Tech Roundup: Race for RSS, HTC Butterfly S & More
[A recurring feature on the latest trends in Science & Technology.]
Are you ready to dump Google Reader?
With Google's spring cleaning all set to shut down Google Reader come July 1st, many third party Google Reader services have been working on a full-fledged replacement over the last few months. Most prominent amongst them being Feedly, which has already opened the doors for migrating Reader RSS feeds to its own cloud. Notwithstanding a strong presence on Android and iOS, its recent launch of a web version should pretty much make any Google Reader lover happy.
The best is however the fact that other reading apps can also hook to Feedly's open API making the whole transition seamless. But if you are in a mood to try other alternatives, there's the newly unveiled Digg Reader and AOL Reader in addition to NewsBlur, Pulse, The Old Reader, or even Twitter, Google+ and Microsoft Outlook.
Not again! HTC's next flagship is out:
Not content with HTC One, the Taiwanese handset maker continues its obsession with flagships. Say hello to HTC Butterly S. More a mix of the previous Butterfly and One, the new smartphone packs in a 5-inch full HD screen, 4 MP UltraPixel camera, BoomSound (the twin front speakers), 2 GB RAM, 3,200 mAh battery, Sense UI (with Android 4.2.2 vs 4.1.2 on the One) and most importantly eschews the One's bizarre homescreen button placement. Now shouldn't this have been the One in the first place?
Instagram does a Vine:
When Twitter announced a new way to share 6-sec videos, little did we know Facebook would have similar plans for Instagram as well! Using the latest version of Instagram apps for Android and iOS, users can record upto 15 seconds of video with added support for applying filters. So far things seem to be going in favour of Instagram with Vine shares dropping by nearly half a million within a day after launch of Instagram Video. This is not a surprise given the latter's larger user base and the fact that the feature is baked into it unlike Vine which functions as a standalone app (and not integrated within Twitter). But nevertheless this race is gonna be fun, don't you think?
Windows 8.1 preview is out:
Microsoft debuted Windows 8 last year with much fanfare, but reviews were pretty mixed. While the interface design was a joy to behold, the switch between Metro and Desktop modes were jarring, and it was a bit of a learning curve truth to be told. In what should have been ideally Windows 8, the 8.1 update sort of brings back the Start button, boot to desktop mode, alongside tighter SkyDrive integration, improved search and other improvements. Check out the Verge's review for more details. And if you are interested in giving it a spin, download it from Microsoft's website right here.
In other news:
Are you ready to dump Google Reader?
With Google's spring cleaning all set to shut down Google Reader come July 1st, many third party Google Reader services have been working on a full-fledged replacement over the last few months. Most prominent amongst them being Feedly, which has already opened the doors for migrating Reader RSS feeds to its own cloud. Notwithstanding a strong presence on Android and iOS, its recent launch of a web version should pretty much make any Google Reader lover happy.
The best is however the fact that other reading apps can also hook to Feedly's open API making the whole transition seamless. But if you are in a mood to try other alternatives, there's the newly unveiled Digg Reader and AOL Reader in addition to NewsBlur, Pulse, The Old Reader, or even Twitter, Google+ and Microsoft Outlook.
Not again! HTC's next flagship is out:
Not content with HTC One, the Taiwanese handset maker continues its obsession with flagships. Say hello to HTC Butterly S. More a mix of the previous Butterfly and One, the new smartphone packs in a 5-inch full HD screen, 4 MP UltraPixel camera, BoomSound (the twin front speakers), 2 GB RAM, 3,200 mAh battery, Sense UI (with Android 4.2.2 vs 4.1.2 on the One) and most importantly eschews the One's bizarre homescreen button placement. Now shouldn't this have been the One in the first place?
Instagram does a Vine:
When Twitter announced a new way to share 6-sec videos, little did we know Facebook would have similar plans for Instagram as well! Using the latest version of Instagram apps for Android and iOS, users can record upto 15 seconds of video with added support for applying filters. So far things seem to be going in favour of Instagram with Vine shares dropping by nearly half a million within a day after launch of Instagram Video. This is not a surprise given the latter's larger user base and the fact that the feature is baked into it unlike Vine which functions as a standalone app (and not integrated within Twitter). But nevertheless this race is gonna be fun, don't you think?
Windows 8.1 preview is out:
Microsoft debuted Windows 8 last year with much fanfare, but reviews were pretty mixed. While the interface design was a joy to behold, the switch between Metro and Desktop modes were jarring, and it was a bit of a learning curve truth to be told. In what should have been ideally Windows 8, the 8.1 update sort of brings back the Start button, boot to desktop mode, alongside tighter SkyDrive integration, improved search and other improvements. Check out the Verge's review for more details. And if you are interested in giving it a spin, download it from Microsoft's website right here.
In other news:
- Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin's death was due to a close encounter with a supersonic jet, reveals Aleksey Leonov.
- Air pollution linked to fewer occurrences of hurricanes in the US, says a new study.
- Tweet officially enters the Oxford English Dictionary as a noun and verb.
- FBI admits it uses drones for surveillance on American soil.
- Sony outs gargantuan 6.4 inch Xperia Z Ultra phablet (running out of letters Sony? Can't wait for the Note III now, pun intended!).
- US FTC to probe Google's acquisition of Waze following antitrust concerns.
- Facebook working on a mobile news reader app, reports the Wall Street Journal.
- iOS 7 Beta 2 adds support for iPad and iPod.
- Google Play Editions of Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One go on sale in the US.
- Amazon expands its online presence in India.
- Android based smartwatch, gaming console in Google's pipeline, according to WSJ.
- BlackBerry shares tank 27% after below than expected sales of BB10 devices.
- Google+ is two years old.
- Samsung launches Ativ Q Windows 8 cum Android tablet.
- Twitter backed Branch launches link sharing social network Potluck.
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