Sunday 30 June 2013
Spain confirms the Nokia Lumia Amber update in August
Nokia Spain has recently returned to the question of the expected upgrade to Lumia Amber planned for the ' current range Lumia Windows Phone 8 . As is known, it is a major revamp of the firmware terminal Lumia who made his debut with the Lumia 925.
Nokia
has often referred to the third quarter of the year as the period within which it will be released in the update. A time frame, comprising the months of July, August and September, you can start to be circumscribed in a more detailed alal light of recent statements by Nokia Spain.
has often referred to the third quarter of the year as the period within which it will be released in the update. A time frame, comprising the months of July, August and September, you can start to be circumscribed in a more detailed alal light of recent statements by Nokia Spain.
The update, according to information contained in the tweet above, the update will be made available for the entire range Lumia Windows Phone 8 in August, making it available for models already on the market the same user experience offered by the Lumia 925.
Of course the actual availability may vary according to markets and models, who awaited the release of the update in July (ie from the beginning of the third quarter) could begin to take into account a wait a bit 'longer. And 'properly specify, in any case that you can not talk about Nokia delay just because, until now, has indicated generically the third quarter of the year which includes August.
Apple might replace the home button on the iPhone 5S with their own logo
A new image found its way to the web earlier today revealing the possibility that Apple might replace the home button on the next iPhone (5S) with its own logo.
A new report based on an image that popped up in the wild suggests that Apple might replace the home button on the next iPhone, the iPhone 5S, with their own logo. Now why would a company like Apple do such a thing? The home button is plenty functional, slapping an Apple logo there just looks like advertising their own product, on their product itself. But then again, there were reports from previous months that the next iPhone might pack a fingerprint scanner… Wonder if all this adds up.
The report claims that to accommodate the alleged fingerprint scanner that the iPhone 5S will pack, the home button had to be redesigned, and that perhaps using an Apple logo gave it more open room, or a larger “window”, to actually scan your finger. We don’t know how that will work out for big and fat fingers, but to me, and the publication, it looks like some really strong branding.
While we do hope that a technology such as a fingerprint scanner makes it to the next iPhone (making all those fingerprints scanning apps on the app store even more popular, or maybe put them out of business, either one), in which case all those cool movies with top-profile people getting their fingers cut and stolen by crooks to unlock their… iPhones would become real….
Source: Letemsvetemapplem via Cult Of Mac
Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 hands-on video is inside
Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 is arguably the most interesting of the latest generation Samsung slates. It’s an affordable dual-core tablet running on the latest Android 4.2 Jelly Bean OS and the 1280 x 800 pixel resolution isn’t as big an issue as it is on the 10″ screen of the Galaxy Tab 3 8.0. Samsung’s proprietary TouchWiz is on top, of course, full of useful apps and services.
The SamsungGalaxy Tab 3 8.0 is a thinner, lighter and S-Pen-less version of the Galaxy Note 8.0. It’s cheaper too, so you may be willing to forgive the less capable chipset.
And even though the Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 comes two processor cores short of the Galaxy Note 8.0, it still handles the Android OS and even the heavy apps without hiccups. We’ve prepared a short hands-on video for you to check out.
We are already working on a full-blown review and you can expect it to appear on our homepage soon.
Vine app now available on Kindle Fire
After releasing on the Google Play Store recently, the Vine app is now available on Kindle Fire. The app requires Android 4.0 and above, so can work on every version of the Kindle Fire, except for the very first model.
For those who are not aware, Vine is a new social networking service for sharing short, six second videos. It used to be known as the Instagram of videos, until recently when Instagram itself added support for videos. The Vine app for Kindle Fire is the first tablet version of the app, as it is only available on smartphones on iOS and Android. Having said that, the UI is similar to the Play Store version of the app and not really optimized for the big screen as such.
The launch of the Vine app for Kindle Fire comes as a surprise, since the app took over four months to arrive on Android after its iOS debut. With Instagram now quickly becoming the preferred choice for sharing videos, Vine seems to be more than willing to expand to other platforms. Who knows, we may see a Windows Phone version of Vine shortly.
Wireless Charging Plate can charge both your Lumia and your toothbrush
Wireless charging is slowly gaining traction with smartphone makers. But here’s an unexpected use – it can also help with your dental hygiene.
No, really – inquisitive Reddit user el_n00bo_loco decided to put his electric toothbrush on top of a Nokia Wireless Charging Plate (like the one we reviewed the other day).
It’s good to see that a £55 / €68 charging gadget can be used for more than just charging your phone.
The Charging Plate uses the Qi standard, which is quite popular – it’s used by other phones that support wireless charging along with third-party add-ons for those that don’t, but also for things like game console controllers, wireless speakers and so on.
How to automatically add country code while calling from abroad
Here is another in our a series of articles, offering tips and tricks for both beginners and experienced users, courtesy of How to Windows Phone.
This feature comes in handy for frequent travellers or even just a traveller. Most of us forget to add an international code to call back to home when are at another country. Or even if you remember, it’s quite annoying to edit the contact and make a call.
Windows phone comes in with a handy feature which will help you out here.
Missing + before the country code and calling your based out country will be automatically rectified using this feature.
Official Comcast XFINITY TV Remote app now in the Windows Phone Store
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Comcast subscribers have just received a nice 4th July present. The company has released their official XFINITY TV Remote app, which allows users to control many features of their Comcast box.
The app lets you control your TV, search TV Listings, browse thousands of movies and TV shows in XFINITY On Demand, and schedule your DVR recordings directly from your Windows Phone.
The app features:
The app is free, Windows Phone 8 only and can be found in the Windows Phone Store here.
Android 4.3's Wi-Fi Is Always On And Always Scanning, Unless You Find The Special Checkbox
Wow. Out of the blue, an Android 4.3 rom hits the internet, and it's not built for the Nexus 4, or 7 or 10, but for the Samsung Galaxy S4. What a strange turn of events.
Of course, I couldn't stop myself from diving right in, and while I don't have a Galaxy S4 to show you screenshots, that's really not a big deal, because this leak pretty much looks identically to 4.2.If this build of 4.3 is near completion, it looks like we're getting a pretty minor update. But hey, 4.3 is 4.3. It's worth a look no matter how minor it is.
4.3 is API version 18 and still called "Jelly Bean." This build, for some reason, has the region in build.prop set to South Africa and the language set to Afrikaans.
The craziest thing about this 4.3 leak is the new Wi-Fi power settings, where what we think of as "off" isn't really "off" anymore.
Google wants you to leave your Wi-Fi on, or at least partially on, all the time. Now I know you might immediately scream "MY BATTERY LIFES!!11" but this will probably save battery. Google wants you to leave Wi-Fi on so that apps can get your location, but consider that the other option for location is firing up the GPS chip, which is a battery's worst enemy.
The important thing to keep in mind is this if you hate this, you can turn it off. The option is just buried under an "advanced" menu. Turning off "Scanning always available" will make "off" for Wi-Fi really be "off."
Some of this wording is rather interesting: "To improve location accuracy and for other purposes." Those "other purposes" probably (that means this is the speculation part) involves shipping that Wi-Fi location data back to Google, which is how the Wi-Fi location service currently functions. The only way to use Wi-Fi hotspots for location data is to build a map of SSID (hotspot name) locations. You do that by running around with a GPS and Wi-Fi chip and virtually stick Wi-Fi pins on a map. I have a feeling we'll now all be updating those Wi-Fi maps for Google, silently, in the background (unless you hit that checkbox). Hopefully they've found a way to do this without killing the battery. I suspect they have.
There really isn't much left to cover in this leak. I'm not going to be able to see any kind of performance improvements in a teardown, so I really have no idea if there's been work there. We know all about the new Camera app, which shipped with the Google Play Edition Devices. Bluetooth LE is included, but we've known about that forever. The Roboto fonts have gotten a tweaking,which Liam expertly covered here. There's one or two new development options, and some other tidbits, but that's about it. Those of us hoping for updates to the clock, Quick Settings, Contacts, Dialer, or any of the other built in apps are out of luck. Nothing says this is a complete build of 4.3, though, so we
Intel seeking to speed up development of its mobile chips
Intel inside used to mean something back in the days when people used a computer to access the internet. But with the rise of the smartphone, ARM supported chips took over and Intel found itself not quite as relevant in the mobile space as it was on the desktop. To remedy this, the company is dipping into its wallet to try to spur faster development of mobile Atom chips.
Currently, Intel is releasing just one to two mobile chips a year, which is not going to cut it against ARM based competitors like Qualcomm. Additionally, a number of handset manufacturers are making their own chips which adds to the pressure on Intel to produce more mobile silicon. Besides the phone manufactures with their own chips like Samsung, Huawei and Apple, companies like Qualcomm and NVIDIA are formidable competitors in the high to mid range area while MediaTek is now associated with the low-end of the market. It doesn't leave much room for Intel to compete.
New Intel CEO Brian Krzanich, who is a Google Glass wearer, sees opportunity in the upcoming surge for wearable computers and says that Intel will be powering more mobile devices toward the end of this year and the beginning of 2014. In the past, newer equipment was used to make PC chips while the mobile Atom line was produced on older equipment, something that will change under Intel's new leadership. The CEO says that Intel now sees its mobile line as being as important to the company as its Core line of PC chips. "We see that Atom is now at the same importance, it's launching on the same leading edge technology, sometimes even coming before Core (Intel's line of PC chips)," says Krzanich, who currently sports a Samsung Galaxy smartphone but changes up each month to test out what's new.
While Samsung recently announced that an Intel processor will power the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10.1, Intel has even better news for its supporters. The company last month announced its new Silvermont processor.With improved performance and better battery life, analysts believe that with this processor, Intel is now ready to compete with Qualcomm for a larger share of the mobile industry.
source: Reuters
Currently, Intel is releasing just one to two mobile chips a year, which is not going to cut it against ARM based competitors like Qualcomm. Additionally, a number of handset manufacturers are making their own chips which adds to the pressure on Intel to produce more mobile silicon. Besides the phone manufactures with their own chips like Samsung, Huawei and Apple, companies like Qualcomm and NVIDIA are formidable competitors in the high to mid range area while MediaTek is now associated with the low-end of the market. It doesn't leave much room for Intel to compete.
New Intel CEO Brian Krzanich, who is a Google Glass wearer, sees opportunity in the upcoming surge for wearable computers and says that Intel will be powering more mobile devices toward the end of this year and the beginning of 2014. In the past, newer equipment was used to make PC chips while the mobile Atom line was produced on older equipment, something that will change under Intel's new leadership. The CEO says that Intel now sees its mobile line as being as important to the company as its Core line of PC chips. "We see that Atom is now at the same importance, it's launching on the same leading edge technology, sometimes even coming before Core (Intel's line of PC chips)," says Krzanich, who currently sports a Samsung Galaxy smartphone but changes up each month to test out what's new.
While Samsung recently announced that an Intel processor will power the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10.1, Intel has even better news for its supporters. The company last month announced its new Silvermont processor.With improved performance and better battery life, analysts believe that with this processor, Intel is now ready to compete with Qualcomm for a larger share of the mobile industry.
"I think you'll start to see stuff with our silicon toward the end of the year and the beginning of next year," We're trying to get our silicon into some of them, create some ourselves, understand the usage and create an ecosystem."-Brian Krzanich, CEO, Intel
source: Reuters
FreedomPop apologizes for the delay in shipping WiMax supported cases
You might remember the name FreedomPop from earlier stories that we wrote detailing the carrier's attempt to provide low cost wireless service to consumers. One of the ways that it hoped to do so was with a sleeve that would be slipped on an Apple iPod touch, turning that device into a 4G phone using service from WiMax and apps like Skype. FreedomPop, which offers the sleeve for $99, says that it has been held up in the FCC approval process forcing the company to delay shipping it out. Those who have pre-ordered the sleeve are being given the opportunity to replace it with a FreedomPop Photon mobile hotspot with 2GB of free data and the possibility of receiving a free sleeve down the road.With the sleeve, FreedomPop offers 500MB of free 4G data each month. That can be increased to 2GB of data priced at $17.99 a month. The company charges for all sorts of add-ons such as the $3.49 it bills to rollover your unused data at the end of each billing cycle. In addition, there are overage charges as well as a charge for a service that alerts you when you are about to exceed your data cap.
Later this summer, Freedom Pop will be offering its service to Android users with a plan for what it calls "the most popular Android smartphones." The service will include 500MB of free 4G data each month, 200 voice minutes and unlimited text messages. Calls between FreedomPop users will be free.
Meanwhile, still delayed by the FCC is a case for the Apple iPhone 4 and Apple iPhone 4S that provides 4G service to both models. The hold up appears to deal with the WiMax radio in the case that runs over the radio inside the iPhone models.
source: FreedomPop via electronista
Apple files trademark application for new FaceTime logo
Apple has filed an application for a trademark covering the redesigned logo for FaceTime. This is the video chat feature on iOS devices that is enabled across both Wi-Fi and cellular. The new design clearly shows how Apple has gone away from the skeumorphic design favored by the late Steve Jobs and former iOS chief Scott Forstall. Where the old design showed a camera lens inside the outline of a video camera on a textured silver backdrop, the new design shows a video camera on a bright green background. Gone is the lens inside the camera, which had added that realism (along with the textured background) favored by Jobs and Forstall. The latter was removed from Apple's board for refusing to sign an apology letter after the failed launch of Apple Maps.
With the redesign of the UI for Apple's mobile OS, you can expect to see Cupertino sending a constant flow of new trademark requests to the USPTO. The iOS 7 update reflects the first time that Apple has revamped the UI since the OG Apple iPhone launched six years ago yesterday. The new icon designs are flatter, without the gloss used previously.
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The new FaceTime logo (L) and the trademark application
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source: PatentlyApple via Engadget
10 Tricks to Make More Money with Blog Advertising
There is more to making money from your blog and to blog advertising success than publishing a few Google AdSense ads and calling it a day. Blog advertising success actually takes time, testing, and effort to find the right recipe that works for your blog audience and generates the highest income for you. Use the 10 tricks below to set up your blog so it can make the most money possible through advertising.
1. Publish Relevant and Focused Ads
If the ads published on your blog aren't relevant to your audience and focused on things your audience wants and needs, no one will notice them, click on them, or care about them. In fact, they might even have a negative effect on how visitors feel about your blog. Therefore, make sure the ads published on your blog are highly relevant and focused at all times.3. Diversify the Types of Ads Published on Your Blog2. Continually Test Ads
Advertising success requires an ongoing commitment. You need to test ad sizes, placement, types, sources, and so on to find the right mix for your blog. And just when you think you've got the right recipe for success, something is likely to change requiring you to start testing again. In other words, continually test for maximum success.
Don't rely on a single type of ad to drive an income for your blog. Amazon Associates affiliate ads are easy to publish on your blog, but not all of your visitors will be interested in those ads. Publish a mix of pay-per-click and pay-per-impression ads as well as a various ad formats such as banner ads, video ads, and so on.
4. Track Ad Performance on Your Blog
It's essential that you take the time to track the performance of each ad published on your blog. How else will you determine which ads are most effective and drive the best results and income for you? Each ad space on your blog is valuable property, so track ad performance to make sure each space is filled with the best ad type and from the best advertisers.5. Don't Forget Your Content Matters
If your blog content declines in value, then your advertising opportunities will decline, your audience will decrease, and your blog income will fall. Don't forget that you need to publish useful and interesting content on a frequent basis in order to attract and retain both visitors and advertisers. Without visitors and advertisers, you can't make money from your blog.6. Monitor the Ads Published on Your Blog
View your live blog frequently to ensure the ads that are actually being published are relevant and appropriate for your blog and audience. Many advertising networks will backfill ad space with inventory ads if a suitable ad isn't available to display. Sometimes those inventory ads are completely inappropriate for your blog and could be received very negatively by your audience. Don't risk offending your audience because you didn't take the time to review the ads on your blog frequently enough.7. Monitor the User Experience on Your Blog When New Ads are Published
It's also important to view your live blog frequently in order to ensure that the ads that are displaying on it aren't negatively affecting the user experience on your blog. For example, some ads could cause your blog's load time to decrease significantly. You don't want visitors to click away before your blog loads in their browsers because an ad loads too slowly or not at all.8. Don't Flood Your Blog with Ads
Less is more when it comes to publishing ads on your blog. If your blog is covered in ads, visitors are likely to develop a negative perception of your blog and have a difficult time seeing the valuable content between all of the ads.10. Don't Be Afraid to Eliminate Ads from Your Blog9. Diversify Advertisers and Ad Sources
Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Just as you should diversify the types of ads you publish on your blog, you should also diversify the advertisers and ad networks that you work with. Not all ads or ad networks perform the same or pay the same. It's up to you to test differentadvertising opportunities and find the best ones to meet your blogging income goals.
If an ad type, ad provider, or advertiser isn't delivering the results you need or meeting their commitments, don't hesitate to delete those ads from your blog. As long as you didn't sign a contract requiring you to keep specific ads on your blog until a specific date, you're in charge of the ads that appear on your blog.
Directory of Blog Advertising Opportunities
Following is a list of companies that provide advertising opportunities for bloggers to generate an income from their blogs. These are in alphabetical order.
This directory is meant to give a comprehensive list of advertising opportunities for bloggers, but is not intended to be an endorsement by About Web Logs. Do your research to make sure a new advertising or blog monetization opportunity is right for you and your goals for your blog before you commit to anything.
Ad Networks
Diversify Your Income Sources
Recently I was reading an interview with Warren Buffett (the most successful investor of all time), and he mentioned that one of the key principles to achieve wealth is to diversify your investments over time.
The principle is not new (e.g., never put all the eggs on one basket), but while reading it I realized that most of us (myself included) forget to implement it quite often.
If you are an online entrepreneur you should diversify not only your investments but your income sources as well. For instance, don’t rely on a single advertising network or on a single income stream, like ebook sales. Apart from reducing your risk this strategy will tend to maximize your earnings over time.
Darren Rowse recently wrote a really interesting piece on this topic, where he shares the various income streams he developed on his websites over time. Here’s a quote:
I also would say that in each case, I started each experiment not really knowing what I was doing (on at least some level) but really seeing the experiments as a chance to learn. For example, my first eBooks were taking previously published blog posts and updating, completing and adding to them to offer readers a more convenient way to access my content.At the time I had no idea if that would work and the design and delivery of the eBooks was fairly basic. In time I learned what did and didn’t work and was able to grow the sophistication of my delivery systems, design, authoring and marketing to the point that it’s become a fairly well-oiled machine.The key is to pick something to try and to see whether it connects with your readership and to learn as much as you can while you’re doing it.
Bottom line: diversify your investments and income sources.
Mobile SEO, Are You Doing It?
Google recently revealed on ablog post that the rankings of search results on mobile devices will be affected by the optimization of websites for such devices. In other words, the more your content and website design is optimized for mobile devices, the higher your site will rank for users on those devices.
It makes sense, after all it would be bad for Google to serve a search result that would be poorly visualized on the device of the user.
Here’s a quote from the article:
Smartphone users are a significant and fast growing segment of Internet users, and at Google we want them to experience the full richness of the web. As part of our efforts to improve the mobile web, we published our recommendations and the most common configuration mistakes.Avoiding these mistakes helps your smartphone users engage with your site fully and helps searchers find what they’re looking for faster. To improve the search experience for smartphone users and address their pain points, we plan to roll out several ranking changes in the near future that address sites that are misconfigured for smartphone users.
Google also has a page on developers section where it highlights the most common mistakes when optimizing sites for mobile devices. They are:
- Unplayable videos
- Faulty redirects
- Smartphone-only 404s
- App download interstitials
- Irrelevant cross-linking
- Page speed
If you are not testing your website on mobile devices yet, well, now it’s a good time to get started.
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