Mobile weekly wrap: iPhone 5 hangover week

Blackberry fails upward, AT&T goes all in on 4G, and everyone recovers from their iPhone 5 buzz in this week's Mobile Weekly Wrap.

A week after the iPhone 5 made it into the hands of nearly 5 million people, the world finally started spinning on its correct axis again. As the dust settled from the lines of stampeding early adopters, other companies started to unveil their own upcoming offerings. Whether its new tablets and phones for the holiday rush, leaks for the long term, and fallout from the iPhone launch, we’ve got the goods — along with apps and games — from this week in mobile tech (Sept. 23-28, 2012).

AT&T goes all-in on 4G

While the iPhone 5 is the biggest addition in terms of name recognition, AT&T is improving their 4G device offerings in quantity and quality. Teaming with Samsung for much of the new wave, AT&T announced four new devices, three phones and one tablet, from the Galaxy line up that will be available in the coming months. If users have trouble managing the madness of having so many devices on the 4G network, they can connect them all to AT&T’s newly announced touchscreen mobile hotspot. The first of its kind, the MiFi Liberate has a 2.8-inch touchscreen and will allow up to 10 devices to connect to it. It’s all part of AT&T’s plan to cover the world in LTE, which is pretty non-threatening on the scale of evil plots against humanity.

Where the Apple went rotten

Apple’s mobile OS brought quite a few innovations that have people clamoring for what might be possible in the future. For the time being, though, it’s not all pretty. The move away from Google’s products and embrace of Apple-made apps has left Maps users lost. It’s been so bad that Apple CEO Tim Cook openly apologized for the debacle. The switch isn’t the only wrong turn that Apple made. The newly redesigned headphones, dubbed “earpods,” seem to put the emphasis on “piece” in the term “earpiece.” That is to say, “piece of junk.” (That was a long way to go for that joke, I know.)

Blackberry fails upward

As more and more iPhones and Android devices creep in to the business space, Research in Motion is doing its best to dig in and wait out the storm. While it hasn’t really been working, it has managed to spin some losses into wins this week. The first “win” came with its second quarter reports. The company lost $235 million, which actually beat expectations of just how bad it was doing and led to a jump in its stock prices. Later, video of the yet-to-be-seen BlackBerry 10 L and N series phones leaked onto the web, blowing whatever surprise the company had planned for an unveiling. The thing is, the video generally impressed consumers and may mark a potential comeback for the oft-forgotten phone company. 

Apps and games of the week

Street Fighter X Tekken ($3, iOS) – The button-mashing, combo-smashing fighter that has been a favorite on the consoles now makes its way to mobile. This iOS title will allow for you to take your fist to your friends online or play through single player battles.

Scape ($6, iPad) – Carry a composer with you. Scape lets you pick between a variety of different soundscapes, mixing and matching them as the app creates a custom, computer-generated soundtrack for your listening pleasure.

Draw Pad Pro ($2, Blackberry) – Just because you’re on a BlackBerry doesn’t mean you’re all business. Let your creative side flow with the inner artist’s dream app.

LazyLog (Free, Android) – While some missed calls and texts are important, others are the equivalent of inbox spam. Cast them to the side and get back to the people that matter with LazyLog.

eTrade Mobile (Free, Windows) While it’s been out on iOS and Android, Windows users can finally get their hands on this powerful portfolio manager.

Skitch (Free, iPhone) This app is already available for iPad and Android and has been beloved buy its owners on those platforms. It’s finally making its debut on the iPhone, and is sure to get just as much love.

Friendizer – (Free, Android) – This app will close the gap between your charming inner personality and unfortunate lack of social skills. Check out who else is near by and if your interests match up without having to go through awkward small talk.

BDrive (Free, iOS/Android) – The social cloud memory bank, use BDrive on your device of choice and share files between other devices and users to create a completely virtual community database.

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

Mobile Weekly Wrap: Easy app access and Blackberry’s comeback attempt

Google enters the patent battle, Blackberry lays low, and some awesome apps find new homes in this week's Mobile Weekly Wrap.

Late last week brought the end of a chapter in the Great Patent War. Samsung landed on the losing end of the battle between mega mobile moguls, but for once there was a calm in the mobile world. It lasted for as long as the weekend. Can’t we all just get along, guys? If you were too busy keeping your head ducked to avoid getting caught in the crossfire, you may have missed the news that happened this week. Lucky for you, we’ve got all the stories worth noting from the week of August 26-31, 2012

Patented patent talk

Apple scored a big win in its patent lawsuit against Samsung, but it sure didn’t get to enjoy it for very long. While it was busy losing a lawsuit in Japan, the guys behind the Android OS started to fire up their own war machine. Google watched Samsung fall to Apple, but refused to let their comrade fall in combat without defending their honor. We knew a patent battle between Google and Apple was basically unavoidable, and that notion became reality this week. Google has officially filed a lawsuit against Apple for violating patents owned by the Google-owned Motorola. While it’s probably more annoying to the public than anything, this is the most excitement patent offices have felt since Telsa was alive.

Play Store wants you to play more

While access to Android devices could potentially be stifled, especially the ones made by Samsung, access to apps for the OS is only getting easier. The folks at Amazon have taken their Android app store overseas, where it landed in a multitude of European countries. The selection that the Amazon store offers is smaller than the Google Play Store, but that’s simply because Amazon does quality control. Of course that’d happen in Europe. Here in America we have a free market–we can access terrible things any time we want.

While the Play Store may not be quite as controlled as Amazon, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have plenty to offer. In fact, Google wants to show you even more than what you’re already seeing by adding a “Recommended for You” section to the Google Play Store. The feature will point you in the direction of apps that you might potentially be interested in, meaning you’ll lose even more of you free time to your Android device.

Blackberry 10 news excites the few that are listening

While the big hitters in the mobile world continue to take swings at one another, the former holder of the portable reins has been laying low and rebuilding. Blackberry has had a rough run of things in the past couple years, but it’s hoping to come up swinging with their Blackberry 10 operating system, but one of the major improvements that it’s touting has nothing to do with software. Blackberry 10 phones will have a removable battery. While it might sound sad that one of the biggest upgrades is the ability to take out a device’s power source, it’ll be great for people that still swear by their Blackberry and use it until it can’t hold a charge.

It also looks like Blackberry 10 adopters will have plenty of options on how to drain those batteries. Developers working on Blackberry 10 builds have been able to submit their apps to the Blackberry App World. This will guarantee that folks planning on picking up the newest OS from Research in Motion will have tons of options to load up their devices on launch day.

Apps and Games of the Week

Modern Combat 3: Fallen Nation ($3, Blackberry) – The military shooter that has been a hit for iOS and Android users makes its way to the Blackberry. It’s the perfect way to break up the business day by taking out frustration on the virtual firing range.

SkyDrive (Free, Android) – Microsoft’s foray into the cloud-based storage market has been available on iOS for a few months, but it just made its way onto Android. If you’re a dedicated Windows user without a Windows Phone, you can still keep your documents with you.

StereoMood (Free, iOS/Android) – StereoMood spins music based on the mood you’re in. Just type in an emotion and the app will provide a playlist that plays to those feelings. It’s been on the iPhone, but it just came to iPad–now a universal app–and Android this week.

WP Politics (Free, iOS) – The election cycle is in full spin. While we’re between conventions, there’s going to be plenty of stories that will be worth tracking in the weeks and months before November 7. WP Politics gives a uniquely interactive way to follow the news, especially with its recently added “The Forum” feature. It delivers the best of the political Twitterverse with no Twitter account required.

Bastion ($4.99, iPad) – Bastion made a splash as a gorgeous looking and fluid playing indie title on PC and consoles. It brings its hand-painted art style, creative story telling, and addicting gameplay to the iPad.

Concept ($1.99, iPad) – See your idea go from first thoughts to full fruition with Concept. This app lets you keep notes that are easily organizable and will let you fully flesh out whatever idea is floating around in your head.

Appetite+ (Free, iPhone) – Appetite+ is a handy little app that lets you compare and contrast the apps you have installed on your device to your friends. See what you have in common or what they may be using that you should look into getting for yourself.

Activision Anthology (Free, iOS/Android) – A collection of classics from the early days of gaming, the Activision Anthology contains all of the best games of yore from one of the biggest developers of those days. Titles like Pitfall, Stampede, Cliff Hangers, River Raid and Kaboom all call this app their home.

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com