Google Relationship With Apple on the Mend

Eric Schmidt recently revealed that the once frost relationship between Google and Apple is improving / © updatemyandroid.com

During the recent Allen and Co conference which was being held in Idaho, Google supremo Eric Schmidt revealed that the once frosty relationship between two of today's most innovative tech giants, Google and Apple, is starting to thaw and improve. He said that the two rival companies which are also business partners are starting to conduct lots of high level meetings together.
 

 

There certainly have been plenty of ups and downs in the relationship between Google and Apple over recent years. The honeymoon period of the relationship was certainly when Apple made Google the center of its online services which included Google search, mail and maps. This was back when iOS launched in 2007 and even at that point Eric Schmidt was a part of the Apple board. Things took a turn for the worst when Google launched its Android mobile operating system. Eric Scmidt was quickly pushed through the exit door at Apple and according to an autobiography Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, vowed to spend the rest of his days trying to crush Google's Android.

“I will spend my last dying breath if I need to, and I will spend every penny of Apple’s $40 billion in the bank, to right this wrong. I’m going to destroy Android, because it’s a stolen product. I’m willing to go thermonuclear war on this.”

Apple then began suing Google and some of its partners in regards to Android and at the same time Cupertino began to divorce itself from some of Google's product. The most notable example of this holy war against Google was last year when Apple removed Google Maps from the App Store and replaced Google Maps on its flagship iPhone with Apple Maps. Apple Maps was subsequently panned by critics and users alike and Apple had to recommend after a few weeks that users try out rival mapping applications. Another example of the divorce between Apple and Google was when Apple replaced Google search as the default search engine for Siri and instead began to use longtime rival, Microsoft's Bing.
It seems as if Google and Apple's relationship is on the road to recovery though as Google Maps was subsequently reinstated on the App Store in December 2012 and high level meetings are now being held between the two companies.
Would you like to see Apple and Google on friendly terms again or would you like to see them at loggerheads once again? Please leave a comment below.

Five new free Android games for the weekend

If you’re not planning on spending the weekend at the beach, floating down a river, or at a pool to beat the heat, you might as well be inside hiding from the sun and playing on your smartphone or tablet. Here’s a list of five free Android games that should keep you occupied while you try to beat the summer heat.

Pac-Man Dash

Kind of like the classic version of Pac-Man, but mixed with a running game (Temple Run, for example), has landed in the Android Market and is surprisingly addictive. The game itself is not complicated, but it is fast paced and gets to be pretty crazy pretty fast.  Play through, unlock new characters, and try to swallow as many ghosts and cherries as you possibly can.

© AndroidPIT

Download: Pac-Man Dash (Free)

City of Secrets 2: Episode 1

Much like it’s popular predecessor, City of Secrets 2 combines a bunch of great graphics, a spectacular soundtrack, and a fun and intriguing story line. In this point and click adventure game, you control Moles the Mole (oh, creative!) and solve a mysterious adventure that begins out as an innocent noise in the night and spirals into something much bigger….and more interesting.

© AndroidPIT

Download: City of Secrets 2: Episode 1 (Free)

Rush Song

Now, here’s an interesting concept for a game. It’s part of a new genre called “Arcade Music” and it’s really basic. Much similar to most running games, your character doesn’t stop running and you have to avoid obstacles. But get this, you have to do it to the rhythm of music. It takes a bit to get into the game, but you definitely get a groove going on when you start to get a flow. Plus, you don’t even have to use the preset music: you can use your own.

© AndroidPIT

And while, it does get pretty tiring after awhile, you can’t go wrong when it’s free. Definitely worth at least checking out.
Download: Rush Song (Free)

Forsaken Planet

Forsaken Planet is now in beta but is definitely something to check out before the official version hits the Google Play Store (…and possibly cost something!). You find your crossing the universe in your small spaceship and encounter enemies with a bunch of different weapons that you can collect. The game itself has s strong social component to it as well as a multiplayer option. Not a bad game to sit down and grab a few friends and blast each other, and other aliens, out of existence.

 © AndroidPITforsaken planet google 

Download: Forsaken Planet (Free)

Respawnables

The jewel of our list is definitely Respawnables this week. This game features multiple game modes (including online multiplayer) and has more than 100 missions to play through. It has just come to Android and is FREE, FREE, FREE so give it a shot. It has won a bunch of awards for its gameplay and has a unique sense of humor built in.

© Google Play

Download: Respawnables (Free)
And there you go! A bunch of apps to get you through the weekend. If you've got some more killer free games that you'd like to share, definitely let us know in the comments!

From: Androidpit

Mozilla ponders blinkers for your browser

Mozilla Labs has outlined an experiment it's conducting in improving the personalisation web publishers can offer readers who browse their sites using Firefox.
The outfit says it's been working on the idea since last year, when it “conducted a series of experiments in which a user’s browsing history could be matched with interests in categories like technology, sports and cooking.”
In return for opting in to the trial, lab rats were offered “insight into how they spend time online.”
Mozilla Labs is now wondering “what if these interests were also available for the user to share with the websites they visit to get a better, more personalized browsing experience” so that “content creators and consumers could benefit from Web-based interests”?
Here's one scenario the outfit has imagined as resulting from this line of thinking:

“For example, let’s say Firefox recognizes within the browser client, without any browsing history leaving my computer, that I’m interested in gadgets, comedy films, hockey and cooking. As I browse around the Web, I could choose when to share those interests with specific websites for a personalized experience. Those websites could then prioritize articles on the latest gadgets and make hockey scores more visible.”

Some publishers have already pressed the API for this kind of thing into service, according to the Mozilla Blog, but the code is not in the wild and is being tested – technically and conceptually – as Mozilla figures out how people will react to websites that dynamically change content based on readers' past behaviours.
One example of successful personalisation mentioned in the posts announcing the initiative is The Guardian's offer to ensure its readers see no news about the birth of George Alexander Louis Windsor. That's a service many will doubtless enjoy. Whether such personalisation can result in readers choosing only to encounter lines of inquiry and opinions they already agree with, and therefore deciding to consume media that re-enforces their feelings rather than offering broader perspectives, is a wider debate for another day. Or the comments. ®

Smartwatch makers: You need apps to beat Apple

Smartwatch maker Metawatch has just updated its firmware to version 1.4.0, rolling out a number of bug fixes and tweaks but, most obviously, adding three further watchfaces. These can be previewed and selected using a new version of the firm’s iOS and Android apps, which were posted earlier this week. Both Windows and Mac OS firmware upgrade utilities are available to be downloaded.
You can get Metawatch’s latest firmware, and read the release notes, here.

Metawatch’s Strata

In many ways, Metawatch’s platform remains a better bet for iDevice owners than the better-known Pebble. It delivers more notifications from iPhone to smartwatch than Pebble currently does, and provides more information look-up apps - Weather and Stocks, for instance - than Pebble does on any platform.
On the other hand - no pun intended - Pebble’s music remote is still better, it has a huge selection of its own and third-party watchfaces for users to choose from. On Android, Pebble can do Twitter updates - Metawatch can’t on any platform. And Metawatch’s Android support is poor.
Metawatch’s UI remains unpolished too. It now has just four watchfaces to choose from. Its platform provides four screens each of which can present up to four information ‘widgets’. But it provides too few widgets to fill the available spaces, so you either have to duplicate some of your widgets or put up with big + signs on the screen in the empty spaces.
Metawatch’s hardware - it offers two models, Strata and Frame - is impressive and attractive. Both models look like big-brand products, not Kickstarter prototypes. But the company really needs to make big improvements to its software and to make its APIs available to third-party developers pronto. It has promised to do so, but for how long will its open source code still be “coming soon”?
Contrast that with Pebble, which has an SDK you can download - registration is required - and provisional APIs for on-watch apps and for phone-hosted apps. Pebble claims to have shipped more than 93,000 of its smartwatches in 2013 alone, and has just begun selling its kit through US retail giant BestBuy.

Pebble provides tools for app creators

The Pebble device doesn’t work as well with Apple handsets as it might, but Pebble is promising to fix that in a couple of months’ time - it’s awaiting iOS 7, presumably. That problem is of little concern to Android fans in any case. It doesn’t appear to be bothering developers either, if the arrival of iOS native apps like Katharine Berry’s httpebble, which allows http requests to be routed from watch to internet via phone, are anything to go by. On Android, Pebble Connect, is based on the same technology.
Online watchface creation tools like Paul Rode’s Watchface Generator are springing up to allow non-technical Pebble users to create personalised watchfaces, though there’s no shortage of ones they can download.
Establishing a solid user base as soon as possible is crucial for small companies like Pebble, Metawatch, Martian and Agent Watch if they’re to keep their heads above water when Apple, Samsung, Microsoft, Google and other big names jump into the pool - if indeed they do. The smartwatch market is still a very long way from maturity, so appealing directly to developers in order to make sure ordinary users can get apps and customisations is critical at this stage.
The likes of Pebble, Agent Watch and Metawatch appeal primarily to techies - there’s no evidence yet that the smartwatch is sure to become The Next Big Thing and tomorrow acquire the ubiquity the smartphone enjoys today. Despite a hype-filled forecast from Canalys, a market watcher - five million smartwatches to ship next year, anyone? - there’s little sign that existing big-name players Sony and Motorola are making a mint with their smartwatches, despite being market leaders in 2012.

The Agent Watch will charge wirelessly

Gadget boys may love them, but smartwatch technology has clearly yet to truly enter the consciousness of the general public. Of course, neither Sony nor Motorola appear to be doing much to promote their products, so it’ll take the likes of an Apple launch and its attendant advertising blitz to slap the product category right in from of consumers. Sony may up the stakes a little when its second-generation product, the SmartWatch 2, goes on sale in September.
Pebble and co can’t hope to match Apple’s marketing, so they need to focus on getting ahead of the game by creating good tools for coders to write plenty of useful apps to fill out their app stores and provide plenty of options for users switching on to smartwatches.
Pebble has that, with its Mac OS and Ubuntu toolchains. So does rival Agent Watch, which has built its - preview thus far - development tools around Microsoft Visual Studio, C# and .Net. Agent stormed past its own Kickstarter funding target last month with the promise of a wirelessly charged, rugged-look smartwatch. It’s not due to go into production until the autumn.
The smartwatch arena is like the early 1980s computer market: there are no standards, and fortune will come to those with with the biggest, broadest software libraries. Phones have taught users that they want downloads. The smartwatch companies that bring punters too few apps will not survive. ®

From: theregister

Microsoft offers IE 11 preview for Windows 7, but not Windows 8

Microsoft has released a developer preview build of Internet Explorer 11 for Windows 7, breaking a pattern of dragging its feet when it comes to supporting the latest version of IE on the older OS.
After shipping IE10 with Windows 8, Redmond took over a year to release a preview version that ran on Windows 7, and another three months after that to ship the final version. This, despite the fact that most other software could run on either OS without a hitch.
This time, Microsoft has offered up a Windows 7–compatible version of IE11 before the browser has technically even been released. The only way to get IE11 so far has been to install the Windows 8.1 Preview, which itself is still around a month away from shipping to OEMs.
That won't be an acceptable solution for many developers, because Microsoft has warned that anyone who installed the Windows 8.1 Preview will need to re-install all of their applications after they upgrade to the final version.
In a blog post on Thursday, group program managers Sandeep Singhal and Rob Mauceri of Microsoft's Internet Explorer team said the Windows 7 version of the browser gives users of the older OS "all of the performance, security, and under-the-hood changes that enable a compatible Web experience," which is virtually a cut-and-paste of what they said about the Windows 7 version of IE10 last November.
The pair go on to extol the various virtues of Microsoft's latest browser, including improved JavaScript performance, hardware-accelerated graphics processing, support for new W3C standards, improved responsiveness on touch devices, and redesigned developer tools.
Coinciding with the release of the IE11 preview build, Microsoft has upgraded its modern.IE web developer tools to work with the new browser by expanding its gallery of free, downloadable virtual machine images with images of IE11 running on Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 Preview. In addition, Microsoft is offering 25 per cent off Parallels Desktop 8 for Mac, to make it easier for OS X users to test their sites on IE.
Your Reg hack couldn't help but notice one glaring omission, however. While Redmond seems intent on delivering a version of IE11 for Windows 7, Windows 8 is notably absent from any discussion of the new browser. In fact, attempting to install the IE11 preview on a stock Windows 8 machine without the Windows 8.1 Preview installed yields the following paradoxical error message:

From the look of it, the only way to get IE11 running on Windows 8 will be to install the Windows 8.1 update when it eventually ships. It seems that when Steve Ballmer announced Microsoft's new rapid release cadence, he really meant it, and we're all expected to come along for the ride if we want the latest versions of tools like Internet Explorer.
The IE11 preview for Windows 7 is available for download from Microsoft's Internet Explorer site beginning on Thursday. ®

From: theregister

New in Android 4.3: At last we get a grip on privacy-invading crApps

The latest version of Google's Android, 4.3, has a panel controlling access permissions on an app-by-app basis - but only for those users ready to experiment with untested functionality.
The App Ops control was found by Android Police and initially required a hack to bring it to life. Now there's an app in the Google Play store that unlocks the control panel letting anyone running Android 4.3 control exactly which parts of the device and operating system are available to each installed application.
That might mean, for example, letting a Facebook app synchronise with the on-phone address book, while denying it access to the GPS data, or preventing Twitter from clogging up the notification bar while permitting it network access to get updates.
All Android apps come with a list of required privileges - from basic access to the vibration chip, to read and write access to storage memory - and users are asked to approve the list as part of the installation process. But the approval is entirely non-granular - the fandroid either gives approval or cancels the installation, and users always click "yes" when asked a question so the value of the process has been debated.
Whether the applications will continue work with their permission withdrawn or finely tuned on Android 4.3 is hard to say; they may react unpredictably if probing forbidden parts is kicked back with an unexpected error code - which is likely why Google hasn't included the panel by default.
Android Police also reports that the panel has some problems detecting the permissions granted to each app, sometimes only listing them once they've been used.
App Ops should let the more-tech-savvy user control access at a more granular level; preventing Facebook from insisting on its constant polling, or denying location data to the graphics app that insists on geo-tagging every photograph, though its hard to imagine the majority of users taking the time to bother.
There may also be a backlash from developers who don't want their advertising-supported game denied network access. Such apps will run without the network but on the assumption that connectivity will return at some point; if left alone in the world they'll struggle to be viable. ®

 From: Theregister

Chromecast: We get our SWEATY PAWS on Google's tiny telly pipe

Review Google just unveiled its Chromecast wireless streaming media dongle on Wednesday, and it's already being hailed by some media outlets as something close to the Holy Grail of internet TV. So does it live up to the hype?
Clearly, much of the fuss stems from Chromecast's price tag. At $35 (UK and international pricing to be determined), it looks like an attractive alternative to the $99 you'd pay for the Apple TV or the Roku 2 XS. Throw in three free months of Netflix streaming (a $24 value) and it effectively costs next to nothing.¹
Here at The Reg​ 's San Francisco annex, however, we've even got that beat. The Chocolate Factory lent us a Chromecast to monkey around with for absolutely nothing, so I took it home and tried it out on my own HD set.

Plug and play, literally

Setting up Chromecast couldn't be easier. There isn't even a user manual in the box – just the dongle, a USB cable, a power adapter, an HDMI extension cable, and a note directing you to a Google website for next steps.
The dongle looks and feels like a chunky USB drive, only with an HDMI prong instead of a USB one. It's designed to plug directly into your TV's HDMI port, but the short extension cable is provided in case the fit is awkward or Wi-Fi reception is spotty.

Everything in the box, with one exception: the USB thumb drive on the lower left, shown for size comparison

One thing that may not be clear from Google's marketing materials is that Chromecast needs to be connected to a power source at all times. The USB cable is included for this purpose. If your TV has USB ports on the back, they should provide enough juice to power the dongle, with all the cables tucked pleasantly out of sight. If it doesn't, an adapter is provided so you can connect directly to the AC mains.
That's all the plugging you need to do. Chromecast is Wi-Fi only, so there are no Ethernet cables to worry about, and there are no switches or settings of any kind on the hardware itself.

Not shown in Google's own photos, Chromecast needs a USB power cable

Next, you need to configure the device, which is also a breeze – though you will need a supported device to do it. Remember, Chromecast isn't connected to your Wi-Fi network yet, so you can't set it up with a web browser. You'll need to download a small app for the purpose.
So far, setup apps are only available for devices running Android 2.3, iOS 6.0, Windows 7, or Mac OS X 10.7 (or any higher versions of those platforms). Sorry, Linux die-hards! But then again, you'll only need to run the app once to configure the Wi-Fi settings, so limiting the setup to these platforms isn't much of an inconvenience.
Once Chromecast is up on your network, it will inform you that it's ready to go with a start screen that displays the current time against a nature-themed background that changes every minute or so. And that's that.

Streaming by remote control

Chromecast doesn't have a UI as such. There aren't any settings to configure and it offers no controls with which to select content. You don't even need to enter your account information for streaming services such as Netflix. All of that is handled by the apps on your secondary control device. Just call up the content you want to display on your device, tap or click the "Cast" icon in the app, and the content jumps over to your TV.
Google has learned a lot since its failed Nexus Q experiment. That device only worked with a small selection of the latest Android phones and slabs, limiting its appeal considerably. Chromecast, on the other hand, works with a fairly wide range of Android and iOS devices, and with the Chrome browser on Windows, OS X, and the Chromebook Pixel.
The catch is that it only works for a limited number of apps on each platform. Right now, that means you can use Chromecast with content from the Google Play, Netflix, and YouTube apps. There's also a Chrome extension that lets your TV mirror your browser window, but that's about it.

Microsoft: Office 2013 license is for just one PC, FOREVER

Microsoft has clarified the licensing for retail versions of its Office 2013 productivity suite, confirming that boxed editions of the software are licensed for a single PC only and that the license may never be transferred, even if the user upgrades to a new PC.
Over the past week, Office users around the web have expressed dismay over new, draconian-sounding terms in the Office 2013 retail license that seem to severely curb what customers can do with the software. Specifically, this paragraph raised the most eyebrows:

You may not transfer the software to another computer or user. You may transfer the software directly to a third party only as installed on the licensed computer, with the Certificate of Authenticity label and this agreement. Before the transfer, that party must agree that this agreement applies to the transfer and use of the software. You may not retain any copies.

Note the italicized portion above (emphasis ours). What it means is that the only way to give or sell your copy of Office 2013 to someone else is to physically give it to them, by handing over the actual computer that the software is installed on.
Under these terms, you can't even transfer the software to yourself. If you buy a new PC, you're expected to buy a brand-new retail copy of Office to go with it, even if you uninstall it from your old machine.
That Microsoft would be so brazen as to license its software under such terms beggars belief. And yet, as it turns out, that's just what it has done.

'We do not sell our software or your copy of it'

In a blog post on Tuesday, Redmond rep Jevon Fark laid out the licensing models for the various editions of Office 2013 in a helpful table demonstrating how they compare to the equivalent editions of Office 2010 and Office 365.
Sure enough, while the packaged retail editions of Office 2010 were licensed for installation on up to two computers (or three, in the case of the Home and Student Edition) and the licenses were transferrable, Fark's chart confirms that neither is true of the retail Office 2013 editions.
Furthermore, Fark explains that this isn't the first time Microsoft has issued such a license. In fact, the same terms were included in the license for the Product Key Card (PKC) editions of Office 2010 – the little cards that were sold at retail but included only a Product Key and no install media.

    If you want the new version of Office, make sure you know what you're signing up for

According to Fark – the Microsoft staffer, and not the website of the same name – the PKC editions were "chosen by a majority of Office 2010 customers worldwide." It seems unlikely, however, that many of them took the license terms into consideration when they did so.
Just how enforceable such a license may be is open to question. Legal precedent varies depending on the jurisdiction, with European courts tending to lean in favor of consumer rights. But in the US, at least, it seems likely that Microsoft's language would be upheld by the courts as legally binding.
Past attempts to invalidate software licenses have generally been based on the first-sale doctrine, a legal principle that establishes that purchasers of copyrighted works (such as books, recordings, or software programs) have the right to use and dispose of them as they wish. But US courts have ruled that first-sale doctrine does not apply to works that have merely been licensed and not sold outright – and Microsoft's Office license is abundantly clear about that:

We do not sell our software or your copy of it – we only license it. Under our license we grant you the right to install and run that one copy on one computer (the licensed computer) for use by one person at a time, but only if you comply with all the terms of this agreement. Our software license is permanently assigned to the licensed computer.

Fark says the only exception to the non-transferability clause is if a customer's PC fails while still under its warranty period. In that case, he explains, "the customer can contact support to receive an exemption to activate the Office 2013 software on the replacement PC."

Perhaps you would prefer a subscription?

So what are honest customers to do if they need to use Office on more than one computer, or if they plan to buy new PCs before the next version of Office comes out? Anyone who has been following the latest Office launch should already know Redmond's answer to that: those customers should skip the retail version of Office 2013 and get Office 365 subscriptions instead.
As Fark points out, each Office 365 Home Premium subscription allows you to install the Office applications on five different computers at once, and the licenses are infinitely transferable – just deactivate the suite on one device and install it on another. Details for the business editions of the new Office 365 have yet to be formally announced, but El Reg has it on good authority that those licenses will allow similar flexibility.
Still, not every customer will be pleased with an arrangement under which they essentially rent their software, rather than buying it, and many are sure to resent what seems like a strong-arm tactic on the part of Microsoft designed to break traditional purchasing patterns.
Stricter licensing for the retail versions of Office isn't the only way Redmond has been trying to push customers toward the subscription model, either. Early on it tried the carrot approach, by offering various incentives as exclusives for Office 365 customers. Lately, however, it has increasingly favored the stick – most recently by upping the prices of the Mac version of Office to match those of its Windows counterpart, even though Office for OS X has not had a refresh since October 2010.
"We think this new lineup offers unmatched choice and value for students, families and everyone in between," Fark writes in his blog post. To those who don't agree, however, alternatives such as LibreOffice are looking better than ever. ®

10 Great Computer Speakers Available Now

 

As good as you think the speakers in your laptop are, the truth is they're not really that good. Not when you compare them to full-on computer speaker systems. We don't care if you have one of those HP laptops with the Beats by Dre audio—nothing is better than listening to music through stand alone speakers. The good thing is that these days you don't have to drop a grip to get good sound. A lot of good systems retail under $200 and, with a little creative shopping, can be found for even less. Of course, if money is no issue, you can get a set like the Bowers & Wilkins MM-1 (seen above). We looked through a ton of computer speaker systems and picked 10 we feel are better than the rest. Some are cheap, some are not, but all are great.

1. Audyssey Media Speakers

Packing in Audyssey's awesome EQ and BassXT sound processing technologies, the Media Speakers were created to deliver great sound without dominating your desk space. That's why there's no subwoofer. Audyssey opted to rock with passive bass radiators and the aforementioned BassXT tech to make sure your music bumps that way it's supposed to. Aiding in that quest is the array of inputs and outputs which feature a traditional 3.5mm input as well as digital optical audio inputs. No matter what device your media is on, these speakers will make sure it sounds good.

2. Logitech Speaker System Z523 

 When looking for computer accessories, you'd be foolish not to first check Logitech. The Z523 is your standard 2.1 speaker system. It's 6.5-inch subwoofer pounds the ground with solid bass, while the satellites handled the rest of the duties. Our favorite feature, however, has nothing to do with the sound: We like the controls and inputs found on one of the satellites. You won't need to reach under your desk to connect your computer, or adjust the base and volume-everything is done on the actual speaker. Nice.

3. Bose Companion 20

 Bose knows a lot about cramming a lot of technology into a compact product. Look at the Companion 20, the set Bose calls its "best two-piece system". You wouldn't think two medium-sized speakers could properly fill a room, but you'd be wrong. The Companion 20, equipped Bose's advanced port design, are able to produce the spot-on, natural sound recreation that we've come to expect from the legendary company.

4. harman/kardon SoundSticks III

 A lot of companies boast about the design of their speakers, but only one (at least on this list) can say its speakers are a part of the permanent collection at the NYC's Museum of Modern Art. Designed by Apple's Jonathan Ives, the guy that's designed all your favorite Apple products, the SoundSticks have remained one of the best sounding and best looking speaker sets on the market, which is remarkable since the design has remained unchanged for over a decade. On the technical side, you get a powerful subwoofer and two satellites each with four full-range transducers. Functional art at its finest.

5. Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 Computer Speakers

 You should know how we feel about Klipsch. The company's Image S4 in-ear headphones are always on our short lists for best headphones. It's no wonder then that we also dig its computer speaker system, the ProMedia 2.1. Like the name suggests, it comes with two satellites and a subwoofer to crank out great sound for your music, movies, or games

 

6. Orb Audio Mini-T Amp and Speakers

Orb Audio is primarily known for its resplendent home theater offerings, but the good folks at the New York City-based company would like you to have that same sound while sitting at your computer. The Mini-T Amplifier & Speaker Package provides a way for you to connect your desktop or laptop to two of Orb's speakers (included). If you want to get fancy, you can upgrade to the Booster pack and connect up to four speakers and a subwoofer. It all depends on how loud you want to bump that 2Chainz album.

7. Bowers & Wilkins MM-1

 At $500 you would expect a pair of speakers to deliver studio-quality sound. Luckily, these Bowers & Wilkins computer speakers do just that. Packed with technology, the MM-1s sports features found in high-end recording studios, like the tweeters are designed after the same speakers that are used in the famous Abbey Road studios in London. Sound is carried from your computer to the MM-1s via USB so the audio is uncompressed and raw, allowing for the best possible sound. Trust us, the $500 is well worth it.

 

8. Creative Inspire S2

Wires not your thing? Creative has just the system for you. The Inspire S2 can connect to your computer or phone via Bluetooth. The S2 comes with a USB Bluetooth transmitter that, once connected, automatically streams music to the speakers so you can chill on your bed and rock out.

 

9. Edifier PrismaBT

If you're looking for an extremely stylish set of speakers at a more than reasonable price, check out the Prisma. Edifier's desktop model features a cool pyramid-shaped subwoofer that will deliver nice, round bass, a remote that controls volume, and two two-way satellite speakers. You can also cop the Prisma in black, white, or silver-whichever best matches your room.

 

10. UCube by UltraLink

These speakers are diminutive, sure, but you don't want speakers taking up too much desk real estate, do you? Of course not. The good thing about the UCubes, despite being as loud as they are small (each speaker can pump out 15 watts of power), is that all they need to work is a USB port. Both sound and power are delivered through one port, making them easy to disconnect and rearrange. That's probably why Amtrak is planning on bringing these to its quiet cars.


 From : Complextech

Top 5 News of the Week

It's been a week of the little things: we got our grubby little hands on a pre-release version of the HTC One mini and did a comparison between the HTC One mini and it's bitter rival, the Samsung Galaxy S4 mini. We also posted a video on public opinions to the S4 mini, which released in the UK a couple of weeks ago and ran a comparison between the full-size S4 and the S4 mini. We also saw an amazing leak of Android 4.3 on a Nexus 4 device bought from a Google employee and a 4.2.2 leak for the Galaxy Note 8.0. So, what else happened in Android Land this week?

What do you think were the top 5 news items of the week? / © AndroidPIT

Samsung Galaxy S4 “Hidden” features

There's no denying the supremacy of the Samsung Galaxy S4 right now, and AndroidPIT readers just can't get enough of it. We've posted lots of tips and tricks for the device, but we just keep on finding more. From Easy Mode for smartphone noobs, to kid-gloves and touchscreens, we dropped a few cool tips for S4 beginners. Did you know you can also customize the audio output to your hearing? And that the S4 can let you know whether you have any notifications worth unlocking the screen for when you pick it up?

Get the skinny on how to use your Galaxy S4 better. / © AndroidPIT

Samsung Galaxy S2 tips and tricks

We know not everyone lines up overnight to get their hands on the latest gadget, and sometime you just grow too attached to your old trusty device to replace it. So we decided to give some love to Samsung Galaxy S2 users out there, and you showed us that there's still a quite a few of you out there! But just because you've owned a device for a while doesn't necessarily mean there's nothing left to discover. So we shared some more tips and tricks to get even more out of your S2.

Not on the starship S4 yet? That's ok, we've got tips for the S2 as well. / © AndroidPIT

New Nexus 7 Poised to Sell About 8 Million?

From looking back to old devices to looking forward to new releases, we got a positive response to news about the upcoming Nexus 7. Apparently no one seems to be able to agree on just how many Nexus 7's will sell. We also managed to post specs, photos and a video detailing it's likely release on July 24th at a Google event. We're even speculating it might ship with Android 4.3 Jelly Bean. Now, wouldn't that boost the numbers a little?

The leaky, sneaky Nexus 7 was making quite a stir this week. / © Android Central

Comparison: Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 vs Huawei Ascend Mate

Who doesn't love a good old fashioned prize fight? We thought we'd pit the Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 against the Huawei Ascend Mate and see which phablet came out on top. We compared the two devices in terms of design, screen specs, software and camera. The technical differences between the two phablets was significant, but then there's always something else to change the game. What do you think it was?

The battle of the minis happened this week, but what about the big boys' prize fight?/ © AndroidPIT

Android 4.2.2 leaked for Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0

And for all the lucky Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 owners out there, we shared a how-to for getting Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean on your tablet. It's not an official release, but if you're happy to run a custom ROM on your device, you can have the latest Android release on your Note 8.0. Reportedly delivering better speeds and battery life, this leaked update is definitely good news while we await the launch of Andoird 4.3.

The Note 8.0 got the Android 4.2.2 treatment this week too. / © AndroidPIT

 

From : AndroidPIT