The short answer: no. The longer answer is that they have to do something. When Microsoft first made the jump into the smartphone arena with their Windows Phone 7 operating system, it’s likely that they knew they had a tough road to climb and that they would be the third option for most phone buyers, at least in the beginning. They probably weren’t prepared to be such a distant third with iOS and Android phones taking more than the lion’s share of the pot. Windows Phone 8 hasn’t been as well received as they had hoped, either. They’ve been paying developers directly to produce apps for them – $100 per app…

The tech world has been buzzing for the past 24 hours with news from Apple’s WWDC 2013 Keynote. Apple hosted its first Apple Event, where they introduced several new pieces of innovative technology as well as improvements on current Apple products. You can read my detailed report here, but below are some of the major highlights: AnkiDrive was a new concept introduced by Apple that will be available on iOS devices. AnkiDrive is a small toy car that “thinks just like we do.” The cars reacts to their surroundings and can even target other vehicles, “bringing video games to life on the floor…

It’s an all new design, and while many aren’t very impressed early on, it’s still going to get  a ton of buzz. It’s Apple. Users can’t wait to get their hands on it. Some of the features that are coming through are outstanding. Some are meh. Here is a list of the new features in visualized format courtesy of Visual.ly, followed by the promo video from Apple. Infographic designed by Hasan Alkhatib. …

Since January, Google and Microsoft have been clawing each other’s eyes out over YouTube.  The trouble started way back in 2010 when “Google blocked Microsoft’s new Windows Phones from operating properly with YouTube,” according an article on WP Central. YouTube, bought by Google in 2006, is usually offered on smartphones with all the typical features, such as searching through video categories, rating videos, finding favorites. However, the problem began to arise when Microsoft introduced the new Windows Phones. Google blocked these fancy features from working with the Windows…

Not everyone gets to go to the Google I/O conference. Thankfully, there is plenty of coverage and tons of blog posts that have us covered. For those who want a brief breakdown of the important components, here’s a breakdown from Trend Blog.   Google Play game services Features to include: Sync games across devices Cloud save Leaderboards Cross-platform games   Improved Google search No-interface approach: Search by saying, “OK Google” Conversational search It will answer, converse, and anticipate next search   New Google Maps New features to include: Ground-up redesign…

Many major companies are going flat. No, it’s not just the economy or consumer sentiment, but rather in design. Flat is in and it’s sweeping across the internet, but how long will this trend last? Facebook made headlines last week with their move to a flat logo. Apple is rumored to be flattening their interface on iOS 7. Sabina Idler at Usabilla asked the question of whether this was a trend or a revolution. We’re going to go with trend. Flat design has many advantages including speed of design, simplicity of usability, and the sheer vintage trendiness of it all, but there’s something about stunning…

iOS 7 is rumored to be doing many things. First, it’s rumored to be launched in June. It’s rumored to be flatter much like the Windows Phone interface. It’s rumored to be able to predict earthquakes up to a day ahead of time. Okay, so we made the last one up, but it’s not far off from the types of rumors that seem to surround everything that comes out of Cupertino, even something fairly insignificant like the iOS 7 release. The thing that makes it so important, perhaps more important than previous releases, is that they’re coming off an embarrassment with their last operating system release due to the…

The world of apps and Smartphone’s primarily started off with Apple’s iPhone in June 2007, with Google soon following up with the Android OS. At that time, the South Asian market was full of old school mobile phones, and the co-called Symbian Smartphone’s. For the common user, colored screens and polyphonic ringtones were the best that our market had to offer. However, it’s a different story today. These days we can get our hands on the touch-based Smartphone’s by spending almost the same amount that bought us a colored-screen polyphonic ringtone phone back in the day. There are thousands…

The iPhone has been blazing trails in the smartphone industry for 5 years now. It’s domination has been threatened lately by the rise of Android devices, particularly those of their arch-enemy, Samsung. Hacks are good and every phone has them. These are the tricks that got lost in the shuffle or were intentionally left in the small print of the instruction manuals that few people actually read, so they don’t get used as much. The three highlighted by Hack College are ones that are brand new… to you, at least. Okay, so you may have known one or two of them, but unless you’re a major iPhone geek or guru,…

Things are looking good for Badland, a new game from Finnish developer, Frogmind. With a release that’s been met with critical acclaim and plenty of sales, Badland has the potential to be the next big indie game on the iOS market. Mixing the eerie atmosphere of LIMBO with the unique mechanics of Angry Birds, the game delivers an awesome, engaging experience. Players are tasked with helping a bunch of black, owlish creatures to escape from the evil robotic overlords and make their way to paradise. It sounds cute and childish but don’t let that fool you. The robot overlords are sadistic, bunny…