Hasta La Gadget!

Technically speaking, smartphones have been around for a while. However it was probably until 2007 with the introduction of the iPhone that the smartphone race really kicked off. That being said it seems that at one point in time, Samsung could have gotten a leg up on the competition in a very big way had they made their decision differently. Back in 2003, Andy Rubin was working on a version of Android then and after a year’s worth of work, he decided that he would pitch the software to a company who might have the resources to take his software to the next level. However the company he approached first was not Google, but Samsung.

At that time, Android’s team consisted of eight people and they all flew out to Seoul, South Korea, to meet up with Samsung who was (and probably still is) one of the largest phone makers. Unfortunately Samsung did not bite. Instead, according to Rubin (via Dogfight: How Apple and Google Went to War and Started a Revolution), their response who them telling the Android team, “‘You and what army are going to go and create this? You have six people. Are you high?’ is basically what they said. They laughed me out of the boardroom. This happened two weeks before Google acquired us.” Of course this sort of worked out for Samsung in the end as the South Korean tech giant is probably the biggest name when it comes to making Android devices, but to think that they could have been the ones to control Android’s distribution, how different the world might look today.

Samsung Could Have Bought Android In 2004 But Chose Not To original content from Ubergizmo.

Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform might not necessarily be the most popular smatphone platform at the moment, but it does have its loyal users, especially in emerging markets where we can see handsets like the Nokia Lumia 520 dominating. That being said, while in general iOS and Android are two of the more popular platforms at the moment, there are some markets in which Windows Phone is doing well, and one of them is Brazil where the IDC has recently confirmed that the Windows Phone platform has managed to overtake Apple’s iOS platform to steal the number two position.

Unfortunately despite Windows Phone having overtaken iOS in Brazil, it does not necessarily mean that the platform is catching up. The IDC reports that Android and iOS still account for over 90% of all smartphone shipments, 95.7% to be exact, in Q4 2013. Of course smartphone shipments does not necessarily translate into sales as the sales figures could always end up being significantly less than its shipping numbers, but it does indicate some level of demand. After all why would companies bother shipping to a market if there was no demand for their products, right? In the meantime what do you guys make these numbers? Is it all that surprising to see Windows Phone beat out iOS in emerging markets?

Windows Phone Steals Second Place From iOS In Brazil original content from Ubergizmo.

This article was written on October 10, 2011 by CyberNet.

Welcome to the WrapUp by CyberNet. This is a collection of news stories, downloads, and tips that we have collected over the last few days, but never got around to writing about. Don’t forget to send in your own tips, or just leave a comment on this page if you think you’ve got something we should include.

–News–

Steve Jobs Passed Away
Last Wednesday, a day after the iPhone 4S announcement, Steve Jobs passed away. This is a great roundup of all the coverage, and we wish the best for his family.

Google/Samsung Postpone Launch Event
Google and Samsung were expected to announce the first smartphone based on Android’s “Ice Cream Sandwich” tomorrow. AllThingsD reports that the event was postponed out of respect for Steve Jobs’ passing.

Nuance Acquires Swype
The Nuance speech recognition company has bought Swype, which is a unique on-screen keyboard for mobile devices. My guess is that Nuance wants to incorporate a speech recognition button on the Swype keyboard that is widely distributed and even ships with some Android phones.

Rdio Starts Offering Free Access
The Rdio music service now has an ad-free desktop music player that lets users listen at absolutely no cost. It should be noted that this isn’t unlimited music listening, and that Rdio hasn’t gone into details as to how the limits are determined.

Google Earth Downloaded Over 1 Billion Times
Google hit a big milestone: the Google Earth desktop app, introduced back in 2005, has been downloaded over a billion times.

Apple Announces iPhone 4S
During a keynote last Tuesday Apple announced their next generation iPhone, which is called the iPhone 4S. The new device looks the same as the iPhone 4, but is world phone, has an A5 processor, faster graphics, 8MP camera, and 1080P video.

The Evolution of the Windows Start Menu
Microsoft takes a look at how the Start Menu has changed over the years, and how they are re-evaluating the way people access their apps.

Leaked Sales Numbers for the Amazon Kindle Fire
Amazon Kindle Fire tablet preorders are doing pretty well if this leak is to be believed. The leak indicates that Amazon racking up about 2,000 preorders per hour for the new tablet that launches on November 15th.

Microsoft Kills Off Zune HD
Going forward Microsoft will be focusing their music efforts on the Windows Phone, and will no longer sell the Zune HD to consumers.

–Tips, Tutorials, and Reviews–

Windows 7 Explorer Tips and Tricks
Here is a guide covering how to do things in the Windows 7 Explorer like pick a different startup folder, add applications to the favorite list, and more.

Chrome Remote Desktop
This cross-platform Google Chrome extension makes it possible to connect to someone else’s machine who is also running the extension.

Killing Time With Reddit Tab Opener
The Reddit Tab Opener is a Chrome extension that will bulk open all image links on a given Reddit page. That way you can just sift from tab-to-tab enjoying the fun stuff Reddit has to offer without clicking on a bunch of links.

Plan the Next 101 Things You Want To Do
Day Zero is a free site that lets you plan out 101 things you want to do in the next 1001 days.

Official Hotmail App Available for Android
If you use an Android device you can go ahead and grab Microsoft’s official Hotmail app that can be used to manage your email.

PassMyWill Sends Out Your Passwords After You Die
PassMyWill is a service that monitors your Facebook/Twitter accounts, and if it finds that they are inactive it will send you an email. If you fail to respond to that message it will assume you’ve passed away, and will then automatically email out your passwords to a group of people you’ve specified.

Generate CSS Code for Website Loading Animations
This clever service helps you create custom loading icons/animations and provides the CSS needed to quickly get it running on your site.

Growl 1.3 for Mac Users
The new version of Growl has been completely rewritten, and includes a nice “rollup” notification center that displays alerts you missed while away from your computer. The catch is that the developers are now charging $1.99 for the app (which was previously free) in the Mac App Store, and they hope that the small fee will help them better maintain Growl going forward.

Parallels Desktop 7 and VMWare Fusion 4
Ars Technica provides an in-depth comparison of the two Mac virtualization technologies that are available: Parallels Desktop 7 and VMWare Fusion 4.

Automatically Export Evernote Notes
The free Evernote Exporter is an open source app that can save off all your notes on a schedule that you specify. It is a great solution for anyone wanting an offline backup of your notes.

–Downloads–

• Adobe Air 3.0.0.4080 [Homepage] [Mirror]
• BurnAware Free 4.0 ^Beta [Homepage] [Mirror]
• CCleaner 3.11.1550 [Homepage] [Mirror]
• Fedora Linux 16 ^Beta [Homepage] [Mirror]
• Flash Player 11.0.1.152 [Homepage] [Mirror]
• Google Chrome 16.0.899.0 ^Beta [Homepage] [Mirror]
• Google Earth 6.1.0.4857 ^Beta [Homepage] [Mirror]
• ImgBurn 2.5.6.0 [Homepage] [Mirror]
• Opera 12.00.1085 ^Beta [Homepage] [Mirror]
• Paint.NET 3.5.9 [Homepage] [Mirror]
• SeaMonkey 2.5 ^{Beta 2} [Homepage] [Mirror]
• VMware Player 4.0.0 [Homepage] [Mirror]
• VirtualBox 4.1.4.74291 [Homepage] [Mirror]
• uTorrent 3.0.25756 [Homepage] [Mirror]

Copyright © 2014 CyberNetNews.com

This morning a rather sizable leak has appeared overseas with a retail listing of Nokia’s first Android phone. This device is called the Nokia X A110, according to the listing, … Continue reading

Though for many hardcore PC or game console gamers, the idea that the Hitman franchise would go to the mobile platform is nothing short of blasphemy, Square Enix is suggesting … Continue reading