For those of you who don’t know it, Dolphin is a popular web browser that was only available for Google’s Android platform. MoboTap(makers of Dolphin) recently released Dolphin for the iPhone and the iPod Toouch. Well, I am pleased to announce that MoboTap have just released Dolphin for the iPad and is now available in the App Store.
Tag Archives: google android
After Ice Cream Sandwich could be Jelly Bean
Google really has a funny naming convention for the different versions of its android operating system. The following list is the different names that Google have used in the past:
- 2.0: Eclair
- 2.1: Eclair
- 2.2: Froyo
- 2.3: Gingerbread
- 3.0: Honeycomb
- 3.1: Honeycomb
- 3.2: Honeycomb
- 4.0: Ice Cream Sandwich (which is due for release soon)
A trusted source has told me that the version after Ice Cream Sandwich is very likely to be called “Jelly Bean”. I actually laughed when I heard this for myself. On a more serious note, Ice cream sandwich really needs to release some time soon, otherwise Google may have missed their window of opportunity.
Verizon may offer an early upgrade
You may know of Verizon, one of the four big mobile phone networks in the USA. The other three are Sprint, AT&T and T-Mobile.
An anonymous tipster has told me that Verizon may be giving out an early upgrade to some of its customers. They are allowing their customers to upgrade to the Motorola Droid or the iPhone 5. Normally, when you go for a mobile phone contract, you are normally tied into it for 12 months(1 year), 18 months(1.5 years) or even 24 months(2 years). In the USA, you can only upgrade 20 months through your 24 month contract.
However, it seems that Verizon is showing that they like to be good to the most loyal of their customers. The way to find out if you are eligible, is to check your emails or phone up Verizon and ask them. Remember, nothing ventured, nothing gained.
On a side-note, we don’t know the release date of the iPhone 5. The important thing we know is that iOS 5(The next major release of Apple’s mobile operating system), will be available for download in the Autumn, which is quite soon. This means that the iPhone 5 should be available soon. Normally, Apple makes a major release of iOS at the same time as an iPhone release.
Freebie Alert: Skitch is now free
If you are on a mac and you like your freebies, then you will really like this one. There is a picture editing and screen capturing tool out there called Skitch. This Mac application was snapped up by a company called Evernote. In addition to this Evernote has now made Skitch a free product. It used to be a product that had some basic features in the free version. However, you are now able to download the full version for free for your mac. Simply click here and you will be able to download the full app for free. I suggest you go ahead, download it and let me know what you think.
Skitch is also available for free on Google’s Android operating system that is also available. You can download it from the Android app market place.
Onlive UK Launch Date Confirmed
In a recently published press release, OnLive have confirmed that their “Cloud Gaming” service will launch on 22nd September. From this date, you will be able to play games such as Split second and the recently released duke nukem forever without the need
But, how does this awesome service work?
When the service is available in the UK, you would go to onlive.co.uk and create your onlive account for free. You can sign up for free with no commitments to make when you create your account. Once you have done that, you will need to download the OnLive application and install it onto your computer. If you are on Apple’s iPad or a Google Android device, you will need to download the application from Apple’s App Store or Google’s Android App Market.
When you have downloaded and installed the relevant application for your device, you will then need to launch the OnLive application sign in using the email and password you chose during the sign-up process. Once you are in, you can go to the marketplace and check out all the games available.
Of course, you want to see how these games will run, and see just how good they are for yourself. This is why most of the games on the Marketplace will give you a 30 minute free trial. You will have full access to the game for 30 minutes. For me, I like using the 30 minutes to see how far I can get in an OnLive game. At this point, you still don’t need to enter any credit/debit card info.
However, if you wish to rent a game, then you can. You can choose to rent a game for three or five days. If you like the game, you can buy it and play the game as much as you want, for as long as you choose.
There are a lot of advantages to this service. First of all, you can use OnLive to play games on older machines, as well as netbooks. This is because OnLive’s data centers have all the high-end hardware. They send you the video for the game that you are playing. Therefore, you don’t need to have the latest PC or Mac. For example, I have a laptop that is at least 4 years old. Using OnLive, I can play games such as Borderlands and NBA 2K11 without the need to upgrade my laptop.
When it launches here in the UK, you will be able to use OnLive on your Windows PC, Mac, iPad or Android Tablet.
OnLive is already available in the USA and I was able to sign up to it to try it out for myself. From what I have experienced using this service, I believe that OnLive has the possibility to become the future of gaming.
I also think that OnLive reinforces a very important point here. When you buy a game for PC, XBox 360, Mac or any other gaming platform, you don’t own it. The company that makes the game owns it. By buying the game in question, you are only given a license to play the game on the machine that you own.
To use OnLive you will need a PC with the following specifications:
- A 2mbps internet connection
- A PC running Windows XP SP3(32bit), Windows 7 or Mac OSX 10.5.8
- A screen resolution of 1024×768
However, it is recommended that you have a PC with the following specifications
- A 2mbps internet connection
- A PC running Windows XP SP3(32bit) or better, Mac OSX 10.6.0 or better
- A screen resolution of 1280×720
If you want to try it for free, then click here and you will be able to use it right now.
T-mobile create a life-size version of angry birds
The people over at the mobile phone network T-Mobile know that lots of people use their phones to play the hit game Angry Birds. As part of their advertising campaign entitled Life’s For Sharing, the people at T-mobile set up a real life version of Angry Birds in the spanish city of Barcelona. The game is controlled via a Google Android mobile device that runs the game. To see how it works, I have left a video below with the game in action.
So there you have it. This proves that it is indeed possible to create a real life version of angry birds that works. It also brings a whole new meaning to the phrase “pop some pigs”. So what do you think of this? let me know by leaving a note or posting an ask. As always, I am open to your comments.
Google IO Day one round-up
So on May 10th 2011, Google held the first day of their Google IO conference where a few announcements were made. Now without further ado, let’s take a quick look at some of the announcements that were made.
Of course, this first day was all about the Google Android operating system. For those of you who don’t know it, Google Android is Google’s open-source operating system for mobile devices.
One of the updates that was announced today was the 2.x line of the operating system would be upgraded to version 2.4 (also known as Ice Cream Sandwich). Google said it would launch new developers tools to allow easy programming across the mass of devices.
Otherwise, Android 2.4 will bring UI elements from Honeycomb, such as sliding widgets, holographic UI and a task launcher. More Near Field Communication (NFC) capabilities will be added in the update, too.
Google also created a group of manufacturers and carriers (Verizon, LG, Samsung, T-Mobile) that is meant to ensure all Android devices will get speedy OS updates for at least 18 months since launch — if the hardware allows it.
The second of these announcements was that the 3.x release (known as honeycomb) would be getting updated to 3.1.
The third of these announcements was the addition of movie rentals to the google android market alongside the already existing books and apps.
The fouth of these annoucements was the cloud music service. Essentially this would give you access to your music library wherever you are. You would be able to stream this
In a final twist to the excitement, all of the 5000 people who attended the keynote speech where the announcements were made would get a samsung galaxy tablet with version 3.1 of Honeycomb for free. If you are one of these lucky people, please be sure to let me know what you think.
If you want to, then you can watch a video of the full keynote below.
Today will be all about Chrome (google web browser). Maybe we might hear some more information about Chrome OS(google’s cloud-based operating system). I will be sure to post a round up of what happened during today’s keynote speech.