Yesterday's announcement of what's essentially a Nexus Galaxy S 4 was pretty big news. Sure, it doesn't carry the Nexus 4's crazy low price tag, but if you've got the money, and could care less about all of the Galaxy S 4's gimmicky software, the phone offers the potential for a seriously high-end stock AOSP experience. While this was very cool in and of itself, we couldn't help wonder if Google might run with this idea; could we also see faux Nexus versions of other noteworthy Androids? Maybe of that Android that gives the GS4 a serious run for its money, the HTC One? Don't hold your ...

One week ago, Microsoft came out with a really nice overhaul for its Windows Phone YouTube app. It wasn't long after that when we learned of a possibly big problem for this new release, as some of its behavior appeared to conflict with YouTube API terms and conditions. We wondered if Google might go so far as to take steps to disable the app. Sure enough, Google has sent Microsoft a cease-and-desist letter, insisting that Microsoft kill the app. Just as expected, Google takes issue with Microsoft pulling an end-run on content producers that rely on advertising for income, as the Windows ...

Yesterday's Google I/O keynote may not have brought us the rumored Google Babel - at least not with that name, anyway - but we did learn of work towards a unified messaging system, only adopting the old Google+ name of Hangouts. The company announced Hangouts for web, Android, and even iOS, giving users a consistent experience across disparate devices. It all sounded quite interesting, but it wasn't quite the comprehensive messaging experience we dreamed of, missing one key feature: connection with your phone's SMS messages. Luckily, it looks like that's essentially confirmed, and should ...

As we've heard at the beginning of the month, Microsoft might be ready to announce it's second generation of Surface tablets in June. Then came those ugly rumors according to which we'd have to wait until 2014 to see some Microsoft slates and we're now, more recently, hearing confirmations that it might still be June for the second-wave Surface RT tablets. Whether our wish-list for the next Surface will be taken into consideration or not, only time will tell. However, Digitimes reports that second-generation Surface RT is expected to land in June. It should be an eight-incher and should ...

Very good news for Windows Phone enthusiasts, not so good for those loving BlackBerry. According to the latest numbers from IDC, the Microsoft platform has finally taken the third spot from the Canadian firm. This all, in a context in which Android and iOS combined account for %92.3 of total operating system shipments (with total of 199.5 million units worldwide during 1Q13, up 59.1% from the 125.4 million units shipped during 1Q12, our of which 75% goes to Android and 17.3% to iOS). Nokia is responsible for 79% of all Windows Phone shipments during the first quarter of the year, helping ...

We have reviewed the ASUS Fonepad recently, as it was unveiled at MWC this year, but apparently an ASUS Fonepad with a spec bump has been announced. The initial version, also the one we reviewed, packs a 1.2GHz Intel Atom Z2420 processor alongside 16GB of internal storage. The new, improved flavor, is now powered by a 1.6GHz Intel Atom Z2460 processor and brings 32GB of internal storage to the table (expandable, as before, via the microSD card under the back cover). It will be available in Taiwan for NT$10,900 locally (roughly US$360) alongside the original Fonepad model which goes for ...

Google already sells music through Google Play, and lets users upload their own collections to its cloud locker system, but it's still been facing stiff competition from the likes of Pandora or Spotify, for users who don't necessarily want to build up a big personal library of music, and just ant to be able to listen to whatever they like, whenever the mood strikes them. We had heard rumors that the company was preparing to announce a new streaming service of its own, and it did just that at Google I/O today, unveiling Google Play Music All Access. All Access augments your previous music ...

We've been looking forward to this moment for weeks, and now that Google I/O 2013 is underway, today's keynote has begun, we're finally learning just how many of all those rumors we've heard are actually coming to pass. There have been a number of leaks about new Google Play Services, culminating in the recent leak of the new code along with Google Play Games support. We'll get to gaming in a moment, but that's only a portion of the new services coming to the platform. Google's introducing a number of new APIs for developers to take advantage of in constructing some advanced apps. One is ...