The Galaxy Note 10.1 could be about to get a little brother.
Samsung looks to be preparing to take on the iPad mini with the Galaxy Note 8.0, a smaller version of the Galaxy Note 10.1, which is expected to be priced very aggressively. In addition to an 8-inch display, the device will reportedly offer a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera, a 1.3-megapixel front facing camera, and of course, Samsung’s S Pen stylus.
If you lose a smartphone and you use a service that can track its location via GPS, ignore it when it tells you that your handset is a Wayne Dobson’s house. For the past two years, this 59-year-old retiree has had cellphone owners showing up at his Las Vegas home demanding their devices back. They turn up at all hours of the day, yelling and threatening to call the police.
But Dobson is no thief, and he doesn’t have their phones. It’s a strange glitch that appears to be affecting devices on Sprint, and its making this man’s life a misery.
At CES 2013 this week, Bracketron has unveiled a new line of in-vehicle mounts designed to stick your smartphone or tablet to your windshield or dashboard for use on the road. Both feature suction cups that’ll provide you with a safe and secure way to use hands-free apps without taking your hands off the wheel.
This is the original Parrot Asteroid Classic car stereo head-unit ($349), and it made quite a splash when it launched last year. The single-DIN, 4×55 watt receiver boasts a formidable array of features: Bluetooth connectivity, powerfully accurate voice recognition for both calls and music, a GPS receiver, a bright, 3.2-inch LED screen and a quiver of apps that run off its customized, upgradeable, early-vintage Android 1.5 OS (all of which require a data connection via a dongle).
Though this model was originally called the the Asteroid (no Classic), the Classic nomen was added to lessen confusion as three new models were announced a few months ago. However, the Asteroid Classic still very much in play; in fact, as this review goes live, the Classic is the only member of the Asteroid family currently available, as its new siblings haven’t shipped yet.
With its Android-based OS, you’d be forgiven if you thought the Asteroid Classic was more friendly to Android phones than the iPhone. In fact, the opposite is true, as I’ll explain later. And while it suffers from something that can probably be described as teething trouble, it’s still a lust-worthy system.
When it comes to using mapping APIs on mobile, it’s hard to think about any name other than Google Maps. However, the truth is that Google Maps doesn’t fit the needs of every developer and/or company. Thankfully we live in a country that allows competition and choice (even though large companies continually try to squash it). There is, in fact, a broad number of mapping solutions available to developers, and with Apple and others recently abandoning Google Maps, we’ve seen a spark of interest in these alternatives. One that’s been working hard to provide a viable option to its customers is deCarta.
