Technology

Thursday, August 29, 2013

BlackBerry Q10 sales have 'hit the ground and died' according to WSJ report

BlackBerry's Q10 has been a complete and utter commercial flop, at least according to The Wall Street Journal . In a report painting sales of the QWERTY device as "dismal," the Journal cites carrier executives and US retail sources to back up its narrative that the Q10 isn't performing to expectations. "We saw virtually no demand for the Q10 and eventually returned most to our equipment vendor," said one owner of 16 authorized Verizon Wireless reseller locations. An unnamed high-up at a Canadian carrier makes the situation sound even more bleak. "I think we'd all say that the Q10, the one we all thought was going to be the savior, just hit the ground and died."

"...The one we all thought was going to be the savior, just hit the ground...

via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2013/8/29/4671692/blackberry-q10-sales-just-up-and-died-report

Dark Patterns: inside the interfaces designed to trick you

Harry Brignull is a London, UK-based independent user experience designer with a PhD in cognitive science. He is also the founder of Dark Patterns, which is dedicated to, in his words, "naming and shaming websites that use deceptive user interfaces." This article is based on a presentation he gave at the Search Marketing Expo in Munich this past April.

When Apple released iOS 6, one of the few new features not enthusiastically promoted by the company was Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA) ad tracking. It assigned each device a unique identifier used to track browsing activity, information advertisers used to target ads. Even though IDFA is anonymous, it's still unsettling to people who worry about privacy.

Fortunately, Apple...

via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2013/8/29/4640308/dark-patterns-inside-the-interfaces-designed-to-trick-you

GameStick consoles shipped to Kickstarter backers, retail launch planned for next month

The GameStick portable Android console has finally shipped to Kickstarter backers, with retail deliveries planned for the end of next month. Earlier in August, the company announced that it had completed a pilot run of GameSticks and would start fulfilling backers' purchases as soon as they finished final testing. Now, it's confirmed to The Verge that nearly all Kickstarter units have shipped and should be arriving within the next few weeks. If you've preordered a unit through Amazon or another retailer, the tentative release date is September 30th.

As a highly successful Kickstarter project and a low-cost Android console, the GameStick is often compared to the Ouya. Design-wise, it's fairly different: while the Ouya is a dedicated home...

via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2013/8/29/4671618/gamesticks-shipped-to-kickstarter-backers-retail-launch-september

8-bit canvas: Pixaki makes pixel art easy with an iPad

Pixel art requires a certain kind of skill: you not only have to be skilled as an artist, but also patient enough to create an image block-by-block. It's time-consuming work, which makes it less appealing to the casual artist. Why put in so much time when you can just grab a pencil and sketch? iPad app Pixaki attempts to make pushing pixels a much more casual experience with touchscreen controls and familiar hand gestures. It's not quite as pick-up-and-play as something like Paper — and it won't turn you into Paul Robertson overnight — but it's a great way to kick back on the couch and create the 8-bit scene of your dreams.

Using a touchscreen for something as precise as pixel art might seem problematic, but it's actually Pixaki's...

via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2013/8/29/4669362/8-bit-canvas-pixaki-makes-pixel-art-easy-with-an-ipad

Samsung's Android-powered Galaxy NX camera coming in October for a pretty penny

Samsung wowed us back in June when it officially announced the Galaxy NX, an interchangeable lens camera powered by Android. Today, the electronics giant is announcing that the Galaxy NX will be available for purchase in October for $1,599 (or $1,699 if you want it with an 18-55mm zoom lens). That princely sum will get you a 20.3-megapixel APS-C sensor, hybrid contrast and phase detection autofocus, ISO sensitivity up to 25,600, 8.6 frames per second burst shooting, and 1080p video recording capabilities. The NX also features a 4.8-inch, 720p touchscreen and SVGA (800 x 600 pixel) electronic viewfinder, and is powered by a 1.6GHz quad-core processor — essentially it's a Galaxy S III smartphone grafted to the back of a camera.

Of...

via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2013/8/29/4669440/samsungs-android-galaxy-nx-camera-price-availability-october-1599

Yahoo adds customizable filters and pro editing tools to Flickr for iOS

Yahoo's Instagram competitor has received a facelift and a slew of new options on iOS today. The Flickr app for iPhone now includes an even wider array of filters, all of which can be applied and previewed before capturing a photo. Yahoo's calling them live filters and they're part of an enhanced set of camera tools, which include grid overlays, pinch-to-zoom, and exposure and focus locks.

Should the prefab filters not be to your taste, you're given options to tweak and customize your own. Perhaps the most notable improvement, however, is Flickr's inclusion of its pro editing tools in the free app — you can crop or sharpen photos, add vignettes for an artsy look, or adjust colors and levels for even more granular control.

via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2013/8/29/4671176/flickr-ios-app-update-filters-editing-tools

The best UK LTE: which carrier is right for you?

With LTE connectivity now a standard feature on almost every middling smartphone, it might come as a surprise that the vast majority of Brits haven't had access to a next-generation network. A little under a year ago, EE turned on the first LTE network in the country, and thanks to a complex spectrum auction peppered with in-fighting and controversy, it's taken EE's main competitors ten months to catch up. From this morning, customers of O2 and Vodafone in select cities will finally have access to LTE, with the fourth-largest carrier, Three, remaining the only one without some sort of 4G support. So which carrier should the discerning smartphone lover opt for?

via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2013/8/29/4668116/uk-lte-buyers-guide