When Apple introduced Photo Stream to iCloud back in 2011, the Cupertino company made it incredibly quick and easy for its users to share their favorite photos with their friends and family without syncing them to their computer first. But Photo Stream has a downside, and that is that it’s only available on iOS.

Fortunately, there are plenty of awesome alternatives with cross-platform support, and one of those is Kicksend. Not only does Kicksend let you share photos with friends — regardless of the smartphone platform they choose — but it also lets you print and send real photos to those who don’t have a smartphone at all.

One of the most highlighted feature on the Galaxy S4 from Samsung is Group Play. The feature allows multiple Galaxy S4 owners to playback the same music, converting their devices into a surround sound speaker. SoundSeeder from JetApps brings similar functionality to all Android devices out there. 

Yahoo may have received all of the attention lately for its boring new logo change, but it appears that Google might be changing the design of it’s logo as well.

Deep in the heart of the latest Chrome for Android beta, Ars Technica has managed to unearth what appears to be a new Google logo that ditches the beveling and shadows of yore for a flatter, modern look with some desaturated colors.

Google hasn’t commented on the new logo, and quickly removed it from the beta. However, it looks similar to the design direction Google has been taking lately, and you can still pull it from Google’s servers, so it’s possible we’ll see it used company-wide in the near future.

Here’s how it compares to the old logo:

Microsoft has today launched Xbox Music on Android and iOS almost a year after the music streaming service made its debut alongside Windows 8. The apps allow subscribers to stream tens of millions of songs straight to their mobile devices, and create playlists that sync across your smartphone, tablet, PC, and Xbox 360.

Microsoft has also updated its Xbox Music web app to offer free, ad-supported streaming for all.

Microsoft has a weird business model, and a fragile one.

Their model is: Get people to need Microsoft software, then sell that software at high prices.

Contrast this with Apple’s model, which is: Get people want your consumer electronics so bad they’ll pay a lot for it, then sell the hardware, software, services and content at high prices.

And finally, Google’s model: Get people use the Internet more by making it awesome and free, and make money when people use the Internet.

All three companies make operating systems for phones, tablets and desktop computers.

But which models will succeed in the future and which will fail?

I think it’s clear that Google’s model is most likely to succeed and Microsoft’s most likely to fail. And Apple will do just fine.

Here’s what’s happening.