot in their respective markets and constantly conquering fresh ground. However, a lot of people are wondering why Google continues to have two separate browsers for the desktop and mobile markets. But soon enough these people will have better things to do, for an effort to port Chrome over to Android now seems to be underway.

According to the Chromium codebase website, Android has been set up as a build target. It will be interesting … [Read More...]