Finally, the Draw Something app features that we’ve all been waiting for have been graciously delivered. After purchasing OMGPOP for a cool $200 million, Zynga became the proud owner of the wildly popular Draw Something application, which has had over 50-million downloads since its February release this year. The additions came on the heels of many user requests to the new owners, and should be big hits for all who enjoy the rabble-rousing charades-esque drawing game. The updates to the app include social media ties and photo-saving capabilities in the form of the following:
- Facebook Links
Now after creating each of your beautiful masterpieces, you have the option of uploading them straight to facebook for all your friends and family to see.
- Twitter Links
If facebook isn’t your thing, or it’s simply not enough, don’t go cutting your ear off… go ahead and slap your drawings onto your twitter feed instead.
- Single Line Deletion
Instead of erasing your entire drawing after messing up one measly line, now you can simply hit a button, which retracts your most recently scrawled error.
- Drawing Saving
Now you also have the option to save your drawings directly to your camera photo roll, instead of having to take annoying screen shots after finishing each one.
- Comment Options
Before sending your drawing off to a friend, a small text window now appears in which you can write a message to be delivered with the image.
If you’re anything like the rest of us Draw Something addicts, then these new additions should be a welcomed respite from the monotony that had just begun plaguing the game. Another recent addition to lookout for are some new words being thrown into the mix. A little sneak preview… ‘bird poop’ is one of them.
Incoming search terms:
draw something bird poop , draw something n9 , draw something for nokia n9 , draw something birdpoop , bird poop draw something , draw something app messing up , Draw something 4 n9 , draw something sovellus nokia , Draw something on Nokia n9 , drawsomething n9
A recent calculation made by the Associated Press has shown that AT&T’s average monthly bill for smartphone subscribers has dropped from eighty-eight dollars to eighty dollars in the span of a year. The calculations were made using some actual numbers released by AT&T in their quarterly report, as well as some basic algebra and extrapolation. With the average smartphone bill 90 percent higher than the average non-smartphone subscriber’s bill, and with AT&T touting smartphones as the best way to boost revenue, these numbers are very important, and also very troubling for the company.
While AT&T would not outright confirm the figures, their CFO, John Stephens, did say that, “the composition of new smartphone customers is changing.” And while the head of AT&T’s wireless division, Ralph de la Vega, maintained optimism when telling analysts on Tuesday that demand for wireless data will continue to drive an increase in monthly bills, the fact is that these numbers are not extremely encouraging for the company, nor do they really support Vega’s optimism.
Although some of the first quarter figures proved optimistic, the company basically gained no phone subscribers for contract plans in the quarter, which has only happened once in the past. That was a year ago, right after Verizon launched its first version of the iPhone. Also in its own figures, AT&T quarterly data shows a 9-percent shrinkage in smartphone bills in the past year.
While contract-based plans are undoubtedly the most lucrative for a phone company, especially one as large as AT&T, which is the largest telecommunications company in the country, figures like these have to make one question what will happen to their growth in the upcoming year. With more and more technology and apps out there supporting customer data usage, it’ll be interesting to see just what happens for AT&T’s numbers in the near and distant future, and whether or not other companies will be similarly affected.
Ever since the iPhone began guzzling data faster than new networks could be build, mobile phone providers have been struggling with a double-edged battle: they want to reduce data loads so as to avoid overuse, slow speeds, and customer dissatisfaction – but they also want to profit of off data usage fees.
While the long-term solution likely involves some combination of LTE networks and individual base stations, the most immediate approach taken to this issue was a reconfiguration of the tiered data pricing plan. Major providers such as AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile all took steps to eliminate unlimited plans, push usage rates into lower tiers, and make up for any lost revenue in the process.
But when AT&T reduced its unlimited plan in 2010, the company grandfathered in any users who already had such a plan and wanted to maintain it. Since then, AT&T has threatened to keep these users in check by “throttling,” or slowing down their data connection, whenever a certain amount of data is exceeded in a given month. The company, however, never defined a concrete cut-off or throttled more than a few heavy data users.
Until now. This week, AT&T published a description on its website of data limitations for unlimited data users. For most users the download limit will fall at three gigabytes per month. Users with the 4G LTE smartphone will get some extra wiggle room and can use up to five gigabytes monthly. Any usage amount above these levels will immediately result in a throttling of that user’s phone – meaning that everything requiring data will happen slower until the next month begins. The company hopes that this explicit cut-off will result in lower data usage without needing to eliminate the unlimited plan and anger long-time customers.
But a good amount of ambiguity still remains. According to AT&T, throttling will still only occur if you exceed the 3 GB or 5 GB cutoff and live in an area where the network is currently congested. Some areas always have congested networks, such as in the center of major financial districts and in regions with low network capacities. But in most places congestion can vary on a weekly or daily basis. The congestion of your network at the time you exceed your limit is the only metric considered.
So most AT&T users will still have a difficult time determining whether a throttling policy would ever apply to them. In light of this, it is likely that unlimited customers will continue to use their phones without much consideration for data limits – thereby forcing AT&T to go back to the drawing board.
One of the best features of any smart phone is the touch screen. We all love to be able to quickly scroll through our apps, find numbers, and send texts without having to deal with slow or cumbersome keypads, however, Apple’s new patent could ruin that for anyone owning a smart phone that isn’t the iPhone.
In 2007, Apply filed for a patent on its state-of-the-art touchscreen. That patent was finally granted. The obtaining of this patent is great for Apple, which has long been an industry leader in modern personal electronics, but its bad for every other company seeking to compete with the technologic giant. What does this new patent mean for all smart phone makers? That Apple could potentially sue every competitor with a touch screen – even those creating touch screen tablets that rival the iPad, as well as those creating touchscreen mp3 players similar to the iPod touch.
Apple’s patent states that is covers “a computer-implemented method, for use in conjunction with a portable multifunction device with a touch screen display, [that] comprises displaying a portion of page content, including a frame displaying a portion of frame content and also including other content of the page, on the touch screen display.”
In addition to basic touch screen functions, the patent covers multi-touch gestures like pinch-to-zoom. There really isn’t a touch screen function that Apple’s patent doesn’t cover. Foss Patents’ Florian Mueller expressed concern over Apple’s acquisition of its new patent stating, “this patent covers a kind of functionality without which it would be hard to build a competitive smartphone.”
Many other smart device creators are now seeking to invalidate the patent. Although the patent could be interpreted to only apply to web browsers, other industry leaders fear that Apple could put them out of business and stop other device creators from building smart devices entirely. Apple has yet to state whether it plans on taking its competitors out of the market, and it seems as of right now that they have simply sought the patent to protect themselves in the future should any other company have attempted seeking the patent first.
Incoming search terms:
can apple sue competitors with its new patent
Sometimes technology advances quicker than the market can react. New innovations in media and communication have seen a lot of progress in recent years and the iPhone is most defiantly one of them. There’s bad news for iPhone toting concertgoers. Apple may soon be putting a stop to recording at concerts. We’ve all seen how people pack their phones and take pictures and videos that find their way to YouTube and Facebook but Apple is planning to implement new technology to put a stop to it.
Apple’s planning to build in a feature into the iPhone’s system that will sense, automatically, when people are trying to take videos at live events. If implemented, the phone will automatically turn the build-in camera off and put a stop to all unauthorized concert recordings. The phone wouldn’t turn completely off. People would still be able to send text messages and make phone calls but they just wouldn’t be able to use the video feature.
This news came from the filing a patent on the part of Apple. It’s impressive technology and, even though people are in an uproar, it’s pretty impressive technology. It works through sensors. If an iPhone is held up and used during a concert, an infrared sensor detects it and then, automatically, disables the camera function. This new technology was created to protect broadcasters and event organizers who possess exclusive rights to concert footage. This is good news for people in the industry who have long been frustrated with smart phone users constantly recording footage and posting it, for free, on the web.
Apple filed for the patent about eighteen months ago and will likely prove to be a big bargaining chip for the company when it negotiates deals with record labels for selling content through iTunes. This feature is likely to receive a lot of blowback from users who want to take photos. It will be interesting to see if the rest of the smart phone community takes similar steps to safeguard the music business over the freedoms of its customers.
It’s unclear how this will affect smaller venues and independent artists from taking videos themselves. Those people who have rights to their content might have to find another way to record their shows. This is one of the first steps Apple has taken that would result in a restriction of use but it’s not likely to affect the company’s powerhouse market shares and popularity.
Incoming search terms:
plans to stop phones recording , apple stops concert recording , iphone concert record , nokia n9 , record concerts iphone , will iphone video automatically stop
Most of us want the most advanced mobile phones out there. IPhones, Blackberries, you name it. We also want the best bargain, which often drives us to sites like Ebay.com and Craigslist to find discounts on state-of-the-art 4G smartphones. Even pay-as-you-go phones can be fetched for dollars less than they are in the stores if you know where to find them online. But this isn’t without its risks. They say don’t judge a book by its cover, but when it comes to unused mobile devices bought at a discount sometimes all you need to do is judge the packaging to know what you’re getting.
Typically mobile phone packaging comes in two forms: cardboard box and plastic molding. If you’re a fan of Apple products in particular the iPhone then you know how nice cardboard can look. It has a waxy smooth texture and usually features high resolution printing. Opening it up is like opening up a jewelry case. In a word: elegant. But be wary of discounted phones that are packaged this way. The package your phone arrives in might look fine, but that might be because buying replacement boxes is cheap for a second hand retailer when a phone manufacturer offers them thousands of slightly damaged phones for a discount. Cardboard boxes make it much more likely for a phone’s package to allow moisture and other outside destructors to make their way into the components and cause damage. Not enough to ruin the phone outright but enough that they can’t be sold in regular stores, which results in them being sold to dealers who then sell them “for cheap” online.
Plastic is much more likely to keep water out. Phones properly packaged in plastic are typically kept dust-free from the moment they’re inserted so if you open one up with signs of grit be cautious. The big thing to worry about when it comes to plastic packaging is sunlight. Look for signs of sun damage on the printed pieces of cardboard typically placed inside the plastic packaging near the top of the phone display. Responsible shipping will keep electronics away from significant sources of heat, and the sun can especially cause deteriorating damage to phones inside transparent packages. Plastic packaging for phones is typically reserved for pay-as-you-go mobile devices and ones with alternative hardware and interface designs meant for children and senior citizens or those with hearing problems. Due to the customizing nature of these phones special care should be considered when purchasing one from an unfamiliar online seller.
It’s nearly impossible to know for sure whether or not a discounted phone bought online was significantly damaged. But if you took the time to make sure the seller offers a backed return policy then once a phone has arrived with signs of damage or packaging problems you should immediately arrange to return it. Don’t feel judgmental if you didn’t even open it up yet, sometimes in life you can make such assumptions without peering inside first.
Incoming search terms:
Just like every time Apple comes out with a new version of one of it’s mobile devices, there’s a huge buzz that’s generated all over the world. It’s totally changed the face of mobile and home phone service and consumers are, not so quietly, awaiting the arrival of the iPhone 5 and there’s a lot of speculation as to what new features will be available on the newest model. It’s said to already been in the testing phase and will likely hit the market later in 2011. Probably around the third quarter but as everyone wonders what the next generation iPhone will look like, here’s a few things that we’re likely to see on the newest model.
Many are saying that the upcoming model is going to be completely redesigned and is going to be even slimmer than the 4. Many are still wondering how Apple will fix the antennae problem that the current model has faced. Its internal antenna has been known to constantly drop calls and there has been a big question as to whether Apple will stick with the internal approach or go with an external antenna.
To date there haven’t been any leaked images but we’re likely to see those coveted pics soon but it’s likely that the iPhone 5, just like the iPad 2, will be packing a new A5 processor. This is based on a multi-core Cortex A9 chip that would, basically put, be able to launch the new smart-phone that will support both Version and AT&T’s vast network.
There were reports that the iPhone 5 was going to be powered by nanogenerators. This means that every device would be charged through kinetic energy and potential bypass the entire need for a fixed-based charging system. A person would be able to power and charge their iPhone through movement or the user’s heartbeat. This has generated a lot of attention and it’s still unclear if this will be included as one of the new features in the phone. Though Apple is actively researching nanotechnology implementation, it’s likely that the next model will stick with the standard charging system.
You’ll still be able to do all the things that the iPhone 4 did like Facetime, browsing, and host a vast array of applications. Until we hear officially, it’s anyone’s guess as to what new features will be added. These are just a few of the possibilities that we’re likely to see, either sooner or later.
Incoming search terms:
iphone 5 , iphone 5 features , iphone 5 features kinetic , iphone5 kinetic energy , nokia n9 release date
Let me start by breaking your heart: the iPhone 5 release is most certainly going to be delayed until September and not in June or July as is Apple’s tradition. Whether it’s because the beta version can’t make a phone call when held to the ear or because they want to introduce whatever iCloud ends up becoming on it I don’t know. But I do know that the phone’s certainties are certainly worth the wait.
For starters iOS is going to be completely overhauled. This is good for those counting on competing carrier models to be indistinguishable, as they likely won’t bother customizing two different operating systems before the release. The main cause is due to the need to expand app potential to better compete against rival Android-powered smartphones that have access to an countless number of incredibly useful and oftentimes free applications on the Android market. IPhone makers want to be sure that users can operate powerful third party apps, from phone number finders to minute-by-minute income calculators, with minimal freezing and loss of speed when they’re running at the same time.
This means Apple needs to figure out battery life problems. That could very well be the real reason why the phone’s release is being postponed until late summer or early autumn. The distinct sophistication of the iPhone brought down to the size and sleekness of its design is already a remarkable accomplishment of power conservations already. Add further size reduction, a larger screen, HD video recording, and 64 gigabytes of memory, and the problems grow. There simply may not be a battery in Apple’s arsenal capable of handling the amount of energy necessary to make a worthwhile iPhone 5.
Nobody really knows anything with absolute confidence about the ultimate form and function of the iPhone 5, as not only is Apple one of the most reserved technology companies in the world; they thrive on surprise as part of a business model. With that said, there are only so many possible events and technological breakthroughs that make sense with what Apple’s ambiguous press releases reveal to us. The wait might be another four months, but if Apple does what their good at, the wait will be more than worth it. To be completely honest with you as long as I can hold the phone up to my ear and make a phone call without dangling the device between two fingers awkwardly, I think I’ll be happy.
Incoming search terms:
Nokia X7 and E6, the first two device comes with Symbian Anna OS is now available for pre-order at some European Countries. In Germany Nokia X7 is priced at €459 while the same device can be pre-ordered at Potugal with a €489 while in Findland Nokia X7 is priced at €405. Nokia X7 will be shipped on June 17 in Finland while for Germany and Portugal there are still no shipping date but not later than the end of June. Read the rest of this entry »
Incoming search terms:
nokia x7 , nokiax7 , x7 nokia , nokia x7 images , nokia e6 release date , ????? x7 , x7nokia , nokia x7 phone , nokia x7 photos , Nokia X7 Pics
Nokia N9, The Meego powered slider smartphone from the company has visiting FCC for approval. Comes in a slider form factor with 4-inch TFT capacitive touchscreen with 480 x 800 pixel resolution as well as a QWERTY keyboard, Nokia N9 will runs on MeeGo OS. It is support Six-band cellular network along with Bluetooth and WiFi b/g/n. Nokia N9 will comes with 1 GHz Scorpion processor, Adreno 200 GPU, 512MB RAM, 1GB ROM and 64GB internal storage while if its still not enough, there is a microSD card slot which can add another 32GB storage. Beside WiFi 801.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth, N9 also support HSDPA/HSUPA connectivity. Read the rest of this entry »
Incoming search terms:
nokia n9 preorder , Nokia N9 WIF , n9 preorder , nokia n9 keyboard , NOKIA N9 Preorder europe , preorder nokia n9