Apple has officially announced the next version of the operating system for its mobile devices at its Worldwide Developers Conference today. iOS 6 will be rolled out to the iPhone, iPad, iPad touch, and Apple TV this fall. But the beta is available to developers today. The newest version of iOS boasts over 200 new features. We will outline the biggest additions below.

Maps

The new maps in iOS 6 no longer uses Google’s Map solutions. Instead Apple has created its own alternative solution. Included in the new solution are 100 million business listings with Yelp integration. Also Apple’s new maps has turn-by-turn navigation and traffic reports.

Siri

Apple showed off a bunch of new enhancements for Siri. One of which is that she is coming to the iPad. Also Siri now has support for sports statistics and scores as well as restaurant selections. With OpenTable integration you can also make a reservation right from Siri.

Facebook Integration

Apple has added in full Facebook integration with contact integration and notification support for Facebook messages. Facebook statuses can also be updated from notification center with out even having the app open.

Passbook

Apple has rolled out a new app called Passbook. They are calling it the ”the simplest way to get all your passes in one place.” Passbook allows for the collection of boarding passes, rewards cards, movie tickets, and gift cards.

FaceTime

FaceTime now works over cellur networks in addition to Wi-Fi. Apple is also using unifying Apple IDs and phone numbers for all devices. So you can answer and make FaceTime calls from any of your devices with your phone number.

Phone

On the call screen Apple has added a feature that has been available on a few other phones. The ability to send a text reply instead of answering the call. You can select from a few prewritten messages when ignoring the incoming call. Apple has also included a new Do Not Disturb Mode that allows to completely turn off all incoming calls and messages. Although you can also add a few people to a allowed whitelist.

Source: Apple

Apple has just pulled the lid off its new next generation MacBook Pro at its World Wide Developers Conference. The new model features a retina display and measures in at a thin 0.71 inches thick. Most of the thinness is due to the removal of the  optical drive. It is also the lightest Pro laptop released by Apple to date weighing only 4.5 lbs. The Retina Display has a resolution of 2800 x 1800 pixels in its 15.4 inch screen.

Inside the internals are just as impressive. Buyers can choose between a quad-core Intel i5 or i7 processor and up to 16 GB of RAM. To top that all off Apple has included the Nvidia Kepler GeForce GT 650M GPU to power the graphics. For internal storage models can be customized with up to 768GB of solid state storage.

The new MacBook Pro also includes a variety of useful ports such as a SD card slot, HDMI, USB 3.0, two Thunderbolt ports, MagSafe 2, a headphone jack, and duel microphones. For connectivity a 802.11n Wi-Fi module and Bluetooth 4.0 is included. The new model also conforms to Apple’s “Environmental Checklist” for greener products.

The new MacBook is shipping today with base models starting at $2,199.

Source: Apple

After much anticipation Samsung has just announced its newest flagship phone, the Galaxy S III, in London. The phone has a 4.8-inch Super AMOLED display at 720p resolution, a 8-megapixel primary and 1.9-megapixel front-facing cameras that start up in 990ms, 16 or 32GB of storage, NFC, Bluetooth 4.0, and a 2,100mAh battery. As rumored the device is also powered by the new Exynos 4 Quad core chip. Its classic Samsung curved body measures in at a thin 8.6mm thick. For its mobile connection it supports 21Mbps HSPA+ or LTE depending on your carrier.

The hardware design is nothing rather revolutionary. In fact it looks like a mash up of some of the more recent Galaxy S phones. Instead Samsung has put in a bunch of interesting software customizations that emphasize ”natural interaction” with the device. So what does that mean ….. well it basically boils down to four new features called Smart Stay, S Voice, S Beam, and ”Pop up play”.

The Smart Stay feature uses the front facing camera to watch your eyes and keeps the brightness from dimming even if you don’t touch the screen for an extended amount of time. Samsung says the feature is most useful when reading an ebook or a long email.

S Voice is basically Samsung’s take on Apple’s Siri feature. But, unlike Siri, S Voice allows a user to just start talking to their device. After saying a predetermined greeting to the phone it will wake up and listen to your instructions. Samsung gave the example of saying “snooze” to turn off your alarm or send a text to a friend.

S Beam is a beefed up version of the tap to share feature that already exists in Android 4.0. S Beam allows for a 1GB movie to shared within 3 minutes or a 10MB music file to share in two seconds between two Galaxy S III devices. Also the feature even works when not connected to Wi-Fi or cell service.

The feature called “Pop up Play” allows for users to watch videos on the screen while continuing to use other apps. Basically its picture in picture on your phone.

The DLNA-based AllShare media system has also been boosted for the S III as well. Devices can now stream video directly to DLNA compatible displays (much like Apple’s Airplay). Users can also share their screen with other S III devices on the same Wifi network with ”Group Cast”. We can guess that this feature will be very useful to business men/women hosting an ad-hoc presentation.

The Galaxy S III will launch in Europe on May 29th with the 32GB model as a Vodafone exclusive. LTE models will come to North America and Japan in the summer. With the US getting the device in June.

Research in Motion showed off its new phone OS called Blackberry 10 today in Orlando. The maker of Blackberry phones and tablets is hoping their new OS will help bring them back to relevance. Blackberry 10 (formally known as BBX) puts emphasis on ”glanceable” information (much like Windows Phone tiles).

One of the things that RIM addressed today is how they are going to keep their superior typing experience on touch screens. Blackberry 10 will have a honing algorithm that learns how users type. According to RIM this will allow the keyboard to get more and more accurate. The keyboard has SwiftKey like technology that is activated by swiping on suggested words.

RIM showed also off a very innovative feature for the camera. After taking a picture users can use a timeline tool to scrub and select a moment right before or after your shot. Thus you can get rid of people blinking or other imperfections.

CEO Thorsten Heins finished things off by promising an ”exciting” device by the end of the year. Hopefully by then it won’t be too late for RIM.

Source: The Verge

Barnes & Noble has announced a ”strategic partnership” on e-reading with Microsoft today. The partnership is focused on spinning off the Nook business into a separate B&N subsidiary. No name has been decided for the new subsidiary but Microsoft will be investing $300 million for a 17.6 percent stake in the venture. As a by-product of the investment Microsoft has announced a Windows 8 Nook application.

One thing that Microsoft has been missing until today in its ecosystem is ebooks. This investment makes sense as they gain a large library of ebooks for Windows 8.

Source: Microsoft, B&N

Did you miss out on all the tech news from this week? Yes….then don’t worry. The Technolon Podcast (yes it has been a while) will catch you right up. And you will have a lot of fun in the process. Available for download right here. So enjoy!

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Today is a big day for Samsung. The South Korean company released fantastic numbers in its Q1 report, yet interestingly it didn’t mention an even greater achievement. According to research firm Strategy Analytics Samsung just surpassed Nokia as the biggest phone maker in the world.

This quarter Samsung shipped 93.5 million handsets (44.5 million were smartphones) while Nokia only shipped 82.7 million phones. Nokia has held the spot as the world’s biggest phone maker since 1998. They have been steadily declining in recent years due to stiff competition from Samsung and Apple.

Samsung’s phone shipment numbers are expected to jump even more in the next quarter with the release of the Galaxy S III.

Source: Bloomberg, WSJ

Samsung once again seems a little too eager about their upcoming May 3rd phone event. The company released information on the chip to power the next Galaxy S phone. Its called the ”Exynos 4 Quad” and will run at 1.4GHz per core. The chip is based on ARM Cortex A9 architecture and has advanced power management features.

The Exynos 4 Quad will be pin-to-pin compatible with the older Exynos 4 Dual processor. This will allow phone makers to put the new processor in current phone designs without having to change anything. The chip supports 30fps 1080p video playback and recording that can be output with HDMI 1.4. Samsung has released the video below to show off some of the new features.

Source: Samsung

Google and Oracle’s current legal battle has unearthed some very interesting pictures. Apparently in 2006 (two years before the release of the T-Mobile G1) Google pitched the “Google Phone” (shown above) to carriers.

Google seems to have concentrated its efforts on getting T-Mobile on board. Slides emphasize how Google’s expertise combined with T-Mobile’s unlimited data plan would be a powerful combination. The search giant even contemplated subsidizing the unlimited data plan to $9.99 a month for users.

This Google Phone would not have been much of a powerhouse specs wise. The slides mention an ARMv9 processor of at least 200MHz, GSM (3G preferred), 64MB of RAM and ROM, miniSD external storage, a 2-megapixel camera, USB support, Bluetooth 1.2, and a QVGA display with at least 16-bit color support.

The purpose of the phone was to allow customers to use Google services on the go. Slides mention Google Talk, Gmail, Calendar, MMS, and POP email all being available on the device.

It seems T-Mobile liked most of the big ideas in Google’s pitch. As Google and the carrier released the first Android phone in the US (the G1) two years later. Of course the specs of the device and Android as an OS  had drastically evolved in that time. It is hard to remember that the immensely popular and powerful mobile OS we know as Android had such humble beginnings.

Source: The Verge

Did you miss out on all the tech news from this week? Yes….then don’t worry. The Technolon Podcast (yes it has been a while) will catch you right up. And you will have a lot of fun in the process. Available for download right here. So enjoy!

Download MP3

Apple has just announced the dates for this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). Things will kick off on June 11th and go to June 15th. WWDC  typically is composed of developer sessions along with a keynote address from Apple itself. We expect this year to be no different. Tickets for the whole week can be purchased starting today for  $1,599.

The event is still a ways off, but its never to early to get excited. We of course will have coverage of the event during the week of the conference. So be sure to stay tuned.

Source: Apple

Well folks the mythical Google Drive is now officially launching. Google has confirmed most of the previous rumours about the service. Users get 5GB of free storage space for documents, videos, photos, PDFs and other files. If you desire more space you can simply upgrade to 25GB for $2.49 a month, 100GB for $4.99 a month, or 1TB for $49.99 a month. Also as an added bonus when you upgrade to a payed account your Gmail storage will be raised to 25GB.

As one would expect Google Drive is ”built to work seamlessly with your overall Google experience.” This means you can post pictures on your drive to your Google+ page or attach hosted documents in a Gmail message. Google also says that the service will recognize text in scanned documents (using Google Goggles technology). This allows you to search your whole Drive by keyword (even inside scanned PDFs).

Drive is an open platform and Google is working with third-party developers to tie the storage into other services. Google Drive is available now for PC, Mac, and Android, and with iPhone and iPad support coming soon.

Source: Google Drive

Samsung’s support pages are now showing the phones on US carriers set to receive an upgrade to Android 4.0.

On AT&T, the Galaxy S II, Galaxy S II Skyrocket, Captivate Glide, Galaxy Note, Nexus S, and Galaxy Tab 8.9 will all be upgraded. On Verizon the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and Galaxy Tab 7.7 will be upgraded. On Sprint the Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch will be upgraded. Sprint also has already updated the Nexus S 4G to the newest version of Android. No mention was made of any upgrades for T-Mobile devices. Although Samsung says they are “in close communication” with the carrier, and will “provide updates as we have additional details to share.” All Wi-Fi Galaxy Tabs currently running Honeycomb will also be upgraded shortly.

Both the Galaxy S and the original 7-inch Galaxy Tab did not show up on the list. Samsung said some time ago that its TouchWiz skin would not fit on these devices. But they then back peddled after a large public outcry, promising to review the update for the devices. Just because the devices were not mentioned on this list doesn’t mean they will never be updated. Still it doesn’t look too good for owners of the Galaxy S and original Galaxy Tab.

Source: Samsung

Microsoft has hinted at a desktop app for Skydrive for sometime now. Now it seems that time is finally upon us. A preview copy of SkyDrive for Windows (Windows 7, 8, and Vista) is now availalbe for download in 106 different languages. Microsoft has also taken the cover off a preview copy of app for Mac OS X Lion.

Skydrive for Windows and Mac allows users to drag and drop files to and from the SkyDrive folder (just like Dropbox). All the files are then synced to Microsoft’s cloud storage. Users can access the files on other computers with the Skydrive app installed, on a mobile device, or in the online Skydrive portal.

One unique feature that Microsoft has included is the fetch option. This option allows you to access, browser, and stream files from a remote PC even if they are not in your Skydrive folder.

New users that sign up for Skydrive will get 7GB of free storage. While current users can opt in at the Skydrive website to have 25GB of free storage. Microsoft believes that 99.94 percent of SkyDrive customers use 7GB or less. So thus they see offering 25GB in the feature as unnecessary.

Download the new preview apps here to check them out for yourself.

• Get SkyDrive for Windows (preview)
• Get SkyDrive for Windows Phone
• Get SkyDrive for iPhone and iPad
• Get SkyDrive for OS X Lion (preview)

Source: Windows Blog

Samsung is continuing to raise the hype ahead of their announcement for the next Galaxy S phone on May 3rd. Today’s hype comes from a teaser video that dares watchers to ”stand out from everyone else.” It seems that this “everyone else” are sheep….iSheep that is.

In regular Samsung fashion the video provides little other information. We don’t even get a quick shadowy look at the phone. So what does Samsung have in store for us at its Unpacked event. We will just have to wait until May 3rd to find out.

Source: TheNextGalaxy

When AT&T stores ran out of Lumia 900s last week it was hard to tell if it was due to popularity or AT&T wanting to play it safe and wait till Nokia rolled out the patch for connectivity issues. But according to Nokia spokeswoman Karen Lachtanski the phones are really sold out due to popular demand. She told AllThingsD,  ”The inventory situation is primarily a function of demand.”

In response to the connectivity bug Lachtanski said that most customers are keeping their devices. ”Most customers are opting to keep their units and simply update via Zune, so the impact of customer swaps is insignificant. We are producing more devices to satisfy demand as quickly as possible.”

Nokia has appologized for the bug in the form of a $1oo credit on customers AT&T bills when they buy a Lumia 900 between now and midnight on April 21st.

At this point no exact numbers have been given by Nokia or AT&T on devices sold. Yet it appears that the Lumia 900 is exceeding expectations when it comes to sales numbers. Of course when the phone is almost free, it seems like a no-brainer  to get the Lumia if your on AT&T. Regardless Nokia has been successful in their return to the US phone market…so far.

Source: AllThingsD

A trusted source close to Microsoft confided some very disappointing information to The Verge. According to the source current Windows Phone devices running Mango will not be able to upgrade to Apollo when it is released. Microsft replied to the report with the vague statement,  ”We have stated publicly that all apps in our Marketplace today will run on the next version of Windows Phone. Beyond that, we have nothing to share about future releases.”

This claim is still nothing more than rumor until Microsoft says otherwise. But it does not bode well for consumers that have just purchased brand new Lumia 900 devices. There is no doubt that the lack of an update to Apollo will anger many adopters of the Windows Phone platform.

Some industry experts are guessing that the lack of support for current hardware is due to major improvements and the addition of new features in Apollo. Will new features and major improvements be enough to keep current Windows Phone users from leaving the platform. We will have to wait and see. But one can bet that Microsoft will be thinking long and hard about their next move. Their phone platform shows promise, but one wrong move could put everything into a nosedive.

Source: The Verge

Fresh details are beginning to emerge about the Windows 8 ultrabook hybrid that Intel showed off at its Developer Forum. Intel is now referring to the device as the Cove Point (instead of the Letexo). The Cove Point has an Ivy Bridge processor, 12.5-inch display, two USB 3.0 ports and an HDMI port.

Intel is still mute on when we could see a device like this on the market, or which OEMs are going to be manufacturing the device. But Gary Richman, Director of Marketing for Intel’s PC Client Solutions Division, did open up some to Wired about the price of the device. Richman says that Cove Point type devices will cost around $1,000. He also emphasized that their will be 75 different types of ultrabooks arriving this year. Some will be priced as low as $699.

So far consumers have shown little interest in hybrid type devices (Asus Transformer). But with the release of hybrid devices running Windows 8 that interest could increase. At least Intel and Microsoft think so. No matter what happens its nice to see companies trying to differentiate instead of just copying the success of Apple’s iPad.

Source: Wired

Microsoft has announced the names for all the versions of its upcoming Windows 8 OS. The most interest is Microsoft’s name for the version  running on ARM processors. The version of  Windows 8 that runs on ARM will be called Windows RT. It will join its older brothers Windows 8, Windows 8 Pro, and Windows 8 Enterprise.

Windows RT will differ from the other versions in that it will only be available for purchase already installed on ARM hardware. The ARM devices will also ship with the Office suite installed, but no other desktop apps can be installed. Windows RT devices rely solely on the Windows Store and Metro apps. Windows RT will also lack the traditional Windows Media Player and most of the enterprise features in Windows 8 Pro.

Windows Media Center will not come pre-installed on Windows 8 Pro. Instead it will be offered at a digital download “media pack” for those that want its functionality.

Despite the split between x86 and ARM architecture Microsoft is still claiming ”all editions of Windows 8 offer a no-compromise experience.” But ultimately time will tell. Especially once consumers are able to try out Windows 8 on ARM for themselves.

Source: Microsoft

The rumor mill is continuing to buzz about Google’s cloud storage service, Google Drive. The Next Web is reporting that Google Drive will launch next week with 5 GB of free cloud storage. This follows pretty closely with other reports that spoke of a April launch. The Next Web also claims that Google Drive will work with desktop folders on both Windows and Mac. There is no word on how this functionality will be integrated, but most likely it will be with a desktop client (much like Dropbox).

Google Drive will try to woo customers from current market leaders (such as Dropbox) by offering more free storage. We also assume that other Google services will integrate nicely with Google Drive. We will post more updates as we hear about them.

Source: The Next Web