Broadcasting live gameplay videos, posting videos of high-scores, strategy or just narrating while playing games has increasingly become very popular in the gaming community. Twitch is the leading platform when it comes to gaming videos. The service boasts 45 million gamers every month.

If you’ve ever gone through the most popular videos on YouTube you would’ve noticed that many times gaming videos rank very highly. YouTube understands that there is a very big market of users who love to watch or create gaming related videos and share with everyone.

With YouTube Gaming a dedicated service by Google, the company aims to compete with Twitch. It will be available this summer in the US and UK initially.

You will be able to view content through Games, Feed and Channels. The app will feature a live system to make chatting with your favourite YouTube creators easy and fast.

Google has highlighted that service will cater to the needs of all gamers and if they type “call” in the search field they can be rest assured to receive “Call of Duty” as a recommendation instead of “Call Me Maybe”.

Google has been hard at work to support video playback and lifestream at 60fps. Since this is essential to offer live gameplay broadcast. According to the company YouTube Gaming will provide “an improved live experience that makes it simpler to broadcast your gameplay to YouTube.”

Are you excited about YouTube Gaming? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

WhatsApp has grown phenomenally over the last one year. The messaging giant has more than 700 million users and 70% of them remain active daily. When Facebook acquired WhatsApp in February last year for $19 billion it came as a huge surprise for many however, a year later it all just makes sense.

WhatsApp surpassing the number of SMS sent per day would have sounded bizarre a few years ago. Since the introduction of smartphones and BBM, SMS always felt outdated. WhatsApp successfully managed to offer what SMS couldn’t and did it free of cost and fast. By not being platform specific the messaging app offered what BBM didn’t at that time.

Blackberry really missed out by not opening up earlier. It is always interesting to wonder, what if BBM became cross-platform much earlier, would WhatsApp still be this big.

Apple offers iMessage as a messaging platform for iOS device owners. The company apparently has no plans to offer the service on Android or other smartphones operating systems. iOS 8 completely revamped the Messages app adding Snapchat like photo sharing feature and WhatsApp like Audio messages. iPhone 6 plus now even shows display photos of your contacts.

It is clear that Apple is watching its competitors closely and is moving thoughtfully by adding new features and making sure that iMessage stays relevant. Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, last year shared that the company handles 40 billion iMessages and sends 15 to 20 million messages per day. We don’t have the latest numbers but with the growing number of iOS devices users this number would have certainly grown.

iMessage is great if most people who you contact on a daily basis have an iOS device however, the messaging service still has a long way to go. The most important aspect Apple needs to address is reliability. There have been numerous occasions when I’ve got message delivery failure error many times when sending photos as an iMessage. If you hit “try again” the second time your iPhone automatically sends the photos as a MMS which attracts heavy carrier charges for multiple photos.

On one hand having SMS and iMessage integrated within the same app is great when it works however, when it doesn’t one just regrets having the same app do both functions.

WhatsApp is a great messaging app, it is simple has no ads and is fast. I’ve met many people who even say that they are “addicted to WhatsApp”. It has become the social norm as it satisfies the need to stay connected in a distraction free manner.

Earlier this month, AT&T attacked T-Mobile publicly after releasing a full-page ad in a number of newspapers including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and USA Today, mentioning that T-Mobile’s network has twice as many dropped and failed calls, and half the data speed of AT&T’s network.

Earlier this week, T-Mobile fired back at AT&T with a series of ads, criticizing AT&T and questioning why AT&T was looking at an acquisition if they didn’t think the network was great. One of the ads goes as far as to say that AT&T is afraid that T-Mobile poses a threat.In 2011, AT&T was expecting an acquisition of T-Mobile but was denied by the Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Justice.

Since then, relations between the two companies have gone south and the two companies are in an all out public ad war.T-Mobile is the fourth major carrier in the United States, after AT&T, Verizon and Sprint. In January, T-Mobile CEO reportedly called the AT&T network “crap” following the failed acquisition.

It is not surprising that carriers are launching public attacks, particularly because Apple’s products are to soon be offered on all major carriers in the US with T-Mobile coming in last. T-Mobile is expected to receive several Apple products, although it is unclear exactly which products. The company is currently undergoing a major rebrand, doing away with subsidized price structures for phones as well as the elimination of contracts and early termination fees.

{Via MacRumors}

Earlier this year, reports began to surface that T-Mobile USA was looking to officially offer the iPhone. By this time, the company had already confirmed its plan to end smartphone subsidies, which binds subscribers to a 1 or 2 year contract with the company in exchange for a lower or ‘subsidized’ price on a phone. Apple also confirmed to The Loop that T-Mobile would carry its products but did not specify which ones. According to mobile news site TmoNews, T-Mobile is planning to make drastic changes to its service this month, including the elimination of contracts and early termination fees.

-For starters, kiss contracts goodbye as T-Mobile moves to a no-contract world. Existing customers will finish out their current contract or upgrade to a new device without a new contract, whichever comes first. New customers won’t have to suffer with any long-term commitments. Contract wise that is.

-Early termination fees will be a thing of the past as well, which makes complete sense when announced with the removal of contracts.

-Expect the introduction of a new equipment installment plan tier, likely in the $25 – 30 dollar range as T-Mobile moves to make all its smartphones $99 or less as down payments. A $30 tier makes sense if you consider the retail value of the device is $699 = $30 x 20 monthly payments.

T-Mobile is the fourth major carrier in the United States, after AT&T, Verizon and Sprint. In late 2011, AT&T was looking into acquiring T-Mobile but the plans were shot down by the Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Justice. Since then, relations between the two companies have soured, with AT&T launching a full-page ad in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and USA Today, slamming the company.

The ad specifically notes that T-Mobile’s network has twice as many dropped and failed calls, and half the data speed of AT&T’s network. The ad campaign is said to be a response to T-Mobile CEO John Legere who mentioned earlier this year that AT&T’s network was “crap”.

It is not surprising that carriers are launching attacks at each other, particularly when Apple’s products are offered on multiple networks. If T-Mobile does get the iPhone, tt will be interesting to see how it fits it into the no-contract structure, which is usually seen with regional carriers such as MetroPCS or C-Spire Wireless.

{Via MacRumors}

Corning, a Kentucky based glass and ceramics company is set to introduce the third version of its popular Gorilla Glass. The new glass, which is simply being called Gorilla Glass 3 is expected to reduce scratches and increase in strength.

When used on mobile products, the new Gorilla Glass will help ease some of the issues that these products have faced in the past, such as scratching when put in bags with keys and easily shattered screens from short falls.

Gorilla Glass 3 has been improved at the molecular level, incorporating a proprietary feature called Native Damage Resistance (NDR). According to Corning, NDR reduces the propagation of flaws, the appearance of scratches and does a better job of maintaining the overall retained strength of the glass. As a result, GG3 claims a three-fold improvement in scratch resistance, 40 percent reduction in the number of visible scratches and 50 percent boost in retained strength after the glass becomes flawed.

Gorilla Glass was used on the original iPhone, when CEO Steve Jobs requested that the company scale Gorilla Glass to fit the 3.5 inch screen size of the iPhone. Corning is currently working on creating Thunderbolt cables up to 30m long for Apple’s Macs which may smooth over any deals the Kentucky company and Apple make.

Corning introduced Gorilla Glass 2 just last year, and has already produced a stronger, more durable glass, which can benefit the iPhone greatly. Apple’s current iPhone 5 has passed more drop tests than the iPhone 4S and appears to be much sturdier. With the iPhone 5S or 6, Apple could release one of its most durable iPhones yet.

{Via MacRumors}

Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) has been leading the market for quite some time with web based services, including search, email and documents. On Tuesday, Google Inc. released a more streamlined cloud experience for its users, the long-awaited Google Drive. The service provides users with 5GB of free storage, which is also integrated with Google Docs and many of Google’s other online services.

This initial 5GB offering is similar to Apple’s iCloud which also gives users a free 5GB of storage. Following the initial 5GB, users can then upgrade to a higher tier of storage, and for GOOG, that means up to as much as 16TB of storage which is far more than the amount of storage on any computer hard drive.

Today, we’re introducing Google Drive—a place where you can create, share, collaborate, and keep all of your stuff. Whether you’re working with a friend on a joint research project, planning a wedding with your fiancé or tracking a budget with roommates, you can do it in Drive. You can upload and access all of your files, including videos, photos, Google Docs, PDFs and beyond.

The storage can be accessed directly through Google Docs, or through clients on PC, Mac, Android and very soon, iOS devices. Google promised that the iOS app would be available “very soon”, with it being very likely that the search giant is still waiting for approval from Apple. Google Drive operates very differently than other cloud solutions, including a feature that allows users to open up as many as 30 different file types directly in the browser.

This allows users of the service to open up and view files such as images and documents, regardless of its format. Google Drive has the potential to be one of the next reliable cloud solutions available online. With its availability on numerous platforms, including iOS, it brings into question, whether this service will compete with iCloud.

{via MacRumors}

Orange, one of the leading telecom providers in the UK has launched a promotion offering a free iTunes movie rental every week. The service, dubbed Film To Go is only available in the UK and will feature a pre-selected movie every week for users to download and enjoy.

The movies that are selected will be available to view for 30 days but once the movie is started, you have 48 hours to complete it. To begin receiving the free movies from iTunes, Orange customers just need to text FILMTOGO to 85060. They will then receive a text message with a code to allow the free download via iTunes. The text message itslef will cost users 35 cents, although the movie itself will not be charged.

The movie can then be viewed on any iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. This is something fairly new that is being offered up by service providers that may attract more customers and could ultimately arrive in the US if deemed successful. Verizon, one of the major carriers in the US already has similar offers with Android phones in the past, and may offer up something similar for the iPhone in the near future.

Upcoming films for the service include My Blueberry Nights scheduled for this week and The Wrestler for the following week.

{via TiPb}

According to a new report published by Neowin Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) has unveiled plans at their Worldwide Partner Conference for an additional 75 stores in the US, bringing the grand total of retail stores to 86 stores. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has around 350 retail store locations and continues to add stores in cities all over America, allowing the company to stay ahead of the game and dominate the retail market.

Microsoft (MSFT) has attempted to enter the retail atmosphere in the past, and failed to provide a common theme for their store that customers could relate to. As a result, the 11 Microsoft Retail stores currently in the US, faded away in the shadows of Apple’s (AAPL) retail empire. Now, a few months after Microsoft’s Windows Phone entered the market, Microsoft is planning to once again re-enter the retail market and propose a challenge for Apple.

It is, however, evident that Microsoft is adjusting their strategies based of Apple’s and is readjusting itself to an ever changing market. Microsoft has attempted to create inviting places, with wood surfaces, where customers can enjoy the array of products. The products are available for customers to use and even allows them to ask questions about them at the “Answer Desk”, essentially Microsoft’s form of a Genius Bar.

Microsoft has yet to announce any further plans that they may have, but until they do, it is clear that they are following closely in the footsteps of Apple.

Do you think Microsoft’s new retail stores will pose a threat to Apple? Let us know what you think in the comments.

Apple’s camera sensor supplier, OmniVision Technologies, today announced that they are releasing a new 5-megapixel sensor that could lead to thinner mobile devices while also offering the ability to shoot video at 1080p.

While it has been rumored that Apple will be releasing iPhone 5 / 4S with an 8 megapixel camera, it makes much more sense for Apple to go with OmniVision’s latest creation, boosting the HD video recording up to 1080p, while retaining the same 5MP camera with an even thinner form factor.

Alternatively, Apple could include these sensors in iPod touch 5G (fifth gen) and iPad 3 since the current form factor is even thinner than iPhone 4.

OmniVision sent out a press release, announcing the new sensor:

OmniVision Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: OVTI), a leading developer of advanced digital imaging solutions, today introduced the OV5690, the first 5-megapixel image sensor to use OmniVision’s proprietary OmniBSI-2 pixel architecture. The new 1.4-micron backside illumination pixel allows for a full five megapixels in a 1/4-inch optical format, and combines best-in-class image quality with a 20 percent reduction in camera module height, making it an effective solution for slimmer mobile handsets, smart phones and tablet computers.

The new sensor checks in at under 5 mm high, 20% thinner than the leading sensor on the mobile devices market today.

Fast forward to today and a Patent filing last week from Apple (which seems eerily reminiscent of one from them in 2009 – and another company’s earlier stabs at hybrid display technology), and it appears that the tech giant may be looking at stealing yet another lead on its rivals by augmenting existing technology in a new and innovative way.

First, here is some background for context… E-Ink technology is capable of producing super high resolution, low power consumption images. But a big drawback is refresh rate. Which means that e-ink displays are just not suited to playing video or games. Great for e-books. Not so good for moving images, or fast updating pages. Think Amazon Kindle. On the flip side, LCD panels are perfectly suited to fast updating images. But draw more power, and even in Apple’s Retina Display incarnations are still not quite as capable of producing perfectly smooth high resolution text; particularly on larger display panels like those found in the iPad 2.

So what to do? Recently Apple’s COO Tim Cook hinted at a massive investment in a new technology. And many of us took that to mean simply an investment in fabrication facilities for high resolution LCD panels. And that may well still be the case. Quite likely is in fact. Production yields of super high resolution LCD panels, like those required to produce a true “Uber Retina Display” which didn’t materialise in the iPad 2, and is currently expected in the iPad 3, are still too low to make them cost effective. And at the moment, that is the only way that Apple can hope to leap ahead of its competition again in display technology for its next iteration of devices.

But it is clear Apple is not putting all of its eggs in one basket. They are also looking at hybrid display technologies, where they may or may not be able to take a different direction from their competitors, once again. Rely on older technology, once again. And astound us all with yet another revolution in the battery life of our mobile devices…

Enter hybrid e-ink / LCD displays. The idea, in essence, is simple. Imagine two displays. One overlaid on another. One is a high speed LCD (or even OLED) panel of similar quality to that found in the existing iPad 2 or iPhone 4. The other is an e-ink display capable of showing text in both colour and black and white, but with the kind of quality we expect from devices like the Kindle – and with none of the power drain of an LCD panel.

Clever hardware and software will decide on which of the two sandwiched displays images and text will be shown on. So that static non-changing, or slow updating parts of pages will be rendered to the e-ink layer. And faster updating images will be pushed through to the LCD panel. Images could even be pushed to LCD first, and then if they are to then remain static the LCD panel can give way to a copy of the image which was pushed more slowly to the e-ink layer in parallel. All of this would be seamless from a users perspective.

An obvious place to use this technology is in scrolling web pages and e-books. Page updates or scrolls will be fast and on LCD. And when the scrolling or updating stops the e-ink display holds the image for perfect clarity of viewing – and low power drain.

To get a mental image of how the hardware would be working behind the scenes, imagine our view of a duck on a pond. It looks like it is gliding along, but its feet are paddling like crazy underneath. Once more parts of the image remain static, the ducks feet would simply have to paddle less hard – and ultimately be able to stop in the case of a static page of images and text. All the while to us, the user, we still see a duck gliding effortlessly along on a pond – just like we do today on iOS devices. And all the while that the ducks feet are not paddling so fast our battery life gets extended.

There is no guarantee that this technology will come to pass in Apple’s iOS or desktop devices in the future. But it seems it is certainly something they are looking at. And if you’ve ever looked over at someone reading a Kindle on a subway, and been a little jealous of the even more print-like quality of the digital text that they are reading (even while holding a Retina Display device in your hands) then this might be something for you to look forward to in future iOS devices.

E-Ink/LCD Hybrid for the win? Or just a pipe-dream? Have your say in the comments…

Here is some potentially exciting news for connectivity geeks, via Patently Apple. Apple has applied for, and been granted a patent on an all new slimline connector which is not only possibly for iOS devices but also for future Macs.

Whilst DisplayPort and USB 3.0 seem to be the main focus here, it seems likely that perhaps Thunderbolt (Intel’s “Light Peak” multi-purpose high speed connection technology, rebranded for Apple as Thunderbolt) may also show up in this connector at some point.

Although “Light Peak” was generally expected to be delayed, and also an optical only technology when brought to market, it made its first appearance on new Apple Macs recently in a form specifically tailored for Apple’s computers. Apple were one of Intel’s partners in the technologies inception.

Apple have a history of trying to reduce the amount of connectors, and the size of them on their devices. They also work very hard to keep connector compatibility between hardware iterations. Some see this as a bad thing as it typically results in expensive, proprietary connectors. But others love the simplicity of this admittedly premium, but space efficient and user friendly model.

Either way, the possibility of all of our devices having one multi-purpose connector, which operates between both desktop and mobile equipment, and offers many different flavours and levels of connectivity speed and complexity, is certainly an exciting prospect.

Will Apple surprise us with this connection technology in its upcoming iPhone 5? Will it be crippled in OS X or iOS so that only certain software can access all the functionality of the cables? Much like the current video cables for iOS are. Time will tell.. Let us know your thoughts in the comments…

{via Patently Apple}

According to the survey results reported by Fortune, 87% of Android developers view fragmentation as a growing concern for the mobile platform. It’s no secret that iOS developers have played a huge role in making Apple’s platform a huge success. Apple provides its developers a unified, single store experience which allows them to focus on developing great apps while customers know exactly where to go to discover their apps.

Android is considered a “open platform” which gives users and developers lots of options. However, now the same options and alternatives have become a concern for the developers. If you were to find Android app you could look up the Android Market on your phone, search Amazon store or even browse GetJar. So, this may leave the end user thinking that the default Market is not an exhaustive list of apps and force then to look for alternatives. This in turn makes things increasingly difficult for developers as they try to fight ‘app discoverability’ in more and more online stores.

Even though Apple’s App Store has been widely criticized for not being ‘open’ it offers a great experience for both, the end user and the developer.

Google recently also went against the concept of being ‘open’ when they ‘closed’ the source code to its Android 3.0 Honeycomb platform for the tablets to prevent use on smartphones.

Google has been trying to restrict its handset partners from making too many modifications to the Android OS and discouraged them from such practices in an effort to counter the fragmentation issue.

It will be interesting to see how Google tries to keep the developers happy and offer solutions which makes developing for the platform easier.

{Fortune via AppleInsider}

According to new numbers coming out of ABI Research today, approximately 302 million smartphones shipped last year worldwide, with sales up 71% in 2010 when compared to 2009.

The figures also show that a massive 69 million Android devices were sold to eager punters, while ABI Research predict the platform will reach a 45% market share by 2016.

Again using the analyst’s numbers, iOS currently has a 15% share which is expected to grow steadily to 19% in the next 5 years.

Also-rans RIM (BlackBerry) and Microsoft (Windows Phone 7) are expected to make up the remainder while not pulling up any trees. RIM seem content to sit in their comfort zone of the enterprise market while MS are still struggling to get their fledgling operating system to take off. Recent software update woes won’t help them in the short term either.

IDC however disagrees with the assessment of WP7’s chances. The firm said last week that the believe Microsoft could find their OS overtake Apple in market share by 2015 thanks to the recent deal bringing Windows Phone 7 to Nokia handsets.

{Source: PCWorld}

Others included in the guest list are Eric Schmidt (Google CEO 0.5) and Mark Zuckerberg (Faceblah).

The purpose of the meeting is, according to the White House, to “discuss our shared goal of promoting American innovation, and discuss [Obama’s] commitment to new investments in research and development, education and clean energy”

Obama has previously referred to Jobs as an impressive example of the American dream. And this is not the first time the people in this group have met either. Steve Jobs previously met with Obama in October of last year. And with Zuckerberg not so long ago, when Jobs invited him to his home.

Eric and Steve have been known to have coffee in California from time to time! So all in all it sounds like a little bit of a meeting of old friends.

There are conflicting rumours in various parts of the press about Steve Jobs’ health, and hopefully his appearance on the Apple Campus last week, and this meeting with “The Prez” will show that Jobs is on the mend.

Would you like to see someone like Jobs play more of a part in Government? Have your say in the comments…

{via AppleInsider}

The feature is available to customers signed up to a qualifying voice plan with the additional unlimited messages plan charged at $20 a month. According to AT&T’s press release, the new feature will go live tomorrow:

Beginning Thursday, Mobile to Any Mobile will be available to new and existing AT&T customers with a qualifying voice plan who subscribe to unlimited messaging plans. Existing customers with an unlimited messaging plan can activate Mobile to Any Mobile by visiting www.att.com/anymobile. The URL will be available beginning Thursday.

The roll-out of this feature has been seen as another attempt from AT&T to keep those customers who may been contemplating a move to Verizon after it recently adopted Apple’s iPhone 4. Other steps taken by AT&T to keep their customers have seen the carrier modify its tethering plans to offer more data, and boast about its ability to handle both calls and data simultaneously on its devices.

Are AT&T’s efforts to keep its customers a case of ‘too little, too late’? If you’re an AT&T customer, or in the market for an iPhone 4, leave us a comment and tell us which carrier you’ll be with when you’re contract’s up for a renewal.

CopyTrans TuneSwift [rating: 3/5]

CopyTrans TuneSwift sounds like the perfect panacea for all your iTunes library backup needs. It offers iTunes to iTunes transfers of entire iTunes libraries between PCs or from PC to Mac. This is done via single file backup archives, which can also be updated incrementally as you add to your current iTunes library. Restoring an iTunes archive to a Mac is achieved by connecting a hard drive to your Mac with the PC archive on it, and using a dedicated restore utility, available as a separate app.

Over the last week I’ve been putting it through its paces to see if it really is the panacea for all of iTunes backup woes and for migration from PC to Mac.

Sometime ago we reviewed CopyTrans Manager from Copy Trans, and our overall impression of their iTunes alternative was very positive, so we had high hopes for CopyTrans TuneSwift.

iTunes, to many people’s chagrin, has become the Swiss Army Knife of media storage for those of us that are part of the Apple eco-system. So rather than just being a repository for music it is now the hub through which we manage a lot of our movies, books and iPhone data / apps. For this reason the thought of losing your iTunes library is probably a heart stopping moment for many. And moving from one computer to another might seem to some like a black art at times, with the ever present spectre of losing your favourite artists music and perhaps not even knowing about it until you get toe urge to hear them again!

CopyTrans TuneSwift is an attempt to mitigate some of that fear for PC users, at least. Note : CopyTrans’ website is a little confusing, not intentionally, but perhaps simply because the whole PC / Mac / iTunes scenario is a bit confusing. But it should be noted that CopyTrans TuneSwift is not a Mac application. So you cannot backup your OS X iTunes library with it. It is a PC only app that has a companion OS X app for migrating PC libraries to the Mac.

So with “TuneSwift” (we’ll drop the CopyTrans bit from now on as it’s a bit of a mouthful), you get a simple to install backup manager which runs on your PC. It offers a simpe big button interface which gives you the option to “Transfer”, “Backup” or “Restore” your PC based iTunes library.

“Backup” allows you to make an initial single file backup of your iTunes library to any storage device; USB sticks included. And to then incrementally update that backup over time as you add more to your iTunes portfolio. And that does include iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad data as well as all the other usual iTunes media.

“Transfer” offers a seamless way to transfer iTunes data between any PC, again including all flavours of iTunes data, and even between operating systems, such as XP or Vista and Windows 7.

“Restore” is the reverse of “Backup” and will restore the state of your iPod Touch, iPhone or iPad as well.

I created some test libraries on my PC to test TuneSwift, as well as in Parallels on my Mac, and I also manually moved my entire OS X iTunes library to a PC (something I had been meaning to do for a while) so that I could test moving everything back to a Mac – the main “OS X” feature of TuneSwift.

For my test cases, everything went very well and was indeed seamless. Incremental backups also worked nicely on the PC, and I was able to move external drives from computer to computer and restore iTunes libraries conveniently. But these were contrived test cases, and not actually using TuneSwift on a day to day basis over a long period of time. The reason I mention this is that my final test with a massive iTunes library (that reflected the last 10 years of my hoarding of media and music onto my main computer) failed rather spectacularly when I tried to restore that to a Mac tower. Basically : A lot of files were missing. To be fair this was an iTunes library I created by manually importing everything from a Mac to a PC, and then using TuneSwift to move everything back to another Mac. So it was arguably not real world usage. But nonetheless it should have worked and the fact it didn’t is worrying. Obviously I didn’t lose any data as I still had my original, and my artificially created test library on the PC. But perhaps those of you with huge ageing PC iTunes libraries planning the move to a Mac via TuneSwift should take extra care when doing so. The age, and amount of time my library has moved around may have been a factor in that, and might be a factor in your case too. As with any backup or restore service, don’t delete originals until you know you’ve got your stuff transferred, and do make sure that “Restore” works for you on incremental backups from time to time, and long before you actually use the service for real.

If I hadn’t had an issue with my final big test with TuneSwift I would have rated this app much higher. But unfortunately a backup service should restore seamlessly every time, and TuneSwift didn’t. Having said that neither does Apple’s own MobileMe offer Backup utility, and the only service I really trust with my data is Mozy. But that is a story for another day.

Pros

• Free right now. (Until March 15th, 2011)
• Works great between all flavours of PC and Windows OS.
• Easy to use.
• Incremental backup, as well as single file archive.

Cons

• Restore failed rather spectacularly with a very large, diverse and quite old iTunes library.

Download CopyTrans TuneSwift from here and enter the code TUNESWIFT-TOUCH-REVIEWS under the “Activate” tab to use the software.

Gallery

Home cinema favourite Denon is the first to offer Apple’s AirPlay feature on it’s line of AV receivers. Available as a $50 update to Denon’s AVR-991, AVR-3311CI, AVR-A100, and AVR-4311CI models AirPlay could well become a must-have feature on future home cinema hardware and Apple will be hoping that its video and audio streaming system will be the standard of choice going forward.

If you’re lucky enough to own a compatible system head on over to Denon’s website – the update is available now.

The video is admittedly rather clever, and a little bit funny. It pans around a museum display of the different types of tablets in history and lists one pro and one con for each. For example, it shows the tablets of stone on which the 10 commandments were written and notes that while its pro is excellent durability, it also has zero flexibility as it can’t edit.

The teaser is for Motorola’s upcoming CES 2011 announcements, and although it doesn’t give much away, Engadget points out that the buzzing bee seen towards the end of the video is a sure sign that the new tablet will run Android Honeycomb.

I’m still not sure how Motorola’s video points out a flaw in the iPad – iOS is an incredibly popular mobile operating system that millions of users have grown to love – why would Apple change a winning formula for a larger device when it can just modify its existing one?

Since Google announced the Samsung-made Nexus S the smartphone world has been waiting with baited breath to find out whether the ‘S’ will be the new Android king or just another carbon-copy handset. Having read the lengthy and characteristically well-written review over at Engadget I think it’s fair to say Samsung’s Nexus S will be the must have handset for those outside the world of iOS.

I’m not going to paraphrase the entire review here – I heartily recommend you head over to Engadget and have a read yourself – but suffice it to say that Google might finally be on to something with this ‘ere Android malarkey.

One of the main complaints thrown at the Android OS by iOS fans is the user interface and its lack of polish. Boring 2D buttons and engineer-inspired dialogue boxes were the norm, but no more! Of course this is mostly down to the spangly new version of Android the Nexus S is sporting, namely 2.3, Gingerbread. Seeing as future handsets will also be receiving the Gingerbread goodness the differentiator has to be the hardware and according to Joshua Tapolosky Samsung has really pulled out all the stops. Curved screen and NFC sound like your bag? Yep, me too!

Head on over to engadget.com for the full review and let us know what you think in the comments – is Android catching up in the bells and whistles stakes or is iOS still the shiny loveliness for you?

The printers now AirPrint enabled are:

– Officejet 6500A e-AiO5

– Officejet 6500A Plus e-AiO5

– Officejet 7500A Wide Format e-AiO5

– Officejet Pro 8500A e-AiO5

– Officejet Pro 8500A Plus e-AiO5

– Officejet Pro 8500A Premium e-AiO5

For those yet to experience of the joys of printing wirelessly from your iOS hardware, now there are more choices into the world of the damp squib that is AirPrint.

Fun indeed.

Instant is one of the many features Google has implemented over the last couple of years aimed at speeding up the world of search and works by populating your search results as you continue to type into the search bar and works brilliantly on the iPad. The iPhone’s smaller screen does reduce the impact of the constantly changing search results but it does work well.

More info from the official Google Blog:

Today we’re happy to let you know that Google Instant for mobile is now available in 28 languages and 40 countries worldwide. If you have an Android 2.2+ or iOS4 device, just go to google.com in your mobile browser and you will be redirected to your local domain. Then, tap the Google Instant link beneath the search box to enable it.

The only problem? Who actually visits Google.com anymore?!

That’s right folks, you read that correctly.

This little tidbit came when Acer CEO Gianfranco Lanci was asked what Acer’s plans were when it came to tablets, what vendors feel is different about tablets now when compared to the past, and what their goals were.

Lanci replied:

The differences are, firstly there is no standard platform for tablet PCs; secondly the integration of platforms with content is essential, and this is the reason Acer will keep expanding our software R&D staff, and why we have announced our “alive” online content platform which will improve the user experience and increase loyalty to Acer. Because content should be localized, we will have teams responsible for providing localized content services in each country. Compared with competitors, Acer has the advantage that our annual shipments of 40-50 million PCs are large enough to attract content providers into negotiations. We hope our tablet PCs can reach a global market share of 10-20% initially, and become the market leader in 2-3 years

Lanci goes on to say that he sees Acer’s R&D department as key to achieving this goal, which is no great surprise at all.

Another point worth mentioning is that Acer sees Samsung as its main rival in the tablet arena, and not Apple. Does he know something we don’t?

Head on over to digitimes.com for the full transcript – it’s well worth a read.

One of the main complaints about Samsung’s Galaxy tab is that it just isn’t big enough. Weighing in at 7″, a full 2.7″ fewer than Apple’s iPad, many feel the screen just doesn’t provide enough real estate for anything other than blown-up phone apps. But how about a 10.1″ version?

Over at the FPD International Trade Show in Japan, Samsung has been showing off it’s next generation LCD displays, and it’s enough to make your mouth water.

Featuring a 1024×600 resolution, the screen boasts a 1,000:1 contrast ratio and is just 1.8mm thick. The stats really don’t do this thing justice, but the photos certainly go some way to giving us an idea of just how gorgeous a potential Galaxy Tab XL could be. Unfortunately that isn’t quite around the corner; the panel isn’t expected to be ready for mass-production for a couple of years according to Engadget, and they’re usually pretty accurate!

Of course, if Apple’s announces a Retina Display equipped iPad Mk2 next year, the ante will well and truly, be upped!

RIM (NASDAQ:RIMM) saw its share price rise on the back of some promising news about the expected retail price of its upcoming iPad competitor, the BlackBerry PlayBook. CEO Jim Balsillie claims the 7″ tablet will sell for ‘under $500′, Bloomberg’s Businessweek reported yesterday.

Expected to be released in the first quarter of 2011, PlayBook is being touted as the first business class tablet, and many believe it may be the first real competitor to Apple’s iPad, which currently dominates with a staggering 95% of market share. Samsung recently entered the fray with its Galaxy Tab, but sales are said to be lacklustre, with the device’s high purchase price and 2 year contracts potentially putting people off. A sub $500 price point for the PlayBook could see BlackBerry’s entry gain more traction, especially given its superior hardware specification.

Balsillie is also quotes as saying that the iPad’s dominance will ‘change when we’re in the market’. Strong words indeed, and ones that only hard sales numbers will back up.

At last week’s Adobe MAX conference, the Adobe Chief Technology Officer Kevin Lynch demoed the company’s content-aware fill tool running on a Samsung Galaxy Tab, and a color-mixing paint palette application running on Apple’s iPad, revealing Adobe’s intentions to enhance the functionality of their Photoshop application with touchscreen tablet devices.

Adobe has been contemplating how they can provide Photoshop users with a way of involving their tablet devices for many months, by asking them for feedback on what kind of capabilities they might like to see. The demos at their MAX conference show Adobe is serious about integrating iPad-like devices into the Photoshop workflow, and as a user of an iPad and the Photoshop application, this is really great news.

Adobe’s designers have been mocking up various tools that could allow users to use the iPhone and iPad as an extension to Photoshop running on their computer. On his blog, Adobe’s John Nack describes some of the companion features.

In a nutshell, you get:

• groups of task-based tools & commands (e.g. all your photography/retouching tools & buttons on one page, or all your painting ones, 3D ones, etc.)
• interactive, task-based tutorials that drive Photoshop, helping you get things done

The idea is to let you work faster–offering more organized access to tools & knowledge.

MacRumors describes that some of Adobe’s ideas on companion apps for touchscreen devices include custom toolsets, tutorials to help users quickly learn certain tasks, and applications that provide easy access to many of the commonly-used tools.

Despite being simply demos at the moment, it’s fantastic to see that Adobe are researching ways in which companion apps on touchscreen devices can enhance a user’s experience when using desktop applications. It will be exciting to see whether other software companies consider the same approach, and whether our iPads will accompany other software we use frequently on our Macs.