Mobile networks to confuse the market with Tizen

Ever since Samsung announced they will be bringing Tizen to the masses as soon as MWC, the level of interest has increases incredibly. We all like to see something new however Tizen is nothing but a massive trojan horse which will disrupt the market and could give ultimate control of where you buy some handsets. I'm talking about Orange, +Vodafone and DoCoMo. 


What Samsung have done is create an end to end list of partners from hardware, software and network that could see their products championed quite quickly because each process of the production cycle will offer a piece of the dollar pie. So would this mean for example, a double payday for Vodafone in the event of selling a +Tizen Association based handset, which then renders sales into an unethical mess because Samsung, Vodafone / Orange / DoCoMo depending on your geographic, will be ramming Tizen down your neck like some kind of vet giving a tablet to a Rhino. 

+Sony used the consortium to push Blu Ray(only one of 2 formats outside of digital), as have many eastern companies because they never like making choices on their own because failure brings so much shame. Sony gave everyone a slice of the pie but what happened to Blu Ray, I think it was 2 years too late but with 4k round the corner those large movies wont be available to stream or download anytime soon in many parts of the UK and Europe as most are stuck on slugband.

While some would champion Samsung's vision to do this, it does mean there will be a whole load of people who could end up buying a dead duck. Many many iOS owners couldn't make the jump to Android as they have invested too much into App Store, same for Android owners going the other way, but the thing that worries me is those who don't have awareness of what they are buying, they get a dose of Tizen and lose out on their purchases and then begs the question about app support, oh that's why Samsung have the smart watch out running Tizen, sure it doesn't matter which OS your watch runs right, I agree with that, however its being used as a dev kit of sorts so some get try out their apps before a general phone release. 

Blackberry died because it didn't keep with the times, but it was much more than that, having 3 major platforms is too much of any market. There is only really two types of fuel, derv or petrol. Desktop you have Mac or Windows, I can think of so many instances both in and out of the technology sector.

My point is the third option is almost always an also ran. Windows Mobile is already the 3rd OS for mobile, electric is the other option to dev or petrol - you can say LPG too but who uses that. TV options you have 3 - satellite, cable or aerial. Any Linux distro is another option to the desktop while Chrome has started to gain traction. 

I cant see Tizen being much more than an also ran option 3 or 4, but if the powers of the greedy networks rather than +Samsung Mobile  are wanting to get in on the mobile platform game, then it could mean iOS and Android are in for a ruff ride at the point of sale. My advice is avoid Tizen, its just a trojan horse for the mobile networks to control more of your wallet, your mind and your soul (ok a bit dramatic).

Ridge Racer Slipstream drifts on Android

Yesterday Namco Bandai released Ridge Racer Slipstream into the Google Play store. Its free but has plenty of in app purchases. 

You can download it here.

Let us know what you think, but we think its very good and in tune of RR4 of old. 

The ultimate arcade racing franchise brings the console experience to your Android device! Slipstream past your rivals and drift around tight turns at over 150 MPH!

A NEW BREED OF RACING MACHINE
• 12 powerful machines speed you to victory
• 300 customization possibilities to create your dream machine
• 6 game-changing Perks give you advantages you’ll appreciate

EXCITING CAREER AND ARCADE GAME MODES
• Make a name for yourself in the full featured career mode
• Need a quick fix? Take on Regular and Knockout Races in Arcade Mode
• Connect with Facebook to gain rewards and share achievements and milestones with the Ridge Racer community

BREATHTAKING COURSES & INSPIRING RACES
• 10 unique venues and 20 courses for head to head racing
• 108 racing competitions across 6 Grand Prix Series
• Push the limits of high end graphics in beautifully detailed locations: Lost Ruins, Industrial Drive, Harbor Line, Old Central, and others

RIDGE RACER – THE ULTIMATE ARCADE RACING EXPERIENCE!

Dating back to its original release in 1993, Ridge Racer has the honor of being the longest running racing franchise in history. Over 25 releases on arcade, home & portable consoles, PC, mobile, smartphones & tablets.

For this application, the system requirements are:

- Ice Cream Sandwich or higher
- Dual Core processor or higher
- 1GB RAM minimum
- Dedicated GPU.

If you’re able to determine to determine your GPU, the minimum chipsets are:

- Tegra 3 (Nvidia)
- Adreno 225 (Qualcomm)
- PowerVR SGX-544 (MediaTek, others)
- Mali-400 MP4 (Samsung, MediaTek, others)

For more about Namco Bandai Games America, follow us!
https://www.facebook.com/ridgeracerslipstream
https://twitter.com/RR_Slipstream

For technical support, please visit:
http://www.namcobandaigames.com/company/support.html

Nike breaking golden handcuffs with Apple

After a long wait, Nike are now moving onto Android after posting a job advert for an Android SDK developer(s).

Nike have been in Apples back pocket since the early days of iPod and the Nike+ footpod they were touting around to budding athletes, so making the break is a sign that many of the last "Apple Only Campers" are now starting to want some of that green robot dollar. Plus its exciting to get the fuel band to use with your shiny new phone after MWC.

There has been a reluctance for most Apple only fitness companies to stay on one platform but since the middle of last year thats been changing, maybe there are more fatties using Android too, since everyone in Apples walled garden must now be fit huh.  

Why Facebook is a social disaster for Whatsapp

Lets make this clear from the start, I don't like Facebook, never have - never will. So before the "haters gunna hate" brigade start off here, the exit is that way.

Whatsapp, for those that don't know is a multi-platform messaging app that can send, text, pictures and audio / video as well, the app costs around 69p / $1 a year to use and is advert free. Pretty simple really. I have used it happily for many years and until today, thought I would continue to use it. The app install base is huge of course and millions of those messages flying about will have many uses to FB. Firstly there is nothing stopping the new owners changing the Terms and Conditions to include all the items you share over the app becoming the IP of Facebook, sounds familiar ? Sure it does, so sending anything which could be a little personal, be it data or some flesh could spell out a bit of a disaster waiting to happen.

Secondly the question of that 69p yearly sub ? Will it become replaced with adverts, based on the information it reads from your messages no doubt. Sounds a bit Google Search like but will I be able to see that data and remove it at will, like I can with Google ? I doubt that too, even if I could I suspect it would be kept for years on end just like the main business line of social ripping Facebook.com when you "remove" yourself from that site.

So the classic customer who likes to pay for something is going to lose out by surrendering their info in exchange for something free, yes everyone else is doing it these days and I personally think that trend could be changed - I'd much rather have a "paid for" service over free any day - but the internet isn't like that so much these days. Imagine if EVERYTHING was like that - "taxi please, sure I'll need all of your likes, personal pictures, friends names, phone numbers, birthdays, locations you have been oh and emails - hop in - Tescos was it ?" I'm not sure a single person would give up that information. What information Facebook will rip from your messages - nobody knows but the Facebook Messenger app is pretty intrusive compared to Whatsapp and merging the two would make sense for them to reap the benefits of Whatsapp huge database. 

There is another reason why I think this purchase is going through, and that's a defensive play against Google - there is/was a rumor going round that Google bid for Whatsapp but regardless if they did or did not, Facebook letting Google purchase Whatsapp would have been a bit of a disaster for them. The reason being that Google would have merged it into Google+ quickly, increasing its ever growing user base, regardless of what everyone says about Google+ it is growing, and of course would have become free with G+ / Hangouts, which in my opinion is much better than most other message apps on the market anyway. No change to the Terms which read your SMSs would have been required either. 

In some ways what Facebook are trying to do is stop the rot that's started to creep in, its becoming uncool, unsafe and most of all unsocial, purchasing an app with a massive user base giving it a new way of getting users data is great for them, but a social disaster for us - the end user.

Find Your Stuff with the Help of Find'Em Tracking Card

I am terrible for losing things, I am so absent minded its ridiculous. So you can kinda guess how much I enter all my safe keeps either in Google Drive, Calendar etc on a regular basis to organise my life a little bit.

Although, this doesn't stop anything physical from going from my side, including the time I manged to lose two mobile handsets in one day, ouch.

Therefore this year I have been on the hut for something to help me - there seems to be plenty of item tracking devices about to come to market too, Chipolo has been having a few issues since its Kickstarter campaign ended late last year with various recalls. Not to mention Gear Tag which failed with its campaign but managed to get to production in small numbers, but one that's managed to get it right is the Find'em Tracking card. 

Its very small, about the size of a credit card or business card that could easily slip into the wallet, and the same thickness as a CR3032 battery - which is no coincidence as its powered by two of them slotted into the side of the card itself. 

The app that comes with the Find'em card is pretty easy to use, although in both cases I have a pre-production app and card so I expected it to be a little buggy, luckily it wasn't. It managed to sync with the Google Nexus 5 - but the baseline here was Android 4.3 and above, it didn't want to work with the LG G2, again I guess that's a pre-production problem that will go away.

Once you have sync you can set how far the card can get before it starts to alert on your handset, which will give you its last know location, the display is like a radar so its kinda fun to see it slip out of range before havoc kicks off. The alarm on the card is a little quiet and made quieter if its inside the wallet, but you can kinda get "warmer" using the radar on your handset to locate. Plus the phone really does kick out a racket when the alarm is hit. 

In terms of functions - this is very simple but its highly effective in what it does. While the card is a little flimsy it does hold true in a wallet if left or indeed stuck inside a travel case or purse in much the same fashion. 

I will be testing this further and will update this page with some app screen shots, if you want to check out Find'em Tracking then head over to http://www.findemtracking.com/ and pre-order for a very well priced $24.99 !!

Sony Z1 Compact is the iPhone migration choice

Sony have really landed one square on the chin of Apple with the Sony Z1 Compact. Its clear that the size and form factor of being close to the iPhone 5 size is no accident, as really there is no natural competitor to Apples flag ship until now.

While many other OEMs are hell bent on making the biggest screen, everyone seems to have forgotten about the iPhone 5 from Apple which still sells by the buckets. Most of the minis on the market are an underwhelming version of its big brother - HTC and Samsung have been guilty of making a mini in spec, mini in price policy which hasn't really worked out well for either of them.

Making the footpath to Android more accessible from Apple is something OEMs really needed to be address, sure Apple are making a bigger screen iPhone but the hearts and minds of those who accuse Fandroids of carrying a TV in their pockets needs to be won. I think the Z1 Compact is the handset to do just that.

The size is very pocket-able, the specs have remained the same, and the screen is arguably better than its big brother regardless of the lack of pixels but it has more than the iPad 3, and everyone loved that. I hold both the iPhone and Z1C in my hands and cant help but think the Z1C is much better quality to feel and looks better than the iPhone - the battery life is also better then the iPhone.

Now the trick is, can Sony get anyone to listen ? I fear it will take a huge Samsung-esq assault on the media to get many to take note and with MWC round the corner the other OEM voices will become deafening.

If you have a friend sat in Apples' walled garden who is looking to kick down the fence gate, then send them to the Sony Z1 Compact to investigate, its so close in many ways with the dimension and spec wont have them running back to repair the gate. Lets kick down those walls !