That didn't take long. Less than 12 hours after Judge Lucy Koh denied Samsung's request to stay the Galaxy Nexus injunction, the handset disappears from Google Play Stores.
Last week, Apple was able to convince Koh that the Nexus was infringing on its patents — enough to warrant a preliminary ban. And it looks like that ban is already in effect...
Wearable computing is coming your way in a big way and will be here to stay, or so would Google have us believe. You must have seen a spectacular demo of the search giant's Minority Report-like wearable computer glasses (if not, I urge you to see the clip right after the break).
Google's strong Project Glass push has given wearable computing lots more credibility, but it might take Apple to mainstream the technology. iShades, anyone?
While you were away: not to be outclassed by Apple or Google, online retailer Amazon has just entered the mapping business by allegedly acquiring a mapping startup UpNext, according to an exclusive GigaOM report. The New York-based company is behind an interesting three-dimensional mapping app for iOS devices, UpNext Maps for iPhone and UpNext HD Maps for iPad (Android and Kindle versions are also available).
Both free downloads, these programs offer both the traditional map view, but also have built-in deals and social features and offline mode. There's also a three-dimensional view with models of more than 50 cities in the United States. Something tells me the apps will soon be gone from the App Store as Amazon makes these exclusive to its own tablet...
Google's been streamlining their confusing set of web services and mobile apps since Larry Page took over the reigns as CEO from Eric Schmidt last year. As part of this simplification of Google, the company just updated its Places app for iOS. It's now re-christened as Google+ Local and comes with a few new interesting features, including voice search and Zagat reviews...
Research firm comScore is out with a new survey of the United States smartphone market and the numbers paint dire picture for everyone but Apple and Samsung. More importantly, data shows that the iPhone's growth during the three month average period ending May 2012 outpaced Android, with Cupertino's market share approaching 1 in every 3 smartphone subscribers...
The Android platform is under attack from a number of companies — not just Apple. Microsoft, for example, has forced several Android partners into licensing agreements due to patent infringements.
And between these settlements, and Apple's recent legal hot streak against Samsung, there's no denying that Google is guilty of illegally copying something from somewhere. But the question is, what?
Nokia thus far has seen little commercial success with first devices born out of their Windows Phone partnership with Microsoft, such as the hyped Lumia lineup. Apparently some Nokia executives are beginning to question the decision to hedge their bets on Microsoft's otherwise cool and smooth Windows Phone operating system and the forthcoming Windows 8.
But what if Windows 8 - the first major release to scale from smartphones to tablets to big screens - doesn't live up to high expectations? Where does that leave Nokia, the once leading cell phone vendor now on the increasingly similar downward spiral like Canada-based Research In Motion, another telecom on its way to the technology graveyard?
As if the fact that Samsung - Apple's main supplier of processors, displays and flash memory chips - has been struggling to fend off Apple's legal blows wasn't enough, a new report out today has it that the maker of Galaxy smartphones and tablets is joining forces with Google as both firms seek to pressure Apple into a cross-licensing deal, with Cupertino paying both Samsung and Google to settle ongoing patenting woes.
If anything, Google openly supporting Samsung in the courtroom suggests nervousness on the part of both technology giants, especially as the latter has recently suffered a pair of legal setbacks concerning devices running Androids software, with potentially far-reaching consequences for the thriving Android ecosystem...
Chromizer is a free jailbreak tweak that will be available tomorrow on Cydia. Its purpose, as its name not-so-subtly alludes to, is to add additional functionality to the recently released Google Chrome browser for iOS.
A tweak that's compatibile with both the iPhone and iPad, Chromizer seeks to add a few missing features to the browser's otherwise excellent stock feature set. For its initial release, Chromizer focuses on adding three new functions to the iPad: Pull to Refresh, full screen mode, and iPhone styled tab switching. For the iPhone, you'll get the full screen mode and pull to refresh, since it already has the tab switching area covered.
Is Chromizer a tweak that you should consider if you have a jailbroken iOS device, and Google Chrome is your browser of choice? Check inside for the answer...
A few minutes ago John Gruber tweeted about the lack of bookmarklet support in Chrome for iOS. I responded to him stating that support is indeed there, it just wasn't as straightforward as it is on Safari.
To tell the truth, I too thought that bookmarklets, or the lack thereof, was simply a medium sized oversight made by Google; after all, such things are instrumental when it comes to using tools like LastPass, Instapaper, etc.
After some tinkering around, however, I was able to confirm that bookmarklet support is indeed included in the version of Chrome that shipped a few days ago. In fact, using them is a fairly straightforward exercise. Check inside for the full how-to...
Earlier in the day we covered BrowserChooser, a jailbreak tweak developed by Ryan Petrich, which allows you to assign Google Chrome as your default web browser.
It's a great tweak, and works exactly as expected; it was even recently updated with a few new additions such as the ability to have a dialogue to select your browser of choice when opening a link, and the ability to make the dialogue sheets say "Open with Chrome" instead of "Open with Safari".
One thing BrowserChooser doesn't do, however, (at least for the time being that is) is allow you to open Home screen shortcuts/bookmarks created via Safari with Google Chrome. Browser Changer is a tweak that's been around for a very long time, and it was recently updated to allow you to do just that.
Check out our hands-on walkthrough inside...
Google's social thing, Google+, may be lagging behind Facebook (250 million users versus Facebook's nearly one billion globally), but the search Goliath has no intention of sitting on the sidelines.
Earlier this week, it announced that the official Google+ client would hit the iPad very soon and today the company took to the blogs to announce the official software development kit for iOS and Android.
Francis Ma, product manager with Google+, wrote in a blog post that Google+ platform for mobile is available beginning today in early developer preview...