Key IOS App Development Tips and Benefits for Small Businesses
Apple has continued alien iPhones and iPads that accept apparent billions of sales worldwide. Apple developed the iOS adaptable Operating Arrangement (OS) to run on iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, iPod, and so on. For baby businesses, iOS appliance development is no big accord if they accept the adventuresome and adroitness to advance with their plans. Baby businesses can alluringly admission articles sales and cast acknowledgment by developing iOS apps over time. Major iOS app account for baby business includes all-around ability out and college about-face rates.
There are millions of applications in the Android bazaar and so on. Try to analysis some of the applications in detail afore cerebration of developing a accomplished new iOS appliance for adaptable phones. Studying the applications can advice you advance an even bigger appliance than the accepted ones in the marketplace.
Consult and Accumulate Feedback
Before you activate developing an iOS application, it is important to accumulate abundant acknowledgment from the experts. An ideal way to appoint in absolute consultations is to accompany a association or become a affiliate of a Facebook or LinkedIn group. Baby businesses can calmly collaborate with the associates of such groups to accretion advantageous ability on Apple’s adaptable operating system. Additionally, baby businesses can accomplish their app charge-less to admission in the bazaar so that the association or accumulation associates can use the aforementioned to bigger accept its appearance and boldness queries, if any.
Easy-to-Use and Navigate
iOS appliance development should be done befitting in apperception the end-users. For example, the app should be such that it is calmly downloadable on a accepted adaptable phone. Besides, the users should not face any adversity in award and appliance assorted buttons, images, etc. It is best to appearance the appliance to the association associates for them to play around.
Hiring the Best Developer
After designing an iOS application, the next important footfall is to advance the application. Ideally, baby businesses should appoint an able developer who has antecedent plan adventures with Apple iOS. Besides administration his thoughts and account with the designer, the developer can aswell appearance the Apple website to apprehend all important instructions and guidelines to accretion advantageous adorning knowledge.
Now, let's us amount out the key iOS app allowances for baby business.
Instant Acknowledgment to Diverse Products
Small businesses can calmly accomplish their absolute and latest articles arresting to the all-around admirers by appliance an iOS app. In this way, Apple adaptable appliance helps in alluring new leads consistent in college articles sales and ROI. Also, with an avant-garde iOS appliance development, organizations can acquaint their appurtenances and services, 24/7 from any area on the planet deepening their cast attendance and credibility.
Improved Chump Accountability
One of the acute iOS app account for baby business is that iPhone app cover appearance that accredit barter to calmly forward a argument bulletin or email anon to a aggregation or chump affliction administration after calling the appointment or faxing their acknowledgment or queries. In the business world, able advice can advance to college acceptance in a business arch to continued abiding company-customer bond.
Software for IOS Abstracts Accretion - Your Advice When You Charge It!
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Multi-purpose device
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Satisfy altered needs
People use iPhone or any added avant-garde accessories for assorted purposes. For a lot of of the people, it is an amazing ball device. These avant-garde accessories advice you to administer your business in the a lot of able way accidentally by appliance these ios devices. With the advice of an iPhone, a agent can accumulate in blow with his business anytime of the day. It is an amazing way of assuming your attendance with the advice of the ios devices. If you accept the ios application, it is simple for you to acquaintance your staffs and accord all-important admonition to them.
Software for Abstracts recovery
Many humans accumulate their important abstracts and advice on their ios accessories and if they lose any of the data, it is important for them to balance it any cost. All of them should seek the a lot of accessible means to get aback all those abstracts safely. Today, there is software accessible in the bazaar for iOS Abstracts Recovery. By appliance them you can retrieve all the abstracts that you accept absent after any difficulty. The software for this purpose accessible in the bazaar advised mainly to retrieve assorted abstracts that accept absent from your iPhone or any added Apple devices.
Features of abstracts accretion software
By scanning the accessories appliance the ios abstracts accretion software, one can balance all the absent or deleted messages, reminders, contacts, addendum and alarm histories. With the advice of the appropriate software, you can bound balance all deleted abstracts even if there is no iTunes backup. The software accessible in the bazaar for the abstracts accretion from ios accessories helps you to balance altered types of abstracts files beneath the approach of DFU. You can aswell retrieve the abstracts appliance this software beneath accepted approach as well. By appliance the appropriate software, there is no charge to anguish about the absent or deleted abstracts from your ios devices.
Six clicks: Weird tricks that will actually make you happier with Windows 8.1
Add the Win+X power menu to your toolkit Beginning with Windows 8.1, Microsoft restored the Start button to the left side of the taskbar. Click it and you go straight to the Start screen, not to a Start menu. Ah, but right-clickthat Start button and you get a menu that will make a Windows geek's eyes well up with tears of joy. Virtually every common administrative tool is there, including an option to open a Command Prompt or PowerShell window using an administrator's credentials. This menu is available on a touchscreen as well. Just tap and hold the Start button for a second or two, then release it to display this menu.
The end of Windows XP is also the end of everything we thought we knew about computing
More than a dozen years after it first went on sale, the reign of Windows XP is finally coming to an end. XP was Microsoft's most popular operating system ever — it was only recently overtaken by Windows 7 as the most used OS in the world – and it's still running on somewhere around a quarter of all desktops.
As of next week however, XP is no longer supported by Microsoft: no more software updates or security patches will be forthcoming from the company.
XP's dozen-year lifespan is the equivalent of millennia in tech years, and so XP is a digital dinosaur still roaming the earth. Many will be mourning its passing, others will be grumbling as they scramble to update to a new operating system, and some will be cursing because they have to pay out for additional support after having left their migration too late.
But the death of XP is more than just a headache (and the cause of some heartache) for IT: it also part of some profound changes in the tech landscape.
As we lay XP is to rest, we're also saying goodbye to some of technology's old certainties: that the PC is the default hardware for the average user, that Windows is the standard operating system it will run. Both of those assumptions held true throughout the life of XP — but no longer.
The decline of the PC continues: it's already been overtaken by tablets and smartphones among consumers, and increasing in business. As well as the rise of new hardware form factors, new operating systems are grabbing market share too: in the case of tablets and smartphones, it's still pretty much a two horse race between Android cornering the mass market and iOS at the premium end.
Windows is still around of course, and still a strong presence (especially in business), but its dominance is being questioned: the upgrade from XP to Windows 8 is such a big leap that some may consider switching to an alternative platform altogether, such as iPads or Chromebooks.
All of this means we're entering a new era of fragmented computing, a jumble of devices, operating systems and competing ecosystems.
Neither Android nor iOS are monoliths: there are many versions of Android in use (less than 10 percent of devices are running KitKat, the latest iteration of the operating system), and the older versions of Apple's iPhone and iPad (only a few years old) cannot run the latest versions of iOS. Build it once, run anywhere is just as much of a dream as it ever was.
Competing ecosystems have lead to a profusion of app stores and operating systems flavours (just compare Amazon's Fire OS to Android) which can create strife for developers and users. Stifling walled gardens of content and apps are everywhere as tech companies seek to enforce the loyalty of their customers.
Windows, of course, was just another walled garden (ask the Linux enthusiasts or the Mac fans) but for most it was such a big enclosure that most couldn't see the walls.
None of this is bad, just different. It's unlikely that we'll see a platform as dominant as Windows again; Android is making a strong play but will probably never be the operating system of everything.
The downside of all of this is uncertainty and fragmentation, at least for now. But it's also a bigger, more complicated and more exciting world with better devices, wider options and more opportunity.
April Fools' 2014: The best tech pranks of the day
The Virtual Bay
The Pirate Bay, best known for torrent searches and copyright infringement lawsuits, decided to kick off the day a little early with their latest project: The Virtual Bay.
In a move touted as the "biggest step in our history," TPB said it was teaming up with neuroscientists from Russia, Israel, and Japan in order to create a virtual reality headset to store the entire torrent index in people's heads, allowing users to "live" their downloaded musics and games. In addition, as TPB will be stored within user minds, the website will soon become impossible to shut down.
BlackBerry's comeback plan depends on its ability to position its BlackBerry Enterprise Service as an enterprise mobility management tool, but the only way that effort will work is to support its installed base and operating systems the company had hoped would have handed off to its latest technology.
Enter BlackBerry Enterprise Server 12, an effort announced at Mobile World Congress and due in November (October if CEO John Chen gets his way).
Chen's comments last week on BlackBerry's fourth quarter earnings conference call--the company reported a better-than-expected loss, but revenue fell short of estimates--highlight just how much is riding on BES12 and the company's ability to convince existing customers to upgrade to it. BES10 had a lot of interest, but companies didn't want to support two BlackBerry operating systems and the infrastructure that went with it.
With BES12, BlackBerry will offer backward compatibility, all the way to BlackBerry OS 5. BES10 required companies to support only the new platform. For good measure, BES12 will manage iOS, Android, and Windows Phone devices.
The challenge for BlackBerry is converting interest into actual deployments. BlackBerry has an EZ Pass program that allows for a migration to BES10 and then a free upgrade to BES12.
Chen explained:
BES12 highlights will include the following: We have a new architecture offering customers the option of on-premise, cloud, or hybrid solutions. Backward compatibility allows the unifications of the BES10 and BES5 deployment into a single platform and console, supporting the BES10 and BBOS device. This is huge, and when I went and talked to -- have time to visit customers, the customer likes a lot of the BES10 features, but they were complaining about having two infrastructures that they have to manage, which is the old BBOS infrastructure, as well as the BB10 infrastructure.
This is the first attempt to merge that two into one, so the customer could move on to newer technology, and yet still protect the investment they already made at BlackBerry. So I know this is huge. We obviously also enhanced the platform support for the iOS devices, Androids, and Windows Phone 8.
How an enterprise company decided that customers would want to support two infrastructures is a bit stunning, but does highlight the state BlackBerry was in before Chen's arrival.
Chen noted that BlackBerry can't really sell BES into the base that uses the BlackBerry Bold until BES12 launches.
The larger issue is whether BlackBerry is too late. BlackBerry is seeing service revenue continue to fall and Chen's bet is that BES12 will slow down enterprise defections.
BlackBerry's game boils down like this:
Grow with BBM and QNX so the company has positives to talk about.
Offer BlackBerry classic (BlackBerry 7) devices to keep the base.
Sell that base BES12.
And still launch new BlackBerry 10 devices with more efficient contract equipment vendors and hope to break even in fiscal 2015, which is now underway.
Chen talked a lot of about BlackBerry "loyalists" and the company's "base." He has to because BlackBerry hasn't cultivated new customers yet. In the fourth quarter, BlackBerry recognized revenue on 1.3 million devices, down from 1.9 million in the prior quarter. However, BlackBerry has cut its inventory levels substantially.
But rest assured, BlackBerry's future is all about it becoming an enterprise mobility management company. The problem is AirWatch, under VMware, and MobileIron are now aggressively pricing to gain share.
Here's the BlackBerry conundrum:
Enterprises have moved on to Microsoft's ActiveSync technology or rivals such as Good Technology as well as a host of others.
Even if BlackBerry gets enterprise customers to upgrade to BES10 or BES12, it will take a revenue hit. Wells Fargo analyst Maynard Um estimates that one legacy BES5 subscriber generates $96 a year in revenue including annual support. The best scenario under BES10 would include that user paying about $72 a year. BlackBerry revised its pricing on Monday.
Customers -- assuming there is interest in BES at all -- will wait for November and BES12. That reality means BlackBerry will take a few more body blows through the end of calendar 2014.
Want a tablet but don't want to buy a svelte iPad Air or the petite iPad mini because you want to stay away from the Apple walled garden? Not a problem! Here are my top Android tablets for April 2014 – and this month we have a couple of new entries.
Introduction
Tablets are everywhere, and while Apple's iPad — along with its little brother, the iPad mini — commands the most media attention, there's no shortage of excellent Android alternatives to choose from.
Here are my top Android tablets for April 2014, including a waterproof and dustproof tablet for those of you who need rugged dependability.
All of the tablets featured here are very capable, powerful workhorses, and are ideal not only for home users, but also for enterprise users or those looking for a BYOD tablet. Any one of these will give you an excellent Android experience, and, when combined with the right apps, will allow you to get a lot of work done when you're away from your desk.
Amazon's Kindle Fire HDX is serious competition for Apple's iPad mini
The new Kindle Fire HDX is the flagship device in Amazon's tablet lineup, and not only does it have the power to turn the Android tablet market on its head, it is also the first real competitor to Apple's iPad mini.
Starting at $229, you get a lot of tablet for your money. You get a high-definition 1,920 x 1,200 display, a powerful 2.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor backed up by a dual-core Adreno 330 GPU, a 720p front-facing camera for video-conferencing and selfies, and storage that starts at 16GB. All of this is packed into a lightweight and stylish magnesium unibody chassis that's both thinner and lighter than last year's offerings.
The hardware is certainly both solid and very well put together.
On the software front of things, you get Fire OS 3.0, a highly customized version of Google's Android Jelly Bean. Built into this operating system is not only a conduit to all things digital available from Amazon, but also a raft of features such as virtual private networking (VPN) support and encryption that will appeal to the BYOD crowd.
And if at any point a user has problems or needs assistance, there's a Mayday button close to hand that connects users to tech support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Fire OS 3.0 is a mature and well-rounded mobile platform.
The bottom line is that here we have a $229 tablet that appeals not only to those who want to play Angry Birds or stream movies easily, and also to those looking for a tablet to take to work with them.
Broad appeal plus a price tag so low that it makes you do a double-take suggests to me that Amazon isn't going to have any problems selling these tablets.
The 16GB Wi-Fi-only iPad mini retails for $329.
About the only drawback to the Kindle Fire HDX I can come up with is that it isn't a true Android tablet and instead it is tightly bound to the Amazon ecosystem. That said, the iPad mini isn't an Android tablet, and is instead bound tightly to the Apple App Store.
It's swings and roundabouts. But given Amazon's $100 price advantage over the iPad mini, and the fact that its app store is well stocked with quality apps, those looking for a tablet for home, BYOD or enterprise might well find that the Kindle Fire HDX ticks most, if not all, the boxes.
Everything you need to know about your Windows 8.1 upgrade options
Here we go again…
With each new release of Windows, Microsoft changes the mix of products it offers to consumers and also changes the terms of use. Windows 8.1 is no exception.
Windows 8.1 retail boxes, full edition (upgrades are no longer available)
This post lists the key changes you need to know about in Windows 8.1 pricing and licensing, with a few buying tips thrown in for good measure.
Let’s start with the good news: the Windows 8.1 update (which will be available online via the Windows Store on October 18) is free for all properly activated Windows 8 computers. Now the bad news: If you’re planning to upgrade a PC running an older version of Windows, you’ll need to pay for a new Windows 8.1 license. You’ll also need to pay if you want to install Windows 8.1 on a new computer you build yourself, on a Mac using Boot Camp, or in a virtual machine.
Beginning with Windows 8.1, Microsoft is no longer selling separate upgrade and full price editions through retail partners or online. Instead, every retail copy includes a full license. The Windows 8.1 software can be used to upgrade Windows 7, or you can do a clean install, with no requirement to have a previous Windows version installed.
By and large, that's a change for the better. A lot of Windows 8 upgraders were frustrated by installation roadblocks when they tried to use an upgrade copy to do a clean installation of the operating system. That's a perfectly valid installation scenario on a PC that has an underlying Windows license but no installed operating system, such as when where you're upgrading or replacing the main hard drive. The "full edition" licenses for Windows 8.1 retail purchases mean that you don't have to jump through any hoops to complete that sort of installation properly.
There’s also a big change in the terms attached to OEM System Builder versions of Windows 8.1. With Windows 8, Microsoft introduced a new Personal Use License, which allowed anyone to buy an OEM System Builder copy of the software and install it on a PC that is intended for personal use. Windows 8.1 removes that rider from the OEM System Builder license agreement, which means that the license agreement once again is for use on PCs built for resale only; the terms prohibit installing an OEM System Builder copy of Windows 8.1 on a PC for personal use.
To purchase a Windows 8.1 retail edition, you have two options:
Online purchase directly from Microsoft, via Windows.com
Boxed copy purchased from a retail outlet
Regardless of which option you use, you have the same two choices:
Windows 8.1 $120 (ERP)
Sometimes referred to as the Core edition, this is what you’re most likely to see on new PCs and tablets sold through the retail channel. It’s the successor to Windows 7 Home Premium in terms of its place in the lineup, although the mix of features is different.
If you need corporate network features like Windows domain join, Group Policy support, and the ability to be a Remote Desktop server, you pay the extra 80 bucks or so. Hyper-V virtualization is only supported on the Pro edition and, oddly, Pro is also required to run the Windows 8.x version of Media Center.
If you have a computer running Windows 8.1 (regardless of whether you updated for free from Windows 8 or purchased the newer OS software preinstalled on a new PC), you can update to the Pro edition using the …
Windows 8.1 Pro Pack $100 (ERP)
As with Windows 8, the Pro edition is already installed on a Windows 8.1 (Core) PC. To unlock the Pro features and make them available, you just need to enter the Pro Pack product key and go through a very brief upgrade. (The Pro Pack is version specific, with one you can buy today for Windows 8 and another for Windows 8.1 that will ship when Windows 8.1 does.)
When Windows 8 was released, Microsoft offered discounted copies for more than two months. I don’t expect any such discounts this time around.
See the next page for details that cover the most common Windows 8.1 upgrade scenarios.
Nokia Lumia 1020 review: A photographer's smartphone
Nokia has a broad range of Windows Phone handsets, covering multiple price points and screen sizes. With the 4.5-inch Lumia 1020, the company has concentrated on appealing to camera enthusiasts, adding a 41-megapixel camera and photography software enhancements to go with it.
Nokia isn't alone in looking to camera technology to add a new dimension to its smartphone portfolio. One of the Samsung Galaxy S4 variants is the Galaxy S4 Zoom, with its 16-megapixel sensor. But at £588 (inc. VAT, SIM-free from Clove Technology), is Nokia's Lumia 1020 a device people will want to buy?
Design
There's no chance of mistaking the Lumia 1020 for any other manufacturer's handset: the blocky chassis and bright yellow colour of our review unit are both giveaways (there are also white and black versions of this handset if you prefer a more muted colour scheme). Note that if you go for yellow, the headphones are colour matched.
The Lumia 1020 has a 4.5-inch AMOLED screen, a 41-megapixel camera and comes in white, black or bright yellow. (Image: Nokia)
The body is made of the usual soft-touch, grippable, scratch-resistant polycarbonate material that Nokia uses for its Lumia range. This phone looks and feels like a premium product. Oddly, the camera lens is not recessed, so you'll need to take care to keep it free of scratches.
Beneath the 4.5in. screen the usual Windows Phone back and search softkeys are not backlit, and so are not particularly visible. Turn the Lumia 1020 over and the huge, circular surround for the camera lens, Xenon flash and focus light signal that this no ordinary smartphone.
The Lumia 1020's general shape and size makes it a dead ringer for the Lumia 920: the 1020 measures 71.4mm wide by 130.4mm deep by 10.4mm thick, compared to 70.8mm by 130.3mm by 10.7mm for the 920. At 158g, the Lumia 1020 is lighter than the 185g Lumia 920.
It's worth noting that the camera housing protrudes by about 4mm from the back of the casing, which means that the handset won't sit flush on a desk or table. If you like to prod at your phone's screen while it's sitting screen-up on a desk, you may find this wobbliness irritating. We did.
The AMOLED screen on the Lumia 1020 uses a PenTile sub-pixel matrix, but still delivers good text readability. (Image: Nokia)
The Lumia 1020's Gorilla Glass 3-protected screen is large at 4.5 inches across the diagonal, but it looks smaller because of the chassis size. There's a standard-size bezel on the sides, and larger ones top and bottom. Many people will find it difficult to use this phone one handed. The 332ppi (1,280-by-768-pixel) AMOLED display delivers an exceptionally clear and bright image. You won't find a higher-resolution Windows Phone because that's the highest the operating system supports.
The PenTile sub-pixel matrix that Nokia uses (Samsung owns the trademark) on its AMOLED displays is seen by some as producing less sharp definition than an RGB-stripe design — particularly for text. However, text on the Lumia 1020 is perfectly readable in our view.
The Lumia 1020 Camera Grip costs £47.99 (inc. VAT). (Image: Nokia)
Nokia's button design and location is pretty standard on its Lumia handsets: the volume and power buttons are on the right edge, along with a dedicated camera button, while the left edge is clear. There's a Micro-USB slot on the bottom and a headset jack on the top, alongside the housing for the microSIM.
Nokia makes a Camera Grip accessory which retails for a rather hefty £47.99 (inc. VAT). This is available in colours to co-ordinate with the handset, and is made from the same polycarbonate material. The Camera Grip is chunky and increases the handset size considerably, but is intended to help you keep a steady hand while shooting. It incorporates a second (1,020mAh) battery and a power level indicator, and also has a universal tripod connector. Because it covers up the on-handset camera button, it also has its own camera button.
Features
Nokia has built the Lumia 1020 around a fairly modest dual-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 SoC — the same as used in the Lumia 920 and 820. Those two handsets have 1GB of RAM, but the memory has been boosted to 2GB for the Lumia 1020.
There's a generous 32GB of internal storage as well as 7GB of free SkyDrive storage. This is an important factor as there's no MicroSD card slot for storing media files — including all those photos you'll take with the 1020's fancy high-resolution camera.
This is a top-end handset with a full set of connectivity options, including dual-band Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n), Bluetooth (3.0), pentaband LTE (100Mbps down, 50Mbps up) and NFC. However we expected better from the device's 2,000mAh battery which struggled to keep it going for 24 hours — particularly when we made use of the camera's Xenon flash.
Microsoft does not allow hardware partners to skin its Windows Phone OS or change its appearance in any way. Nevertheless, Nokia has done a good job of adding value to its Windows Phone handsets.
This comes by way of free apps such as the superb Nokia Music, Here Maps for Google Maps-style geolocation and Here Drive+ for point-to-point navigation. The basic camera capabilities of Windows Phone handsets can also be augmented by software, and Nokia takes full advantage of that in the case of the Lumia 1020.
Camera
The Lumia 1020 comes with Panorama (a panorama shooting mode), Nokia Cinemagraph (which adds small animated elements to photos), Nokia Smart Cam (which takes burst-mode shots and lets you produce composite images) and Bing Vision (a barcode and QR code scanner).
The Lumia 1020's 41-megapixel camera, which can be used in automatic or manual (Nokia Pro Camera) modes, saves low-resolution (5MP) and high-resolution (34MP) versions of each image. (Image: Nokia)
The camera's 41-megapixel sensor is undoubtedly the Lumia 1020's major selling point. This isn't the first time Nokia has put a high-resolution camera into a handset: last year's 808 PureViewalso had a 41-megapixel sensor. A Symbian-powered device, the 808 PureView received a mixed reception, although looking back now, its design and camera concept was very much a forerunner of what we see in the Lumia 1020.
Those 41 megapixels aren't, of course, the full story. Other camera features include image stabilisation and 3x (digital) zoom, ISO settings between 100 and 4000, and shutter speeds between 1/16,000 of a second to 4 seconds.
You have two basic shooting modes: Nokia Pro Camera puts you in manual control of the camera settings, while Camera mode makes settings for you automatically. Switching between the two modes requires a visit to the lenses area — achieved either by tapping a button on the camera viewfinder screen, or by making a selection from the handset's main screen. It's a bit of a hassle.
When you take a photo, two images are captured. One is a 5-megapixel version that you can share by email, drop into your SkyDrive allowance or view on the handset. The other is a 34-megapixel image that you can't access until you connect the handset to a computer, at which point it can be copied or moved onto your hard drive. Both images are linked on the handset so that deleting the one you're viewing deletes the other.
Images themselves are undeniably of high quality, and the camera copes well with variable lighting conditions. It isn't good at very close-up shots though: you have to be at least 15cm away from the subject.
It takes the Lumia 1020 a while to process images — at least a couple of seconds. In that time you could easily miss second, third or fourth shots of an exciting scene, which could be exasperating.
The Lumia 1020's camera is very good for a mobile phone, but it can't hold a candle to a decent dedicated digital camera — either in photographic capability or, incidentally, in storage. You can pop memory cards in and out of your standalone camera as much as you like, but the storage capacity on the Nokia 1020 is fixed at 32GB.
Conclusion
The Nokia Lumia 1020 has a truly impressive camera capable of shooting decent photos. However, it's no substitute for a good standalone digital camera, and heavy use seriously depletes the battery. The Lumia 1020 certainly has appeal, but many users might do better with the 920 and a good dedicated camera.
Nexus 5: The seven things you can expect from Google's next smartphone
Nearly a year on from the launch of Google's first Nexus 4 smartphone, fans are eager for a refresh. It's successor is expected to come in the form of the Nexus 5, which would be a welcome sibling to Google's newly-updated Nexus 7 tablet range.
It's not yet known exactly when Google will launch the Nexus 5, but leaked images of what's thought to be the device, including one from Google itself, are whetting the appetites of Nexus fans — who hopefully won't be disappointed by supply shortages this time around.
Now with a purported Nexus 5 service manual from LG floating around the internet, there really isn't that much that's now not known about the Nexus 5 smartphone except (except a few minor matters — the launch date, price and availability).
1. LG is still Google's Nexus smartphone partner
LG, the maker of the Nexus 4, will be the hardware company charged with making the Nexus 5. Documents filed with the FCC and a leaked internal repair manual that appears to be for the new device, have unearthed most of the hardware specs for the device.
A glimpse of what's thought to be the Nexus 5, as shown in an FCC filing. Image: FCC via CNET
The device thought to be the Nexus 5 that surfaced in an LG filing with the FCC looks a lot likeLG's G2, continuing a pattern established with the Nexus 4, which was itself a modified version of the LG's Optimus G.
2. Nexus 5 will address the Nexus 4's lack of LTE support
The Nexus 5 looks set to have LTE support. FCC filings and the service manual indicate Google will remedy the lack of LTE connectivity that hampered the Nexus 4 in its successor. With 4G networks lighting up across the world, a bringing out a new smartphone in 2013 without LTE support would be a major omission, and Google has recently brought out an LTE-equipped variant of the Nexus 7.
3. The specs suggest an evolution of the Nexus 4
The Nexus 5 is tipped to sport a 4.95-inch 1080p display, and come with 2GB RAM and a 2.3GHz Snapdragon 800 processor, NFC support and wireless charging.
4. More storage in the Nexus 5
Specs-wise, the Nexus 5 doesn't look to be a major leap from the Nexus 4, though the 32GB storage would be a welcome addition to the Nexus 4's 8GB and 16GB options. It's not known yet whether Google will launch two variants with different storage sizes, though such a move would be in keeping with Google's traditional pattern for hardware.
The Nexus 5 also looks set to come without expandable storage, similar to the Nexus 4.
5. Like LG's G2, but not exactly the same
While the leaks point to a Nexus 5 that's similar to the LG G2, Google has pared back the camera specs, instead opting for eight-megapixel rear camera with a 1.3-megapixel front camera. (The G2 has a 2.1-megapixel front camera and a 13-megapixel snapper on the rear.)
If the service manual details are correct, the Nexus 5 will offer up to 690 minutes talk time on CDMA networks, 405 mins on GSM, 530 mins on WCDMA and 230 minutes on LTE. The device should come with a 2,300 mAh battery.
6. Different colours?
The Nexus 5 may come in different colours. Last month Google inadvertently gave a sneak peek at what could be the the Nexus 5 in a promotional YouTube video for its forthcoming Android 4.4 KitKat OS. The video revealed a sleek, matte finished smartphone bearing the similar Nexus markings as seen on the new Nexus 7 tablet, along with LG's logo. A very similar looking device, minus the Nexus logo, was contained in LG's FCC filing. However, the service manual shows a device with a matte mauve finish.
7. Kit Kat or Jelly Bean?
Though it's not been confirmed what version of Android the Nexus 5 will run, Android 4.4 KitKat, which was announced in early October, is a likely candidate. The Nexus 7 was the first piece of hardware that shipped with Android 4.3 Jelly Bean onboard, and given the Nexus 4 was launched in October last year, the Nexus refresh would be well-placed to launch with KitKat.
How tech's giants lost the tablet and smartphone war, even if they don't know it yet
It's no secret that the PC market is in a tailspin — worldwide shipments are expected to drop 10 percent this year.
And it's hard to see how things are going to get much better, as the old PC players are consistently outmanoeuvred by rivals with a totally different business model, and better designed, cheaper devices — and who, having dominated the consumer market, now want to sweep up the enterprise market too.
This battle came out of the shadows when Amazon revealed it is adding enterprise management capabilities to its Kindle Fire tablets because they are increasingly being used for work as well as for play. That a tablet designed for watching Netflix and reading books is now a credible business device shows how rapidly the enterprise technology world has changed — and how the old guard of tech giants missed the boat.
Tesco takes on Kindle and iPad with Jelly Bean Android tablet Hudl
Tesco takes on Kindle and iPad with Jelly Bean Android tablet Hudl
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Apple's iPad, Samsung's Galaxy and Amazon's Kindle Fire are the top tablets used in business across the US, Canada, UK, France, and Germany — 53 percent, 18 percent and nine percent respectively (in the US the Galaxy and the Kindle Fire tied for second place).
And it's not just tablets, of course. The iPhone, once dismissed as a touchscreen toy, is now the de facto standard for enterprise smartphones. What these devices all have in common is that they were built for consumers first, and then retrofitted with management software to make them more business-friendly when their makers realised they had enterprise appeal too.
For example Apple has added plenty of business enhancements to iOS 7 and, although Samsung's S4 is very much a consumer handset, by adding tougher security via its Knox software the company has made it more attractive to business users. This is how consumer tech companies are remaking the market for personal devices — winning in the consumer space and then tailoring for business later.
What went wrong?
For too long the old guard of hardware vendors relied on old designs and old assumptions about technology, and about who buys it and why. Now not only are they struggling to compete in terms of innovation but even if they can come up with a decent product (which is rare) the margins on it are much lower than before — and the business model has changed.
When it comes to smartphones, tablets, and laptops, it's no longer relevant to talk about the needs of the 'business customer' first any more. That market still exists, but it's shrinking and changing as bring your own device becomes an everyday part of business tech usage. Lower cost hardware means the consumer market is the mass market — and the business-only device is becoming the niche.
The (four year plus) enterprise hardware refresh cycle means that businesses users, if they depend only on the hardware dished out by their IT department, will lag consumers. The innovation in hardware is happening in the consumer market in cheap hardware and then feeding back into the business world — the opposite of a decade back. But there are still plenty of big tech companies that haven't got the message.
The business model around personal devices is changing too: if you can control the hardware, you can channel customers through to your integrated digital services.
That's exactly why Amazon started selling its Kindles at cost price; it has no interest in making money on hardware but plenty of desire to make money out of streaming video and ecommerce.
It's the same reason why UK supermarket giant Tesco has started selling its own seven-inch Android tablet; not because it wants to make money on tablets, but because it wants to sell the online banking products, TV and shopping service that come as standard on the device.
Tech's giants are slowly understanding the problem; the hardware is improving but they're late to build the ecosystem play. How they rethink their business models over the next year will be critical to their future survival.
ZDNet's Monday Morning Opener is our opening salvo for the week in tech. As a global site, this editorial publishes on Monday at 8.00am in Sydney, Australia, which is 6.00pm Eastern Time on Sunday in the US. It is written by a member of ZDNet's Global Editorial Board, which is comprised of our lead editors across Asia, Australia, Europe, and the United States.
