Posts tagged ios-6

waze_720

Google is again rumored to be closing in on a $1.3 billion acquisition of social mapping service Waze, just a month after it was reported that the Israeli startup was in “advanced talks” with Facebook. Google already has an office in Israel, and it’s thought that Waze’s social focus could be a good step forward for Google Maps.

BBM-Android-Galaxy-S-III

T-Mobile U.K. has confirmed that BlackBerry Messenger for Android and iOS will arrive on June 27. That means we have exactly three weeks to wait until BlackBerry’s hugely popular chat service goes cross-platform, and you can see exactly what it will look like on Android in the photo above.

Nexus-4-Android-Jelly-Bean

Google’s latest Jelly Bean platform has been available for just under eight months now, but like its predecessors, it’s been slow to make its way to Android smartphones and tablets. That’s not Google’s fault — it’s own Nexus devices get the latest releases almost as soon as they’re available — but Android hardware manufacturers are, unfortunately, notoriously slow at updated their devices.

Nevertheless, Jelly Bean’s market share is growing. According to Google’s latest data, it’s now installed on 16.5% of devices.

Nexus-4

I’ve been in love with the iPhone for the past five years. I got the original as soon as it went on sale in the U.K. in November 2007, and I’ve had every model Apple has released ever since. My job has given me the opportunity to play with plenty of other devices over the years — including those powered by Android, BlackBerry, and Windows Phone — but I’ve always remained loyal to the iPhone and iOS.

That was until a couple months ago, when my contract ended and it was time to decide which smartphone I wanted for the next two years. I already have the iPhone 5 — I bought it unlocked when it was launched back in September — and I wanted an Android device to replace the Samsung Galaxy Nexus I broke late last year. So I decided to pick up the new LG Nexus 4.

I was lucky; I didn’t have to wait six weeks for the device to arrive from Google Play. My carrier had plenty in stock, so a unit was delivered to my door the day after I ordered it. I was looking forward to testing it out, but I figured I’d play around with it for a little bit, then switch straight back to my iPhone 5 for everyday use. Like the Galaxy Nexus, I thought the Nexus 4 would be mostly used for work — testing apps and writing the odd tutorial for Cult of Android.

But boy, how wrong was I.

Viber, the popular cross-platform mobile communications service, has today announced that it has now surpassed more than 140 million users across six platforms, with 400,000 people joining the service each and every day. To celebrate the milestone, the company has introduced a number of new features to its Android and iOS apps, including the ability to send “fun stickers” and “playful emoticons,” and support for the iPhone 5’s larger display.

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