Software : BlackBerry 'Windermere' handset could bring gestures to physical keys |
- BlackBerry 'Windermere' handset could bring gestures to physical keys
- Gary Marshall: Facebook and WhatsApp: if you can't beat 'em, buy 'em
- The gorgeous new Google Maps will soon be available to all
- Windows Phone 8.1 wants your prints! Added feature tipped for next update
| BlackBerry 'Windermere' handset could bring gestures to physical keys Posted:  Remember BlackBerry? They haven't forgotten about you, and are apparently hard at work on a new smartphone that could combine the best of software and hardware keyboards in one device. BGR is back on the BlackBerry beat again today with the first rumblings of an all-new smartphone out of Waterloo with the code name "Windermere" - but it may live or die at the hands of an outside partner. According to "multiple trusted sources," the top secret Windermere project is something of a departure for BlackBerry, with a wider frame that consolidates the hardware keys into three rows instead of four. But that's not all: The loose-lipped sources claim the physical keys will also be imbued with the power of touch sensitivity, allowing for gesture-based typing described as similar to the Swype app on Android. Twice the funThis wouldn't be BlackBerry's first foray into gesture typing - after all, the BlackBerry Z10 and BlackBerry Z30 handsets are capable of accessing numbers, symbols or accent keys the same way, only with an on-screen keyboard. The unique form factor may also extend beyond just physical keys, with BlackBerry said to be toying with the idea of running "two apps on screen simultaneously side by side." BlackBerry fans may want to cool down any impulse to buy, however: The fate of Windermere may rest with a single unconfirmed "large partner" who could put the kibosh on the hardware before it ever leaves the prototype phase. Assuming this rumored partner likes what they see, however, we could be looking at the first significant revision to the once-mighty BlackBerry brand in quite some time.
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| Gary Marshall: Facebook and WhatsApp: if you can't beat 'em, buy 'em Posted:  It's 1999 and Mark Zuckerberg is CEO of Microsoft, despite only being fifteen. Microsoft's board is rapt as they await his decision. "Buy it," he says. "Whatever it costs. Whatever they ask for. Buy it." He's talking about Google, a small company that's doing clever things with search. Like Hotmail, which Microsoft bought the previous year, it might be the shape of things to come - and if it is, it's a business Microsoft wants to be in. The Google sale wouldn't be the last time Microsoft appeared to pay over the odds for technology firms. Zuckerberg would go on to arrange the purchase of Android Inc and Flickr in 2005, YouTube in 2006 and Firefox - or at least most of its key engineers via financial offers they'd be mad to refuse - in 2008. It acquired Twitter in 2008, Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014. The companies were very different, but the rationale for buying them was always the same. As Zuckerberg put it: "If you can't beat 'em, buy 'em." It's made Microsoft the most valuable company the world has ever seen. Back in the real world...None of that happened, of course, but if it had then today's technology industry would look very different - and that's because Facebook is a very different company to the tech giants of the late 1990s and early 2000s. Facebook has both enormous scale and huge paranoia, and that means it does interesting things such as buying WhatsApp. Facebook may have overpaid - although at around $40 per user what it's paying for WhatsApp is much the same as what Microsoft paid for Hotmail; most of the deal is in stock, so if we are indeed in a bubble then Facebook won't be too out of pocket if the market crashes - but it makes complete sense if you're absolutely loaded and worried about younger, smarter competitors eating your lunch. By buying WhatsApp Facebook isn't just making a fairly safe investment - WhatsApp's fee of $1 per user per year is serious money if its current explosive growth continues, and the $4bn of actual cash Facebook is shelling out will be recouped in a couple of years even if it doesn't - but neutralising and monetising a potential competitor. I've written before that Facebook cannot possibly be the best, most popular service in every sector. What it can do, though, is buy the best, most popular services in every sector: Instagram in photos, WhatsApp in messaging and so on. And if it's smart, it won't try to assimilate them, integrate them or otherwise mess them up as the previous generation of tech giants - *cough* Yahoo! *cough* - so loved to do. Mark Zuckerberg is trying very hard to make Facebook an unkillable business. It might not work - even Facebook can't buy everything, and it might not necessarily buy the right businesses; some pundits are already suggesting that instead of WhatsApp, LINE might have been a better buy - but the beat 'em or buy 'em strategy makes it very tough to compete with. Rivals don't just have to invent a better product and attract millions of users: they also need to be unbuyable at any price. |
| The gorgeous new Google Maps will soon be available to all Posted:  The new look for Google Maps that Google unveiled during its IO keynote in May 2013 is finally beginning to roll out to all users. The new Google Maps will replace the old version in desktop browsers "around the world," arriving "in the coming weeks," Vice President of Google Maps Brian McClendon wrote in a blog post. "It's now even easier to plan your next trip, check live traffic conditions, discover what's happening around town, and learn about a new area," McClendon wrote, linking to the Google+ page documenting the return of Pegman. He said the new Google Maps enables users to make smarter decisions, get from Point A to Point B faster and "see the world from every angle." The eye of the beholderMcClendon outlined some specific new Google Maps features. For one thing, searching for particular types of businesses, like cafes, pulls up results right on the map. Clicking on one suggests related results. The new Google Maps also displays multiple routes for cars, bikes and public transportation, integrating real-time traffic reports and Street View previews on the map as well. And vibrant imagery like Street View and destination previews is now easier to access from a new carousel feature at the bottom of the map. The new Google Maps may not be quite perfect yet, McClendon noted. "With any product redesign, there may be bumps along the road. We're hoping that you're as excited as we are to navigate uncharted territory in pursuit of the perfect map." He encouraged users to send feedback via Google's support site. |
| Windows Phone 8.1 wants your prints! Added feature tipped for next update Posted:  Pieces of the Windows Phone 8.1 puzzle continue to fall into place with reports claiming the big mobile OS update will bring fingerprint scanning technology into play. WindowsPhoneLovers has been trawling through the latest Windows Phone 8.1 SDK and found evidence that Microsoft plans to match the iPhone 5S in the security stakes. Within the code, the site spotted a line reading: "To allow the app to access your private key, scan an enrolled finger on the fingerprint scanner." Whether that means an onscreen reading or, a la Apple's solution, a physical fingerprint scanner remains to be seen, but we're likely to find out for sure at Build 2014 in April when Microsoft unveils the new OS. Make or breakThe code also suggests there'll be better customisation options when it comes to start screen themes and improved messaging options for dual screen phones. Today's report is the latest in a long line of feature leaks, for the new OS, which is increasingly becoming make or break for Microsoft. We've already heard plenty about the Cortana personal voice assistant tech, as well as the new Action Centre, which promises to bring users more control over their notifications. Speaking of Action Centre, here it is ... erm ... in action, courtesy of UnleashThePhones.com. With the Centre, it appears customizing app interaction and choosing what goes in the toggles and notifications are the name of the game. |
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