Phonesoldier talks: tech roundup #1

So this is a new series of articles I am beginning that will important technology news from the past couple of days and I will share my views on it! So this is phonesoldier talks: tech roundup #1!

1. Twitter kills-off #music app

Less than a year ago, back in mid-April 2013, we saw Twitter introduce the world to its Twitter #music app for iOS.  It took advantage of iTunes to offer users previews of any songs they ran across, and by tying into an account with a streaming provider like Spotify, you could even pull up full tracks. Twitter talked about its big plans, like making #music available in additional countries and coming out with an Android version… and that’s pretty much the last I ever heard of it. Apparently I was not the only one who lost interest in the service, as today Twitter announced the end of #music.

Twitter is pulling the #music app from Apple’s App Store today, and if you already have it installed, it will stop functioning as of April 18 – which I am sure is no coincidence that it would also be the app’s one-year birthday.

The company says that it will “continue to experiment with new ways to bring you great content based on the music activity we see every day on Twitter,” but has not given any indication that another stand-alone would be part of those plans; if we do ever see something like #music again, it seems likely that it might be baked right in to the main Twitter app itself.

2. Google Now may auto-suggest Calendar events based on your conversations

Google already takes advantage of the connections between all the services it offers to provide its users some convenient, time-saving tools. For instance, when you get a message in Gmail that mentions a time or date, Google automatically detects that text, underlines it, and gives you a quick way to add the event directly to your Google Calendar. From the looks of things, though, Google may be about to take this kind of automated system and really run with it, letting Google Now detect events in conversations you have from sources beyond just Gmail, and then suggest you add them to your Calendar.

It’s not clear exactly what Google Now would scan in order to make these inferences, but the presumption is that besides Gmail, we’d also be looking at Hangouts, including IMs and maybe even text messages. There’s also no telling when the feature might go live (assuming it actually does), but with some of the framework in place already, this could very well crop up in the next release or two.

8.9-inch Google Nexus tablet might be in the works

There are recently a lot of rumors regarding the release of a new nexus tablet that might be bigger than its predecessor scaling around 9inch (8.9 inch more precisely), this might be a good thing as the nexus 7 we were using was pretty small and was not enough of giving the experience that was required in terms of size! The expectation is that this will be a lower volume product, carrying a premium price tag to support the specifications”, claims the report, which also mentions “high-performance” specifications. Google’s Nexus line-up isn’t known to carry premium price tags, but the rumors about this device talk about a higher than $299 price tag; HTC might be the manufacturer, according to the report!

SO this is actually good in my view as i find the old nexus pretty small!

Windows Phone 8.1 hinted on Microsoft’s website

The next iteration of Windows Phone, codenamed Blue, and with version number 8.1, is expected to be unveiled at the Build event happening soon. While many of its upcoming features have been leaked online, rumored, or unofficially unveiled with a lot of videos and tutorials, there might still be some surprises waiting for us. 

Heading over to the source image , you will land on the official Windows Phone page . At the top left, you can choose to see Windows Phone 8, or Windows Phone 8.1 features. Of course, the Windows Phone 8.1 link will take you to an error page. Nothing specific to see there at the moment, but we’re guessing that the page will be populated at the beginning of April, after Microsoft’s Build event, where the platform is expected to see the light of day.

Nokia’s latest Lumias may launch earlier than expected

When it comes to Windows Phone news, as well as news of the latest Lumia smartphones from Nokia, there are two dates that i am keeping in mind: April 2, and April 19. The former is when Microsoft’s Build conference gets underway this year, and sometime during the event (which runs though April 4), we’re expecting Microsoft to make a big Windows Phone 8.1 announcement that all are excited the most about. The latter date is one we’ve heard rumored for a Nokia event, where it would presumably introduce its first native WP8.1 handsets which i tweeted a few days back. Now, however, it seems that those new Lumias may make their first public appearance a little earlier, with rumors claiming that a pair of handsets will debut at Build itself.

Supposedly, Nokia would introduce the Lumia 630 and Lumia 930 at Build. We assume that the mention of the 630 here also includes the 635, as we’re expecting only minor differences between the two. While the 630 sounds relatively middle-of-the-road, the 930 could be a real treat, and we’ve seen it attached to specs like a 4.5-inch 1080p screen.

Beyond these two, I also heard once again about the device codenamed Goldfinger. . While Goldfinger wouldn’t join the 630 and 930 next month, it’s reportedly still in the works, though its launch timeframe may have been pushed back. 

Motorola Moto 360 smartwatch rumored to have sapphire face

Long before anyone was talking about bringing the protection of synthetic sapphire glass to smartphone screens, the material was being used to protect the faces of high-end watches; considering how constantly exposed to the threat of damage a watch can be, using a resilient substance like sapphire made a lot of sense. But will sapphire make the transition from old “dumb” watches to also keep this latest generation of smartwatches looking good as new? That’s the possibility I am considering today, upon hearing that Motorla’s upcoming Android Wear-powered Moto 360 may feature just such a sapphire crystal.

Apple looking to fix its iPhone battery issues with new patent

This is actually the most important news in the past couple of days as the battery problem is really a big flaw for which most of the users don't appreciate about! At a time when batteries keep getting bigger and bigger, you’d think that Apple would lead this trend since the biggest complaint that all iPhone users share, is their hatred for its battery life. The irony is that Apple has only grown the iPhone’s battery 12% in the last seven years, when compared to Samsung which has almost tripled it. Apple clearly has a problem to fix, and a new patent sheds some light into where it’ll focus on next.

This patent will allow the iphone to automatically adjust the battery according the charging periods and usage! That's pretty cool!


That's it for this time, there are other news too but i thought these were the most important!

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