When Android launched Ice Cream Sandwich back in October 2011 it was very unattractive, muddled and disorganized, but Google has never stopped dabbling with Android’s design and now it has evolved into a significantly cleaner, more subtle operating system. However, it looks like the search engine giant isn’t done just yet.
Amazon today introduced Whispersync for Voice to its Kindle apps for Android and iOS, allowing users to switch between reading and listening inside just one app. The feature combines Kindle ebooks with their companion Audible titles using Amazon’s one-click Matchmaker service, and upgrades will cost as little as $0.99 per title.
Mojang has rolled out its “biggest update ever” for Minecraft: Pocket Edition, adding unlimited worlds, tons of new content, and a multitude of tweaks, fixes, and improvements. Players will be able to enjoy a plethora of new blocks, mobs, blomes — and a new AI that brings spiders, leaf rendering, drip particles, and an “immersive mode.”
You can now use your Pebble to control music volume on your smartphone and tablet, thanks to a new Pebble app update that’s available now on iOS (and coming soon to Android). It’s accompanied by a version 2.2 firmware update for Pebble watches, which also adds the ability to reorganize the Launcher Menu.
With iOS 8, Apple is bringing a multitude of exciting new features to iPhone and iPad. In some cases, Cupertino is playing catch-up as it tries to match what’s currently available in KitKat; in others, Apple’s next-generation mobile operating system is about to blast past the latest version of Android.
Android and iOS will secure a staggering 95 percent of smartphone market share between them in 2014, according to the latest research from IDC. While it’s strictly a two-horse race, Google’s platform is currently far out in front when it comes to number of users, with Android’s market share expected to reach 80.2 percent by the end of the year.
Google has a new Android update up its sleeve that will be announced this summer, but while Apple posts impressive upgrade percentages, Android fragmentation typically slows deployment of Google’s latest, greatest mobile OS.
