Android Interesting Stuff

13 of the best Android apps for your new tablet

Archos introduces its TV Connect, turns your HDTV into Android tablet

Facebook continues its mobile focus with quiet launch of Facebook Pages Manager on Android - The Next Web

Phorus Play-Fi Speaker Review

GameStick portable gaming console cruises on Kickstarter | Crave - CNET

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WinTel News

During the holiday quarter, NPD reports Windows notebook sales fall 11%, Macbook sales fall 6%.

This article is a really disturbing look at how Microsoft has been treating OEMs creating Windows RT tablets. The article has a lot of depth and some interesting numbers.

I would say this next article is good news from Intel, however they are talking about 2014, and recently, Intel hasn't been all that good at delivering things in a timely fashion.
Next-gen Intel Atom chips to offer 2x the speed, 3x the graphics performance - Liliputing

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Apple Fan Boy Discovers Android

I often find the people caught in the iCult amusing, they actually believe that iPhones are somehow better. The truth is that Apple has been lagging Android on phones for quite some time and in tablets the same thing is beginning to happen.

This article, by a self-confessed Apple Fan Boy [everything else he uses is Apple] should be read by all iPhone users, especially if you are a "power user", to borrow the PC-world term.

An iPhone Lover’s Confession: I Switched To the Nexus 4. Completely.

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Netbooks, Chromebooks and Bad Journalism

This week, journalists finally woke up to the fact that the Samsung ARM-based Chromebook is a best selling item. Readers of this blog know I've been say this for quite some time (indeed some of you got e-mails from me before I started this blog talking about this). How could they take so long to notice?

They also seem to not understand what the problem was with netbooks. Really, it was simple. Microsoft and Intel did not want to give up their profit margins and forced the use of substandard parts and software at high prices, intentionally making netbooks undesirable and unprofitable. Ultrabooks and Hybrids simply cost too much for what they deliver. Why do journalists not understand that $400 notebooks, good enough for 70% or more of users (consumer and business), are entirely possible?

The most important thing about the Samsung ARM-based Chromebook is that it proves a decent laptop can be made cheaply.

The articles below are only a small sample of the noise and nonsense.

What happened to netbooks? Apple’s iPad and Macbook Air killed the $400 former future of computing. - Slate Magazine

The Frustrating Truth About Google's Chromebook | PCMag.com

Samsung Chromebook sales: Amazon’s best-selling laptop is a Chromebook | BGR

Poll: Would You Choose A Chromebook?

Samsung Chromebook Now Top Selling Laptop on Amazon - HotHardware

Windows 8 Hybrids: Netbooks That Just Aren’t Worth It | Gizmodo Australia

The Netbook Is Dead, Long Live The Netbook - Forbes

The Netbook Isn't Dead, It's Just Evolved | Maximum PC

Asus, Acer kill off netbooks as Chromebook tops popularity chart on Amazon - TechSpot

Was It Really Apple That Killed The Netbook? - Forbes

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A little bit of everything...

Microsoft

The trade press is finally admitting that Microsoft is failing and that Windows 8 is a flop. There were many, many more, but here's a few:

Microsoft Is Fast Turning Into A Sideshow - Forbes

Windows 8 Low Christmas Uptake: Troubling Signs for Microsoft's Future - Legit Reviews

Microsoft's aching Windows 8 hangover | The Industry Standard - InfoWorld

Linux

The best of the new year's Linux articles: Five Linux predictions for 2013 | PCWorld

A good candidate if you need a small distribution: Precise Puppy Ubuntu Based Light-weight Linux OS Launches | Geeky Gadgets

Android

This article talks about app developers moving from iOS to Android. It incorrectly states that iOS leads in the US, that is no longer true.

Apple

Samsung loses Apple A6X production to TSMC. I think this is bad news for Apple. One, it frees up Samsung fabs so that Samsung will have plenty of room to make its own devices, currently things like the ARM-based Chromebook struggled to find enough fab time. Two, TSMC is said to be not as good a fab as Samsung, I predict yet another source of Apple manufacturing difficulties.

People are increasingly frustrated with Apple's default iOS Apps.

Humor

Microsoft patents its own augmented-reality glasses, following Windows 8 design the "glasses" consist of a "legacy" monocle duct-taped to half-a-pair of "Metro" eyeglasses. For unknown reasons, only the "glasses" with the monocle on the left are able to run "legacy" applications.

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Non-Android Linux Goes Mobile

Two important announcements about mobile Linux.

First, Tizen, an offshoot of the abandoned Intel/Nokia Meego project is about to become used.

Samsung to sell first Tizen smartphone next year, report says | Mobile - CNET News

Second, not supposed to be shipping in a phone until 2014, Ubuntu announced an interesting initiative whereby your phone will be you desktop computer (you plug it into a monitor, etc). They have different UIs for the phone and for the desktop. Presumably there will be tablets eventually. Lots of confusing articles about this one, but I think this one (oddly from Android Authority) is both concise and correct.

Ubuntu smartphone – what you need to know about the new Android competitor in town

These platforms are potentially important because like Android they are free. More important, they are more open than Android. At the very least, they will help make sure Google doesn't abuse its position as Apple and Microsoft's closed platforms continue to lose Market Share to Android.

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Apple iCrime Wave

Seriously, Apple products are the targets of an unusually large number of crimes.  Below are a few of the  articles about this phenomenon.

A global Apple crime wave? | FP Passport

Armed raiders wielding handguns raid Paris Apple store and flee with £1MILLION worth of i-gadgets | Mail Online

Stolen iPhones: Bloomberg blames Apple products for New York City crime rate.

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