Android eavesdropping patent matches ads to background chatter
Your Android phone could one day eavesdrop on background noise in voice calls and use it to pick out contextual adverts, if a new Google patent is any indication, with a barrage of sensors tailoring promotions to the user’s environment. The patent, “Advertising based on environmental conditions”, describes using a…
Angry users bite Apple over poor WiFi on the new Ipad
DESIGNER OF EXPENSIVE GADGETS Apple is facing criticism from customers who bought the new Ipad only to find that its Wifi connectivity apparently is not up to scratch. The company’s support forums are ablaze with angry Ipad owners who, having finally got their hands on its latest tablet, find that…
Apple’s iPhone takes top spot from RIM in Canada
It could be a warning sign that the Waterloo-based company has more to worry about besides the lack of new handsets. Based on data from IDC and Bloomberg, Apple has sold 2.85 million iPhones in Canada while RIM has only shipped 2.08 million units of its smartphones last year. RIM’s BlackBerry handsets…
Twitter Chatter Can Predict Stock Prices, Study Finds
Celebrating its sixth birthday yesterday, Twitter revealed that it now has 140 million users generating a collective 340 million posts a day. That’s a lot of data with a lot of patterns hidden in it, just waiting to be teased out. Does one of those patterns hold the key to predicting trends…
Samsung sees smartphones leading Africa growth
CAPE TOWN (Reuters) – Samsung Electronics Co aims to double its share of the sub-Saharan smartphone market to 20 percent by next year, as it focuses on affordable handsets, the head of its Africa business said on Thursday. The Korean maker of televisions and white goods is aggressively courting African consumers…
iPhone overtook BlackBerry sales in Canada last year
How times change. Back in 2008, RIM was comfortably outselling the iPhone with BlackBerry handsets by a factor of five to one. Now, just a few short years later, the tables have been turned. The iPhone is now outselling Blackberry handsets, and in RIM’s home country of Canada no less. Last…
Unmanned Robot Ties Knots and Shaves Hair, Won’t Cut Off Your Head
Remember the robot we covered a few months back that would give you a head massage while it washed your hair? While a 24-fingered hair stylist is impressive, it couldn’t cut your hair for you. However, Intelligent Automation Inc. (IAI) discovered another great use for its unmanned ground robot–it can…
Review: New iPad screen is eye-opening upgrade
Beware the new iPad, not because it’s an inferior product, but because it’s a superior one. Using one is like living the life of a millionaire for a day, then getting dumped back in your regular life. Your eyes are now opened to how miserable your existence is. The big…
Samsung’s Galaxy Note Will Get Android 4.0 in Q2, Along With New Apps
Samsung Electronics will upgrade its Galaxy Note to Android 4.0 or Ice Cream Sandwich starting during the second quarter. The upgrade will also include new applications that take advantage of the device’s digital pen, the company said on Thursday. The upgrade will be distributed worldwide, Samsung said, without sharing any detailed…
Apple’s new iPhone will use bigger 4.6-inch display: report
SEOUL (Reuters) – Apple Inc’s new iPhone will have a sharper and bigger 4.6-inch “retina” display and is set to be launched around the second quarter, a South Korean media reported on Thursday. Sales of the iPhone, first introduced in 2007 with the touch screen template now adopted by its Apple…
