5 smartphone apps banned by Google

When it comes to mobile apps, Apple is the company that usually bans stuff. Meanwhile, Google is known to have a much more open approach to its Android OS and the applications that get submitted for it. Does that mean that Google hasn't banned any apps for its platform, though? Nope. Probably not as strict as Apple, Google has also issued its fair share of bans on some more or less controversial applications. Here are 5 of the more interesting apps that have been smitten by El Goog's secret ban hammer!Here are 5 of the more interesting apps that have been smitten by El Goog's secret ban hammer!

1. PSX4droid

Isn't it sad? Our phones now have enough horsepower to run real 3D console games, but Google has decided that the Play Store isn't a place for console emulators. Well, they may be right, but that doesn't mean that we can't get PSX4droid some other way. Ha! Though, when you think about it, we should probably just keep our memories and let go of the past. 

2. Rush Poker

Only because a service is legally available online doesn't mean that it should be present in the Play Store. Google's decision to remove Rush Poker from its Android storefront will surely not stop people who like to gamble from doing so, but at least Google isn't going to be helping them in any way. But is it because they don't want us to lose money or because they don't want us to get too rich? That is the question!

3. Siri for Android

Don't ask us what's wrong with having Siri on Android, because we don't know! OK, so Google may not really be in the mood of promoting services found on competing operating systems, but does that give them the right to take our freedom of choice? Apparently, it does.

4. Adblock Plus

Adblock Plus was just one of the ad-blocking solutions that recently got smitten by El Goog's ban hammer. It turns out that while we can do whatever we want in the Windows environment (because Microsoft doesn't make its money through advertising), Android is a whole different thing. This is Google's own playground, and since Google runs the place, this means we can't just block those annoying ads. 

5. Is My Son Gay?

OK, OK, this here is our absolute favorite when it comes to banned apps. "Is My Son Gay?" - the title pretty much says it all! It is hilarious! Just look at the worried look on that mother's face! The app let's you do a test, asking you if you've noticed any suspicious behavior by your son lately, which doesn't seem to be anything against the rules, right? Well, it turns out that some advocacy groups have started pressuring Google to remove the app, and finally, that masterpiece had been taken down. And just how are those mothers supposed to find out if their sons are gay now, Google? Can't you see what you've done?!

Top and Latest Android phones to get in spring

This is Best Android Phone For Spring
Spring is in full bloom and as everything starts to get green and cheerful, you may look at your old phone and think it’s about time to bring change into your life. Luckily, this is one of the best times to get a new device.

Some of the biggest phone manufacturer have just released their brand new 2013 flagship devices, and it just so happens that all of them run on Android. Apple’s iPhone traditionally gets a refresh much later in the year, and the same goes for Windows Phone.

And while previously picking between say iOS or Android was a choice between style and geekery, Google’s ecosystem has evolved so much in the past 12 months that it’s perfectly safe to say that you can get gorgeous devices on it.

We have listed our top five picks for new devices that are already available or coming in just a couple of days. Take a look at them, and let us know - which one would you get?

WHICH ANDROID PHONE WOULD YOU GET THIS SPRING?

35.62%
1730 votes(1730 votes)HTC One

39.35%
1911 votes(1911 votes)Samsung Galaxy S4

3.29%
160 votes(160 votes)LG Optimus G Pro

7.95%
386 votes(386 votes)Nexus 4

13.79%
670 votes(670 votes)Sony Xperia Z

Apples-next-gen-iphone

To a fresh report out of the Far East, Apple's next-generation "iPhone 5S" could employ a rear-facing camera with an improved 12MP sensor capable of producing high dynamic range images and better nighttime photos.
To-boast-12-megapixel-camera-with-improved-sensitivity



Lens elements in Apple's iPhone 4S camera system.


The rumor, from Vietnamese blog Tinhte.vn (via MacRumors), claims the new information originated from an inside source at iPhone camera module maker Wonderful Saigon Electrics.

A higher quality imager has been a much-rumored feature for the forthcoming iPhone, dubbed "iPhone 5S" by many, as the current iPhone 5 carried over the 8-megapixel unit from the iPhone 4S. That package boasted a large f/2.4 aperture and a backside illuminated sensor, and offered performance improvements over previous models when taking pictures in dark environments.

The camera module in the iPhone 5 went largely unchanged besides the addition of sapphire glass to the lens assembly, which served to protect against scratches.

With the upcoming iPhone 5S said to be launching later this year, a new camera module could likely be one of the handset's major spec bumps as a redesign is not expected. Apple may also institute a revamped optics/sensor system to minimize "purple fringing" seen in some instances with the current module, a byproduct of compact camera systems with short focal lengths.

Tinhte has been accurate in previous reports, and was the first to leak a video of Apple's EarPods design.

Rolltop Laptop

Rolltop is a portable computer development concept for designer, architect and everyone, who would like to have a gadget, which, from an aesthetic standpoint alone, certainly hits the mark. By virtue of the OLED-Display technology and a multitouchscreen the utility of a laptop computer with its weight of a mini-notebook and screen size of 13 inch easily transforms into the graphics tablet, which with its 17-inch flat screen can be also used as a primary monitor due to the support attached to the back of the screen. 
A computer you can carry under your arm like a stylish, rolled-up yoga mat? Why not, says the Rolltop design company, currently in the process of obtaining partners, investors and manufacturers for its new computing innovation.
Form and function both seem to be on display with the Rolltop 2.0 concept, an improvement on earlier work by the same company and one that seems poised to take the ever-shrinking laptop market by storm. The idea here is that the Rolltop can be - you saw this coming - rolled up and carried around using a shoulder strap just as if you were on your way to the gym or were pretending to be so that everyone in the park could see how "fit" you were.
When you want to use the Rolltop, the plan is for it to simply be rolled out, each segmented section giving enough strength and with enough room for electronic components that the flattened version resembles an actual laptop. The center tube of the roll itself is then used as a charging cable dock and has an AC adapter at the top so that it can take advantage of any local outlet source of power. In addition, the "base", as it is known, contains a web camera, speaker, an Internet connection port and USB ports.
Using full touchscreen technology, the Rolltop itself is actually one large screen that can be made to function as a keyboard with monitor or as a 17" flatscreen for watching movies or as a drawing tablet. The back of the Rolltop also features a stand to use when the fullscreen aspect of the device is being used, with the overall aim of the making the Rolltop the ultimate all-in-one laptop system.
As mentioned above, the company is currently seeking partners and investors and if they get the right people with the right money, this thing could easily take off. The size of components currently on the market means that designing a segmented laptop as described should not pose a challenge and so long as it can be made to work seamlessly as shown, the Rolltop could be a massive hit.

Attempt To Convert Prof Hawking’s Brainwaves Into Speech

An American scientist is to unveil details of work on the brain patterns of Prof Stephen Hawking which he says could help safeguard the physicist’s ability to communicate.

Prof Philip Low said he eventually hoped to allow Prof Hawking to “write” words with his brain as an alternative to his current speech system which interprets cheek muscle movements.

Prof Low said the innovation would avert the risk of locked-in syndrome.

Intel is working on an alternative.

Prof Hawking was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 1963. In the 1980s he was able to use slight thumb movements to move a computer cursor to write sentences.

His condition later worsened and he had to switch to a system which detects movements in his right cheek through an infrared sensor attached to his glasses which measures changes in light.

Because the nerves in his face continue to deteriorate his rate of speech has slowed to about one word a minute prompting him to look for an alternative.

The fear is that Prof Hawking could ultimately lose the ability to communicate by body movement, leaving his brain effectively “locked in” his body.

In 2011, he allowed Prof Low to scan his brain using the iBrain device developed by the Silicon Valley-based start-up Neurovigil.

Prof Hawking will not attend the consciousness conference in his home town of Cambridge where Prof Low intends to discuss his findings, but a spokesman told the BBC: “Professor Hawking is always interested in supporting research into new technologies to help him communicate.”

Decoding brainwaves

The iBrain is a headset that records brain waves through EEG (electroencephalograph) readings – electrical activity recorded from the user’s scalp.

Prof Low said he had designed computer software which could analyse the data and detect high frequency signals that had previously been thought lost because of the skull.”

An analogy would be that as you walk away from a concert hall where there’s music from a range of instruments,” he told the BBC.”As you go further away you will stop hearing high frequency elements like the violin and viola, but still hear the trombone and the cello. Well, the further you are away from the brain the more you lose the high frequency patterns.

The iBrain device collects EEG data which it transfers to a computer

“What we have done is found them and teased them back using the algorithm so they can be used.”

Prof Low said that when Prof Hawking had thought about moving his limbs this had produced a signal which could be detected once his algorithm had been applied to the EEG data.

He said this could act as an “on-off switch” and produce speech if a bridge was built to a similar system already used by the cheek detection system.

Prof Low said further work needed to be done to see if his equipment could distinguish different types of thoughts – such as imagining moving a left hand and a right leg.

If it turns out that this is the case he said Prof Hawking could use different combinations to create different types of virtual gestures, speeding up the rate he could select words at.

To establish whether this is the case, Prof Low plans trials with other patients in the US.

Intel’s effort

The US chipmaker Intel announced, in January, that it had also started work to create a new communication system for Prof Hawking after he had asked the firm’s co-founder, Gordon Moore, if it could help him.

It is attempting to develop new 3D facial gesture recognition software to speed up the rate at which Prof Hawking can write.

“These gestures will control a new user interface that takes advantage of the multi-gesture vocabulary and advances in word prediction technologies,” a spokeswoman told the BBC.

“We are working closely with Professor Hawking to understand his needs and design the system accordingly.”

‘Nanoresonators’ Might Improve Cell Phone Performance

‘ Nano-resonators’ Might Improve Cell Phone Performance

Researchers have learned how to mass produce tiny mechanical devices that could help cell phone users avoid the nuisance of dropped calls and slow downloads. The devices are designed to ease congestion over the airwaves to improve the performance of cell phones and other portable devices.

“There is not enough radio spectrum to account for everybody’s handheld portable device,” said Jeffrey Rhoads, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at Purdue University.


This image from a scanning electron microscope shows a tiny mechanical device, an electrostatically actuated nanoresonator, that might ease congestion over the airwaves to improve the performance of cell phones and other portable devices.
The overcrowding results in dropped calls, busy signals, degraded call quality and slower downloads. To counter the problem, industry is trying to build systems that operate with more sharply defined channels so that more of them can fit within the available bandwidth.

“To do that you need more precise filters for cell phones and other radio devices, systems that reject noise and allow signals only near a given frequency to pass,” said Saeed Mohammadi, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering who is working with Rhoads, doctoral student Hossein Pajouhi and other researchers.

The Purdue team has created devices called nanoelectromechanical resonators, which contain a tiny beam of silicon that vibrates when voltage is applied. Researchers have shown that the new devices are produced with a nearly 100 percent yield, meaning nearly all of the devices created on silicon wafers were found to function properly.

“We are not inventing a new technology, we are making them using a process that’s amenable to large-scale fabrication, which overcomes one of the biggest obstacles to the widespread commercial use of these devices,” Rhoads said.

Findings are detailed in a research paper appearing online in the journal IEEE Transactions on Nanotechnology. The paper was written by doctoral students Lin Yu and Pajouhi, Rhoads, Mohammadi, and graduate student Molly Nelis.

Read more about Nanoresonators on the Purdue University press release.

I Phone 5

Verizon (VZ) is an appealing asset for near term growth and potential capital appreciation alongside an adequate annualized dividend. Verizon has significant advantages over its peers due to its extensive LTE network. Verizon's advancements with 4G make it the most likely to benefit from the iPhone 5 launch and other devices that will utilize LTE as well. Verizon is also the forefront provider to effectively anticipate and best position it to adapt to a developing era in which data becomes the major utility for voice, Internet and device communications.

AT&T (T) is Verizon's most direct competitor; Sprint (S) is the largest wireless carrier behind Verizon, while Century Link (CTL) is the other major US telecom with wireline and global enterprise aspirations. Verizon's $129 billion market cap is smaller than AT&T's $220 billion, Verizon has a higher stock price than both wireless carriers but it has the most potential for an uptick and growth from the approaching prominence of 4G devices. Verizon's price is around 45 times earnings while both CenturyLink and AT&T are around 50 times earnings. Verizon's 1.12 price-to-sales ratio is also lower than AT&T's 1.7 and CenturyLink's 1.43.Verizon's 7.5% return on equity, 12.71% operating margin and 10.1% net margin are all higher than the other major telecoms by at least 350 bps, 80 bps and 650 bps, respectively while all of Sprint's margins are running at a substantial deficit. Sprint's beta score is above one while Verizon has the lowest beta score among the major telecoms below one. Verizon's annualized dividend is around $2.00, CenturyLink's is around $2.90 and AT&T's is around $1.76. Verizon has the highest EPS at around $1.00, Sprint's is -$1.28 and AT&T's is $0.75.Verizon's recent earnings release details why this telecom has such strong growth projections looking forward. Verizon has a presence in over 150 countries, its LTE network is deployed in over 335 markets in the US; providing coverage to around 230 million people, accounting for 75% of the US population. Verizon expects to complete full LTE deployment by mid-2013; AT&T and Sprint will not complete their 4G networks until at least 2014 and 2015, respectively. Verizon's main focus is on increasing its wireless spectrum portfolio to complete the network and improving its wireline services as well. Growth in FiOs and data revenue will be the main catalysts for positioning Verizon as the premier telecom utility of choice in the near future.Total second quarter revenue increased 3.7%, YOY to $28.55 billion while total second quarter operating expenses only increased 1.1%, YOY to $22.9 billion. Second quarter operating income increased to $5.65 billion from $4.8 billion, YOY. Verizon's total count of retail customers increased 4.9%, YOY to 94.1 million while its churn rate decreased to 1.11%. In its wireless division, second quarter revenue increased by 7.4%, YOY to $18.57 billion; data revenue increased by 18.5%, YOY to $6.9 billion and accounted for 43.6% of the service revenue. Smartphones now account for 49.7% of Verizon's retail post-paid phone base. Total wireline revenue decreased 3.1%, YOY to $9.93 billion.Verizon's ARPU increased 3.4% for retail service, 3.7% for retail postpaid and 15.4%, YOY for retail postpaid data. Wireline revenues were positively impacted from high revenues in consumer retail from Verizon's FiOs services. These services account for 65% of second quarter consumer retail, an increase from 57%, YOY. Verizon hopes one day FiOs will serve as the main platform for consumer and business data communication ranging from voice, internet, energy management, machine to machine communications and other platforms as well. Second quarter strategic revenue increased 4.4%, YOY and represents 52 % of Verizon's total global enterprise revenues.The compilation of recent events shows how Verizon can become the leading telecom in the near to medium term. At the end of August, the FCC approved Verizon's $3.9 billion purchase of wireless spectrum from major cable firms like Comcast (CMCSA) and Time Warner (TWC). This allows Verizon's LTE network to operate at faster speeds to increase data revenue while it nearly doubled its current available airwaves. Verizon has a significant head start over its peers towards completing a comprehensive 4G network across the US; AT&T's LTE only currently covers 60 plus markets with 4G and Sprint is about a year and a half behind both carriers.The established LET network sets Verizon up to benefit the most from the iPhone 5, while it already has a number of Android based devices moving towards 4G. Evidence of such progress was proven in the recent DNC in Charlotte where Verizon was able to prepare by investing over $290 million in 2011 to handle the 31% increase in voice calls and over 40 million data connections during the convention. Verizon also recently teamed up with Google (GOOG) to help Mollen Immunization Clinics go paperless and streamline its operations and communications platform in order to reduce costs. Faster 4G devices means more revenue from tiered data pricing plans that Verizon and AT&T favor for profitability; Sprint is hampering earnings by offering unlimited plans to improve its subscriber base.Verizon is also considering candidates like Nokia (NOK) to capitalize on a Windows based phone for the fourth quarter. Verizon has already committed to carrying the new Blackberry from Research in Motion (RIMM) that is projected to launch in early 2013. Both Nokia and Research in Motion are popular brands that could be saved in the stock market if their new devices are taken on by Verizon. LTE network expansion to increase its wireless subscriber base and revenue while developing strategic wireline services for enterprises gives Verizon the best opportunity for robust growth in the telecom industry.Verizon has promising enterprise ventures with major firms and is currently vetting opportunities with device manufactures and Microsoft (MSFT) for improving the level of competition in the wireless sector in order to reduce costs. Verizon has also been able to mitigate costs so far in 2012 beyond its original guidance. Current shareholders should hold Verizon long-term while interested investors should consider this a buy before an uptick precedes the holiday season and new device releases. Verizon's stock price has decreased by around 1.2% since its last earnings release.

Those that were approached seemed genuinely taken in, despite the fact that the iPhone 5 is not available to customers until next Friday.

According to the Telegraph, handling the phone one man said, 'the new handset is a lot lighter than the last one and it is a lot faster as well.'

"It's way better. It's nice. I have the 4S so I'm always open to a new phone," said another man.

iPhone5, which does look a lot like the iPhone 4S, was unveiled by Apple on Wednesday.

The new phone is thinner by 18 per cent, and lighter by 20 per cent compared to the last iPhone.

The screen is taller too, at 4-inches corner to corner, but the phone, held in portrait mode, is the same width.

Instead of a glass back, the iPhone 5 back and sides are made from a single piece of aluminium.