Apple landed on just the right size when it came up with its 4-inch screen for the iPhone 5, according to company CEO Tim Cook.
"We've put a lot of thinking into screen size and we think we've picked the right one," Cook said when quizzed about Apple developing larger screened phones during Cupertino's earnings call today.
Cook's comment came on the heals of praise he lauded on the iPhone 5's display.
"The new 4-inch Retina display is the most advanced display in the industry," he chirped. "No one comes close to matching its quality. We were able to develop a larger screen size without sacrificing one-handed use."
For thought
While Apple could always pull a fast one on us and whip out a 4-inch plus phone during its next product extravaganza, Cook basically said that the company is sticking with 4-inch iPhone screens for now.
The iPhone 5, Cook noted, was in supply constraint during the beginning of the quarter but eventually caught up with demand, while the iPhone 4 was shortened throughout.
He also did something uncharacteristic and addressed a specific rumor about whether iPhone production had been cut due to a slump in orders.
"I suggest it's good to question the accuracy about any kind of rumor about build plans," Cook said. "Even if a particular data point were factual, it would be impossible to interpret that data point for what it meant for our overall business."
Ask Siri where she was born and she'll say that she was "designed by Apple in California," but that's only the half truth. She almost belonged on Android phones.
The brains behind this voice-activated personal assistant had signed a deal with American carrier Verizon in the fall of 2009, according to a lengthy Huffington Post feature.
The objective was to make Siri a default application for all of the carrier's Android smartphones, which are of course powered by Apple's chief rival, Google.
Apple, seeing the potential in Siri, didn't just make a counteroffer, it bought Siri, Inc. This ensured exclusivity and killed any hope of Siri for Android phones in the future.
The most interesting part is just how far Verizon's deal for Siri is said to have gone.
"Somewhere in the vaults of the wireless giant, there are unreleased commercials touting Siri as an Android add-on," reported The Huffington Post.
Before Siri for Android, iOS phones
Truthfully, Siri should credit the United States Department of Defense and its $150 million budget for its origin.
Apple's artificial friend was spun out of a five-year, 500-person project by the Pentagon and Menlo Park, California's non-profit research institute, SRI International, according to the expose.
The undertaking was "by any measure, the largest AI program in history," said lead researcher David Israel.
As a start-up, Siri, Inc., initially launched its application as an independently developed iOS application before it was pulled from the App Store.
Apple then bought the 24-person company for a reported $150 million to $250 million.
Siri updates in the future
Siri was updated with the launch of iPad 4 and rollout of of iOS 6 last year, adding new languages and the ability to open third-party apps, look up personalized sports stats, and send tweets.
In addition to expanding the way this personal assistant app is a "do engine," Apple is looking to tweak the responses that Siri gives to commands.
The company is searching for a new writer to invoke a little more personality into its voice-activated application.
One thing that Siri will never properly respond to are questions about her almost-in-the-bag deal with Verizon that would have brought her to Android handsets.
She'll just play coy and direct users to the nearest Verizon stores in the area. Sly.
Ask Siri where she was born and she'll say that she was "designed by Apple in California," but that's only the half truth. She almost belonged on Android phones.
The brains behind this voice-activated personal assistant had signed a deal with American carrier Verizon in the fall of 2009, according to a lengthy Huffington Post feature.
The objective was to make Siri a default application for all of the carrier's Android smartphones, which are of course powered by Apple's chief rival, Google.
Apple, seeing the potential in Siri, didn't just make a counteroffer, it bought Siri, Inc. This ensured exclusivity and killed any hope of Siri for Android phones in the future.
The most interesting part is just how far Verizon's deal for Siri is said to have gone.
"Somewhere in the vaults of the wireless giant, there are unreleased commercials touting Siri as an Android add-on," reported The Huffington Post.
Before Siri for Android, iOS phones
Truthfully, Siri should credit the United States Department of Defense and its $150 million budget for its origin.
Apple's artificial friend was spun out of a five-year, 500-person project by the Pentagon and Menlo Park, California's non-profit research institute, SRI International, according to the expose.
The undertaking was "by any measure, the largest AI program in history," said lead researcher David Israel.
As a start-up, Siri, Inc., initially launched its application as an independently developed iOS application before it was pulled from the App Store.
Apple then bought the 24-person company for a reported $150 million to $250 million.
Siri updates in the future
Siri was updated with the launch of iPad 4 and rollout of of iOS 6 last year, adding new languages and the ability to open third-party apps, look up personalized sports stats, and send tweets.
In addition to expanding the way this personal assistant app is a "do engine," Apple is looking to tweak the responses that Siri gives to commands.
The company is searching for a new writer to invoke a little more personality into its voice-activated application.
One thing that Siri will never properly respond to are questions about her almost-in-the-bag deal with Verizon that would have brought her to Android handsets.
She'll just play coy and direct users to the nearest Verizon stores in the area. Sly.
Microsoft is hard at work on a fix for a nasty Windows RT bug preventing Surface tablets from completing app updates.
The issue first cropped up earlier this month after a Jan. 8 firmware update for Surface RT tablets.
Users began reporting difficulty or a complete inability to access the Windows Store and Windows Update. Some cases also mentioned being unable to update third-party apps.
In a statement today, Microsoft addressed the issue, saying that a fix is on the way for early Feb.
"Some Windows RT customers who attempted to apply January's bulletins had issues installing updates. Specifically, impacted Windows RT devices went into connected standby mode during the download of updates from Windows Update, causing the connection to be disrupted," a Microsoft spokesperson said.
"We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused and are working to correct the issue; we expect to have a fix in place in the first week of February."
Too little too late?
In typical fashion, Microsoft did not elaborate on what the causing of the issue might be or how widespread it is among Surface RT users.
On the Windows help forums some users have said that they resolved the issue by rebooting their tablets. However, some of those same users later reported that the issue returned, so a reboot may only be a temporary fix.
Microsoft's more permanent fix is scheduled to arrive the first week of Feb. Assuming that Microsoft does not count Friday, Feb. 1 as a whole week, the update should be available between Feb. 3 and Feb. 9.
Feb. 9 also happens to be Microsoft's launch day for the Surface Pro, running full Windows 8 instead of Windows RT.
Windows RT hasn't exactly been lighting the tablet world on fire since the Surface launched last year, and problems like this update bug certainly don't help Microsoft's case for the mobile operating system. Here's to hoping that the Surface Pro can avoid the same fate.
Kickstarter phenomenon the Pebble Smartwatch has today started shipping to its army of backers.
The first 500 e-paper watches are off the production line and are now being distributed to those who committed to the project first.
Pebble, which syncs with a user's smartphone via Bluetooth to show incoming calls, messages, notifications and more, attracted more than 69,000 backers, so it may take a while to fulfil all orders.
The company now aims to get production up to 2,400 watches a day, making use of the $10,266,845 it raised to make Pebble one of the most successful crowd-sourcing projects ever.
Working out the kinks
In a post on the Kickstarter page, the company said: "Pebble will start shipping today! We'll be sending out the first batch to the very first backers this afternoon. There are still some kinks and issues that we need to work out, but I'm glad to say we've made it this far."
The company had initially hoped to start shipping in September, but the incredible success of the project meant deliveries were delayed until the new year.
In today's post, the makers also offered an update on the accompanying smartphone apps, which will allow users to download software updates and customise watch-faces.
The Android app is coming on Thursday, but the iOS version has been held up in the notorious App Store approval quagmire.
Pebble added: "Pebble iOS App is not yet available in the App Store. We submitted two weeks ago and have been responding to reviewer feedback.
"For the moment, iOS users who receive Pebble early will be able to do notifications/Music control but will not be able to install watchfaces or upgrade to the latest PebbleOS until the app appears in the App Store."
It's no secret that desktop computers are on the decline, which makes chipmaker Intel's plans to remove desktop motherboards from its product mix not entirely surprising.
AnandTech reported Wednesday that Intel is planning to wind down its desktop motherboard division following the launch of its Haswell-based architecture in 2013.
"We disclosed internally that Intel's Desktop Motherboard Business will begin slowly ramping down over the course of the next three years," Intel confirmed in a statement to TechRadar.
"As Intel gradually ramps down its motherboard business we are ramping up critical areas of the desktop space including integration of innovative solutions for the PC ecosystem."
Desktop 'major focus'
Intel will continue offering desktop chipsets and Form Factor Reference Designs (FFRDs) for third-party motherboard suppliers such as ASUS, Gigabyte, MIS and others.
"The desktop segment continues to be a major focus for Intel with hundreds of products across many subsegments and applications," Intel's statement continued.
With upwards of 20 years experience in the business, most existing desktop motherboard FFRD talent are expected to remain in place.
The complete wind down will take three years to complete, but customers will continue to be supported with a full warranty during that time, which includes upcoming Haswell-based motherboards.
Portable boom
Intel plans to shift its focus to FFRDs for Ultrabooks and tablets, with an unknown number of desktop employees being "redistributed" to work on the new form factors.
The report also cited less current need for Intel's own motherboards, given the higher quality of third-party product from Taiwan that did not exist in the past.
Intel declined to comment on how the shift might impact revenue or sales numbers.
Desktop motherboards are considered a low margin product compared to the company's profit making chipsets, so the change is expected to be good news for investors, though not so good news for those who liked using the mobos to build their own PCs.
Ofcom has thrown open the doors to the UK's 4G spectrum auction to the seven hungry bidders eager to get a slice of the 800MHz and 2.6GHz action.
It's the largest mobile spectrum auction ever to take place in the UK with the space on offer equivalent to three quarters of the current mobile spectrum.
In the running for the spectrum are Everything Everywhere Limited, HKT (UK) Company Limited, Hutchison 3G UK Limited (Three), MLL Telecom Ltd, Niche Spectrum Ventures Limited (read: BT), Telefonica UK Limited (O2) and Vodafone Limited.
No updates on progress
Sadly we won't be able to keep you updated on the progress of the auction and how much money the bidders are ploughing into the 4G cause with Ofcom keeping everything behind closed doors until it concludes.
More frustratingly there doesn't seem to be a specific end date for the auction, with Ofcom saying it will "conclude in a number of weeks."
The auction will allow more networks to offer 4G mobile data, with the likes of O2, Vodafone and 3 wanting to challenge EE which was allowed to launch its 4G service early.
It's not just 4G mobile connectivity on the cards however with the likes of BT looking to acquire some of the spectrum to improve its broadband coverage, especially in rural areas.
Microsoft's been pushing tablet computers for the best part of a decade, so you can imagine how happy the iPad's success makes them.
But Microsoft doesn't give up easily, and Windows 8 tablets are with us, both in the form of full-blown Windows 8 Intel-powered devices like Sony's Tap 20 and Windows RT ARM-based tablets such as Microsoft's own Surface RT.
Windows 8 vs Windows RT: what's the difference?
Before you dismiss Windows 8 tablets as a flash in the pan, Windows 8 tablets aren't one kind of device; we're seeing a huge variety of devices, ranging from simple iPad-style slates to fully convertible laptops including those where keyboards slide out from beneath the screen as well as those with styluses and detachable keyboards.
Windows 8 coverage Windows 8 review Windows 8 vs Windows 7: 8 ways it's different 50 Windows 8 tips, tricks and secrets Windows 8 tablets: what you need to know Making sense of the Windows 8 versions All our Windows 8 content
The ARM-based Windows RT has received mixed reviews so far and has had moderate success in terms of sales, with only Surface RT making any impact. Many other Windows RT devices have yet to appear. All of which is music to the ears of Intel, which powers most of the Windows 8 devices on the market.
Here are all the hands ons and reviews of Windows 8 tablets we've done so far.
The Nokia EOS is set to be the first Windows Phone 8 handset to sport the Finnish firm's impressive PureView camera technology.
Last year Nokia launched the ridiculous 41MP toting 808 PureView at MWC 2012 and according to The Verge it's up to its camera tricks again, this time in the form of the EOS.
A source "familiar with Nokia's plans" claims that the codenamed EOS will pack a camera similar to the one found in the 808 PureView – suggesting it also sports a 41MP sensor.
Apparently Nokia will ditch its recent polycarbonate love affair in favour of aluminium on the EOS, which if true will give the handset a really premium look and feel.
Hey it's-a-me, Flavio!
But that's not all according to a My Nokia Blog source going by the name "Flavio" (sounds legit right?) who's said Nokia is prepping six new smartphones for a MWC 2013 unveiling.
Flavio reckons there will be a Nokia Lumia 920 at the show kitted out with a 41MP camera, which would fall in line with the EOS rumours we've seen over at The Verge.
There's no official word from Nokia on its plans for the show in Barcelona at the end of February and the sources quoted in these reports are far from reliable, but we do expect to see something from the Finnish firm while we're there.
The official Asus VivoTab release date and price has been confirmed by the Taiwanese manufacturer, and it's good news for those looking for a slightly more affordable Windows 8 tablet.
Touching down in stores on Janaury 31, you'll need to part with £399 to get your hands on the VivoTab, which sports a 10.1-inch HD LED display, 1.8GHz dual-core Intel processor, 2GB of RAM, 64GB of internal storage and 8MP rear camera.
Like Microsoft's Surface Pro, the Asus VivoTab runs the full blown Windows 8 OS instead of the reduced RT version found on the Surface and Samsung Ativ Tab.
No bundles here
As with the Surface and Surface Pro, Asus offers a keyboard cover to attach to the VivoTab which makes typing a whole lot easier and allows you to use the tablet as more of a laptop - a real advantage for business users.
Sadly the keyboard doesn't come bundled with the Asus VivoTab, and will put you back an additional £90 if you do decide to pick one up.
That's a steep price tag, although still cheaper than the Surface Pro, which is set to come in at around £200 more expensive (albeit with a slightly fancier spec sheet).
Apple has stricken 500px's photo-sharing apps from the App Store because they allow users to hunt down nude photographs.
The gatekeepers of the iOS App Store explained that the app was taken down "for featuring pornographic images and material" although the app developer maintains that the app, skewed towards proper photography and "art", allows nudes but draws the line at pornography.
Apple disagrees, saying that it "also received customer complaints about possible child pornography".
"Art"
It raises question marks over where the line is drawn between nudes, a staple of the art world for hundreds if not thousands of years, and pornographic images - and whether Apple (or its customers) is best placed to decide where that line should fall.
Is it really within Apple's remit to decide what's porn and what's art?
Apple has "asked the developer to put safeguards in place to prevent pornographic images and material in their app", something that 500px says it has done and submitted for reconsideration.
The company was also keen to stress that the app defaults to 'safe search' - if you want to track down people in the buff, you have to adjust your settings accordingly.
So for now, iOS users won't be able to download 500px for iOS nor ISO500 while the tweaked app is in the hands of the App Store reviewers.
Sky Go Extra is an extension of the existing Sky Go app and brings premium content to your mobile as well as allowing you to download movies and television programmes to a laptop, tablet or mobile phone for viewing offline.
We've given the iPad and iPhone versions a good going over, which offer similar functionality to the Android app.
Sky Go has proven to be a popular choice for the company's subscribers, allowing them to stream the content they subscribe to when they they have a Wi-Fi or 3G connection.
The Extra app, as the name suggests, extends that functionality into offline usability, meaning that you can load your device up with movies and TV content. This offline availability - which remains for up 30 days from download or 48 hours from when you hit play - is a key addition, but it does come at a monthly price of £5.
It's also worth bearing in mind that this £5 still only allows you to download the content that you subscribe to with Sky - so if you don't have the movies package on your Sky TV deal then you won't have access on Sky Go Extra through either streaming or download.
That £5 fee for downloads is likely to be the major sticking point for many people - especially if you are already paying for the content as part of a hefty TV package. But an upside for those who do decide to shell out the extra fee is that they can up the number of devices linked to their Sky account from two to four.
The main competitors to this kind of subscription content deal are Lovefilm (owned by Amazon) and Netflix - but both of these services offer streaming, like the original Sky Go service, and not the ability to cache content for offline viewing.
UI
Onto the experience; for those with the Sky Go app then it is merely an update to that - the logo is the same and the 'Extra' bit is really only obvious when you are in the app.
When you first open it, chances are you will not have signed up for the extra services so you will see splash screens encouraging you to do so. You will see the two key additions - a download tab in the main navigation and, when you are looking at content in the on demand section, the presence of a download button on most of the content.
If you happen to click this without having a Sky Go Extra account you will be given a brief message explaining that this isn't for the likes of you, and that you need to go and set up the additional service on your account. You can do this through the website or on the phone and, let's face it, it isn't the most elegant part of the experience.
That pain point out of the way, when you have signed up (and rebooted the app) you can now use the shiny new buttons to your heart's content.
The service itself is incredibly easy to use, and will be familiar to anyone who uses the BBC iPlayer download system.
You can browse through to the content that you want - be it film or television - and then when you see the download button on the description, just click and set it going. One minor niggle is that you don't get told how your download is progressing from the content itself - for that you need to go the downloads tab - but if you have already downloaded the content then the download option is greyed out and changes to 'downloaded'.
If you have active downloads running then the downloads tab will have a pulsing icon, and when you go through you will be able to see what you are downloading (and how the download is progressing), what is queued to download and what you have already downloaded.
An edit button will allow you to delete the content you no longer want or want to download. It will also allow you to pause or resume the download, start playback and also displays how long you have to watch the content.
For content you have started watching this will be a portion of 48 hours, for most non-watched movies then you have 30 days (which will show as 29). Catch up TV shows wil often only have seven days to view after the date of broadcast and some movies will have limited time if they are about to go off of Sky's service. This is annoying, but down to licensing restrictions.
You can only download one thing at a time, which is a little frustrating but to be expected - and downloads pause when you are not in the app, which means that you can't just get on with something else on your tablet.
The phone experience is very similar - the downloads tab drags down from the top of the app and the screens are optimised for phone.
Obviously you also keep all the Sky Go functionality you had before - allowing you to stream movies, TV and sports either live or on demand.
Neither streaming nor downloads are availble in HD - which is a bit of shame - with file sizes obviously dependent on the length of the content.
Our biggest movie download so far was Gangs of New York which weighed in at well over 1GB.
There is no limit set on the amount you download beyond the amount of storage you have - and you can store to an SD card on Android although it will only play back on the device you downloaded it to.
Content
One of Sky's big selling points will be the 'freshness' of its content. It is billing Sky Go Extra as the UK's first service to offer downloadable Hollywood movies as part of a subscription, and with many major series on catch-up, its own drama and comedy offerings and 'box sets' of some iconic series, the impressive movie offering is not the only string to its content bow.
WIth the likes of Lovefilm and Netflix you are unlikely to get the last burst of major movies - with both choosing big old libraries of old titles over expensive new blockbusters.
That could well work in Sky's favour; its existing relationship with studios has helped bring it to a place where studios are okay with the download system and the opening salvo of available titles at launch is already impressive.
The likes of The Grey, Tron Legacy, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, Hanna and Cleanskin were all there for our download pleasure, along with older gems like Rambo: First Blood Part II.
There were some surprising gaps, however, although it remains to be seen if they are ironed out. Anchorman was available to stream but not download, and many of the Sky commissioned and owned series like Mad Dogs were also not available for the Extra service.
Early verdict
There will be plenty of grumbling about the amount of money that it costs to get Sky Go Extra - especially given that there is a bolt-on fee on top of the subscription people already pay - but there's no denying that this is a well designed, incredibly well stocked service.
For those people who already have Sky Go and the movies subscription, the extra £5 buys a service that will be incredibly useful for anyone that travels, has patchy service or just wants to have more freedom in when they can watch some spectacular content.
Aside from the cost the service is not perfect - the sign up is clumsy, there is no HD option and some content is mysteriously unavailable at the moment - but this is nitpicking at a service which provides something we simply haven't seen enough of.
This unlocks premium content like movies in a way that is incredibly powerful - not being constrained by the pesky streaming woes of otherwise superb services like Lovefilm, Netflix - and, of course original Sky Go means that, for a significant cost, you are masters of your own viewing.
The movies are fresh and new, the TV catch-up is great for commuting and the whole service is an ideal solution for those that are time poor and connection light. £5 is not a hefty price to pay - but it is an annoyance for many and will be a major talking point for Sky Go Extra.
And that's a shame, because it is otherwise pretty much exactly what people have been demanding for their shiny tablets and phones for years; and the service itself is lovely.
