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…

Forget Apple versus Samsung or even iOS versus Android. The real mobile war is (and always has been) over capturing the attention of the users. We simply didn’t know it until Facebook released Home. Android phones can be turned into Facebook devices with Home. It’s that simple. Rather than being an Android device that has apps, Home makes Facebook the driving force of the device, moving the apps and other features of the phone under the Facebook shell. You’ll be able to get notifications and interact with your Facebook friends from any other app at any point other than during phone calls themselves….

There was never a doubt that iOS and Android are much bigger than Windows when it comes to mobile OS adoption, but a report by MetroStore Scanner that the Windows Store has only recently broken the 50,000 app barrier is both a little embarrassing to the company and at least a little alarming to developers who are looking for long-term homes for their apps. By comparison, iOS is tracking to hit 800,000 in April and Android is tracking to hit 900,000. The fear of developers is manifesting in a slowdown of new apps. In November, 2012, the average daily count of new apps submitted to Windows Store was a brisk…

This is one of the silliest questions that constantly gets asked on tech blogs and is often answered by infographics. The truth is this: nobody really cares.  It’s a personal choice. Some are extremely loyal to the brand or operating system that they prefer. Most are open to whatever makes the most sense to them. Still, the question will be asked and blogs will attempt to answer it. Which major mobile operating system is winning the war, iOS or Android? Here’s another shot at answering the question, looking at some of the important numbers including activations, fragmentation, and owner satisfaction….

As we said when we first brought up the rumor, the Apple iWatch represents a much-needed infusion of fresh technology to help the mega-company get out of it’s creativity- and stock-rut. Shares have been falling. Sentiment has been waning. They need a winning idea and the iWatch is probably their next big one. As with all things Apple, many talented designers took to their computers to conceptualize the next Apple product. We’ve seen some entertaining renditions of iPhones and iPads over the years, but this is the first truly unique gadget that the company has worked on in a long time. Here are some…

The vast majority of attempts to tie in a mobile app to a television show have been completely lame. There is something potentially lucrative about taking advantage of “the second screen” in television entertainment, but nobody seems to have found the secret formula. AMC still hasn’t found that formula, but their Dead Yourself app is cool enough to note. Fans of the The Walking Dead are excited about the midseason premier on Sunday, so building up buzz has been pretty easy. That doesn’t mean that an iPhone app that turns faces of normal humans into the walkers of the show can’t add a bit to the fun….