Tech Roundup: Apple WWDC, Samsung's Next Step & More
[A recurring feature on the latest trends in Science & Technology.]
Will Apple's show at WWDC MMXIII reverse its fortunes?
The eagerly anticipated Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is all set to kick off in a few hours from now (1 PM ET), and all eyes will be on the company to see what it's got in store this time. Last year's WWDC saw the company announcing iOS 6 to tepid responses from Apple fans worldwide. Growing discontent over the mobile operating system's outdatedness considering what the competition has to offer, and the fact that the user interface has never been subjected to a design overhaul since the launch of iOS in 2007, have all made this keynote something to look forward to.
Apple suffered the worst debacle of sorts with the ill-conceived Apple Maps, a clunkily put together navigation solution aimed at Google. The cartography fiasco, needless to say, cost Scott Forstall his job, and with Sir Jonathan Ive taking over the reins, anticipation for iOS 7 has reached a fever pitch. The visual refresh is expected to bring in a flatter, skeuomorphism-free version of iOS and more ways of sharing multimedia across iDevices. In addition, the tech giant is reportedly planning a new version of its desktop operating system as well, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Another rumour going the rounds pertains to the Pandora-like online music streaming radio service, dubbed iRadio, which has gained traction following recent developments that all major record labels - Universal, Warner and Sony - have struck a deal with the company. With its stock price taking a big hit over the last year, can mere refreshes and hardware upgrades help correct the notion that Apple is running out of innovative ideas? We will know in some time!
Samsung suffers Apple like jitters!
If Apple is one extreme, the Korean electronics manufacturer Samsung is the other end of the spectrum. With its flagship smartphone Galaxy S4 hitting 10 million in shipments within a month of launch, all should be hunky-dory for the company. Except that it isn't. It's share price fell 6%, the biggest slump since the patent trial verdict last August. The drop follows recent reports that Apple is likely to start a phone trade-in program for iPhones and amidst concerns that the company is flooding the market with too many stripped down versions of the S4 (thus eroding the profit margins). The fastest selling Galaxy S4 already comes in various flavours like Galaxy Grand, Mega, S4 Active, S4 Mini and Ace 3, with a camera-centric smartphone S4 Zoom reportedly in the works.
It's worth pointing out that most Galaxy S III users might also skip upgrading to the S4 given the almost similar feature set of the two phones. Of course there is the case of market saturation and moreover in these times of recession and austerity, the demand for high-end phones also seem to be drying up. Analysts thus predict the brisk sales of its low- to mid-end handsets to eat into the profits.
BlackBerry launches Q10 at a ridiculously high price:
Canadian handset manufacturer has launched its QWERTY keypad smartphone BlackBerry Q10 in India. Don't you want to hear the price? It's a mind-boggling 44,990 Rs, putting the phone almost at par with the iPhone 5. In fact it's more expensive than the Galaxy S4, HTC One and even its touchscreen sibling Z10. However the company is justifying this insane price tag by stating that Q10 is a premium phone!
Proof that Google Hangouts was indeed called Babel:
We all know that the all-in-one messaging service Hangouts, recently launched at Google I/O, was rumoured for a considerable amount of time under the 'Babel' moniker. But if you need proof that Babel was indeed the name, all you need to do is install the Hangouts iOS app and click Manage Access in Google Security Center. You should see this under the Connected Sites, Apps, and Services section:
iOS Babel App — Full Account Access, Google+ Native Applications, Chat API, Hangouts API, Google PeopleApi, Google Talk, Google+ You, Google Chat Native Applications
This was something which I accidentally stumbled upon when I was reviewing my access permissions list!
In other news:
Will Apple's show at WWDC MMXIII reverse its fortunes?
The eagerly anticipated Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is all set to kick off in a few hours from now (1 PM ET), and all eyes will be on the company to see what it's got in store this time. Last year's WWDC saw the company announcing iOS 6 to tepid responses from Apple fans worldwide. Growing discontent over the mobile operating system's outdatedness considering what the competition has to offer, and the fact that the user interface has never been subjected to a design overhaul since the launch of iOS in 2007, have all made this keynote something to look forward to.
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| Apple WWDC |
Another rumour going the rounds pertains to the Pandora-like online music streaming radio service, dubbed iRadio, which has gained traction following recent developments that all major record labels - Universal, Warner and Sony - have struck a deal with the company. With its stock price taking a big hit over the last year, can mere refreshes and hardware upgrades help correct the notion that Apple is running out of innovative ideas? We will know in some time!
Samsung suffers Apple like jitters!
If Apple is one extreme, the Korean electronics manufacturer Samsung is the other end of the spectrum. With its flagship smartphone Galaxy S4 hitting 10 million in shipments within a month of launch, all should be hunky-dory for the company. Except that it isn't. It's share price fell 6%, the biggest slump since the patent trial verdict last August. The drop follows recent reports that Apple is likely to start a phone trade-in program for iPhones and amidst concerns that the company is flooding the market with too many stripped down versions of the S4 (thus eroding the profit margins). The fastest selling Galaxy S4 already comes in various flavours like Galaxy Grand, Mega, S4 Active, S4 Mini and Ace 3, with a camera-centric smartphone S4 Zoom reportedly in the works.
It's worth pointing out that most Galaxy S III users might also skip upgrading to the S4 given the almost similar feature set of the two phones. Of course there is the case of market saturation and moreover in these times of recession and austerity, the demand for high-end phones also seem to be drying up. Analysts thus predict the brisk sales of its low- to mid-end handsets to eat into the profits.
BlackBerry launches Q10 at a ridiculously high price:
Canadian handset manufacturer has launched its QWERTY keypad smartphone BlackBerry Q10 in India. Don't you want to hear the price? It's a mind-boggling 44,990 Rs, putting the phone almost at par with the iPhone 5. In fact it's more expensive than the Galaxy S4, HTC One and even its touchscreen sibling Z10. However the company is justifying this insane price tag by stating that Q10 is a premium phone!
Proof that Google Hangouts was indeed called Babel:
We all know that the all-in-one messaging service Hangouts, recently launched at Google I/O, was rumoured for a considerable amount of time under the 'Babel' moniker. But if you need proof that Babel was indeed the name, all you need to do is install the Hangouts iOS app and click Manage Access in Google Security Center. You should see this under the Connected Sites, Apps, and Services section:
iOS Babel App — Full Account Access, Google+ Native Applications, Chat API, Hangouts API, Google PeopleApi, Google Talk, Google+ You, Google Chat Native Applications
This was something which I accidentally stumbled upon when I was reviewing my access permissions list!
In other news:
- Samsung secures a surprise victory against Apple over 3G patent infringement; iPhone 4 and iPad 2 face potential sales ban.
- Sony Xperia Z rumored to get its Google Edition following Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One.
- Saudi Arabia bans instant messaging app Viber for failing to comply with local regulations.
- Twitter's video clip making app Vine launched for Android.
- Google debuts its stock Android keyboard app on Play Store (not available in India yet!).
- Amazon launches online shopping marketplace in India.
- Gmail for Android and iOS get the tabbed inbox feature.
- Chip maker Intel unveils next-gen Haswell processors with performance, graphics and battery life improvements.
- Android Jelly Bean now on 33% of all Android devices; Gingerbread still at 36.5%.
- Firefox 25 to get a major design overhaul come October.
- Nokia's upcoming EOS PureView Windows Phone revealed in leaked screenshots.
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