Will Shanklin
As search technology advances, it’s going to become more and more like human interaction. Apple’s Siri might have popularized conversational search, but many of us feel that Google Now quickly surpassed it – with its faster and more accurate results. Soon much of Google Now’s functionality will be arriving on PCs, by way of the Chrome OS and web browser. Not stopping there, Google also added some improvements to Android’s Google Now. Read More
Apple isn’t Google’s biggest fan. Steve Jobs believed that Android was a stolen product, and Apple’s lawsuits against Samsung (and others) are an expression of that feeling of being wronged. So it shouldn’t be too big of a surprise that Apple chose today – the kickoff of Google I/O – to announce a major milestone. We’re talking 50 billion downloads of App Store apps. Read More
If you want “pure Android” on your smartphone, you usually have a couple of options. You can either buy a Nexus device, or you can hack a non-Google device and install a custom ROM like Cyanogenmod. But for one of the biggest phones of the year, you'll soon have a third option. Google just announced the Samsung Galaxy S4: Google Edition, bringing stock Android to Samsung’s powerhouse phone. Read More
When you jailbreak an iPhone or iPad, your first stop is the legendary jailbreak app store, Cydia. It picks up where the walled garden of Apple’s App Store leaves off. But on Android – where Google Play lets you download apps for both unhacked and hacked devices – Cydia makes a lot less sense. But that didn’t stop its developer from releasing, well, a different kind of Cydia for Android. Read More
If you’ve been holding your breath waiting for the long-rumored Windows 8 “Blue” update, you might be able to exhale soon. Microsoft still hasn’t officially broken down the new features in the update, but it does now have a name and a price: "Windows 8.1," and "free." Read More
The partership between Nokia and Windows Phone hasn’t exactly set the world on fire. But it has produced some sharp phones in the Lumia series. Their most distinctive feature? That would probably be their colorful polycarbonate designs. But you can kiss that goodbye, at least for now. Nokia’s new Lumia 925 is all aluminum – maybe taking a cue or three from the iPhone 5 and HTC One. Read More
During the past year, the phablet has gone from object of ridicule to legit new product category. You can give all the credit to Samsung, and its surprisingly successful marketing of the Galaxy Note. Like any successful product, the Note has rivals – eager to take a piece of its pie. Let’s see how the most significant non-Samsung phablet, the LG Optimus G Pro, compares to the Galaxy Note 2. Read More
The rumor mill has been spinning for quite some time about an Amazon smartphone. What the rumor mill was lacking – as it often does – was detail. Today we might have a bit more of that, with a report that Amazon is working on two smartphones and an audio-only mobile device. Read More
Android pops up in the strangest places. Smartphones and tablets are the most obvious places to find Google’s open-source OS, but there are also Android-based cameras, cars, and even fridges. The latest craze is Android gaming consoles. Emulator-maker BlueStacks has just announced one of its own – which it will give you "for free" when you sign up for a monthly subscription. Read More
