How many android users switching to Apple?!

The study, conducted over a year between June 2012 and June 2013, shows clearly that 20% of iPhone buyers had previously owned an Android powered smart phone. Winning, Apple?

Twenty-six percent of iPhone buyers were updating to Apple’s phone from a basic or feature phone, while 43 percent had already owned an Apple phone and were upgrading.

On the other end, though, only seven percent of Samsung phone buyers were switching from Apple devices.

Looking only at customers who had switched brands, fully one third of Apple’s new customers had previously owned Samsung devices. Only 11 percent of Samsung’s customers came from Apple.

Image courtesy of Forbes.

What’s happening with Blackberry?!

What is the deal with Blackberry?

There’s been a lot of stuff in the news about it that sounds all kinds of depressing, but what’s really going on? They were the cool kids for a while, but we realized just how long ago that was a few months back when we saw someone with a Blackberry and for a few seconds we couldn’t figure out what kind of phone it was.

But maybe that’s just us. If you look at some numbers, they still do seem to have a very dedicated user base.

So here’s the deal: they’re not done. Yet. They are however officially for sale. Little bit of a sad face.

Unfortunately for them, potential buyers are evilly waiting in the wings, waiting to see if the company will devalue further before making an offer. Names of potential buyers being thrown around by analysts are about who you would think- Samsung, IBM, Microsoft, HTC, a private investor or equity company , or even Apple.

If it’s a private sale, the company would more likely be stripped and sold off in pieces. If another big tech company buys it, they would use Blackberry’s technology, patents, and dedicated business users for their own benefit. This would also be a far more public route.

The problem is this: Blackberry as a company is predominantly based on aging technology. Technology that hasn’t been able to keep up with the smart phone industry giants.

A little backstory on Blackberry. BlackBerry Limited, formerly known as Research In Motion Limited, is a Canadian company. It was founded by Mike Lazaridis, who served as its co-CEO along with Jim Balsillie until January 22, 2012; as of August 2013, the company’s CEO is Thorsten Heins.

The last product launch Blackberry had was the BlackBerry 10 mobile operating system and two new smartphones based off the platform, the BlackBerry Z10 and Q10, on January 30, 2013.

At the launch, Chief Marketing Officer Frank Boulben said this in regards to the operating system: “It could be the greatest comeback in tech history. The carriers are behind us. They don’t want a duopoly” (referring to Apple and Samsung).

On the 25th March, Goldman Sachs analyst Simona Jankowski wrote: “We now assign a 20% probability of success for BB10, down from 30% previously, as the disappointing launch of the Z10 at AT&T reduces our confidence that sell-through of the BB10 will be successful in the important US market,”

On June 28, 2013, after BlackBerry announced net losses of approximately $84 million, its shares plunged 28%.

On August 12, 2013, the company announced that it is open to being purchased and stated in an official news release to Canada’s securities administrators:

“The company’s board of directors has formed a special committee to explore strategic alternatives to enhance value and increase scale in order to accelerate BlackBerry 10 deployment. These alternatives could include, among others, possible joint ventures, strategic partnerships or alliances, a sale of the Company or other possible transactions.”

So. They are still rolling out Blackberry 10, and they are open to, well, pretty much anything to make Blackberry make that great comeback.

We hope that Blackberry find a way to continue. But if not, we can think of a few other creative uses for the Blackberries. Like throwing them at people.

…Just kidding.

Image courtesy of Crackberry.

Samsung’s New TV – Watch two things at once ( and no, we don’t mean with split screen)

We gotta say, Samsung have impressed us with this one.

You guys know the feeling, where you’re sitting with your beloved significant other, and love sitting next to them, and being near them, and being able to touch them, but really really hate the crap they have playing on TV cos it’s their turn to pick?

We do.  …Sorry iPhone Antidote’s significant other.

But! Can I hear a hell yes? Cos here’s the fix!

Samsung have now released a new television in the US, one which was announced back in January 2012. This magical and most welcome entry to the television market is a $9000, 55-inch, curved, OLED multi-view T.V.

Hi, KN55S9C! You’re a little expensive!

If you do have the cash, it may just be worth it. The multi-view function is not created using split screen or picture in picture, but is instead enabled by Samsung 3D glasses that come equipped with little headphones. This allows two parties to see two different programs on the same curved screen. This also means that the TV has 3D capabilities, and additionally is a Smart TV, with internet connectivity. Pretty sweet.

The fact that it’s OLED ( Organic Light Emitting Diode ), means that the television is thinner and lighter with the abilty to produce a higher contrast ratio than LCD sets. The curved screen is said to work better with the curves of your eyeballs. huh. Also makes it very, very hard to mount on a wall, according to consumer reports.
You can order one now here, and it comes with free shipping until August 31st!

Image courtesy of Gizmag.

Samsung’s Smartwatch and Galaxy Note III revealed Sept 4th!

It’s all happening!

Samsung has confirmed that come September 4th, they will be holding a special ‘Unpacked Episode 2’ at The IFA in Berlin.

IFA, if you’re wondering, is the excellent sounding Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin, or, if you’re one of those people who like things to be explained clearly –  one of the biggest industrial and consumer electronic trade shows in the world.

At the IFA last year Samsung unveiled the Note II, and the year before that the Note. It stand to reason that everyone is expecting the unveiling of the Galaxy Note III at this years event. Pretty cool.

At their Unpacked Episode 1 on March 15th this year, Samsung launched the Galaxy S4 handset at Radio City Music Hall in NYC. The event was also streamed live to Times square- a flashy  display it is believed they will replicate at the Unpacked Episode 2 event.

So what can we expect from this event?

As we’ve said- we’re more than likely looking at the unveiling of the the Galaxy Note III,

AND ( this bit’s a little bit exciting),

Samsung new Smartwatch, purportedly called the Galaxy Gear. Fandroids excite!

Samsung are apparently super excited that they get to show the world their Smartwatch before Apple even gets there’s to the gate. The tech world will, of course, be very interested in matching them up against each other when Apple does release their rumored iWatch, and this will very likely happen late this year or early 2014.

Until then, though, on September 4th, we will be able to feast our eyes on Samsung’s Galaxy Gear.

According to SamMobile, the Smartwatch is likely to come in four different colors with a fifth being released a week later. The colors will be white, orange, gray, black, and the fifth color will be white gold.

It is also said to have a 2.5-inch touchscreen display with a camera, speakers, and an accelerometer.  The watch will not be a stand alone device, using bluetooth and NFC to draw data from your smartphone.

These are said to be the specs:

Get the itunes festival iOS App!

You guys have heard of the iTunes Festival right? If not, here’s whatsup. It’s a month long free concert series. It’s pretty cool. Lots of famous and broadly attractive acts. Aaaaand it’s in the UK.

Ok, ok, so unless you’re a lucky special little flower, you more than likely won’t be able to travel to the UK to watch any of the concerts held in Camden, London. Even if you are, only UK residents can enter to go, so there, richy rich.

BUT! Fear not! Come September, you can stream the shows—live or after the performances—for free with the official iOS app, on your computer with iTunes, or on your big screen with Apple TV.

Here is the line up, so pick your performers, and arrange a little UK themed iTunes awesome live music party! Or two! Or thirty! Yeah!

• 1 September: Lady GaGa 
  
• 2 September: Sigur Ros
  
• 3 September: The Lumineers
• 4 September: Paramore
• 5 September: Rizzle Kicks
• 6 September: Queens Of The Stone Age+ Palma Violets
• 7 September: Pheonix
• 8 September: Bastille+ The 1975
• 9 September: Arctic Monkeys
• 10 September: Jake Bugg+Valerie June
• 11 September: Kings Of Leon + Jimmy Eat World
• 12 September: Elton John + Tom Odell
  
• 13 September: Avicii
  
• 14 September: Chic+  Janelle Monae
• 15 September: Vampire Weekend + The Olms
• 16 September: Jack Johnson + Bahamas
• 17 September: Ludovico Einaudi
• 18 September: Thirty Seconds to Mars
• 19 September: Kendrick Lamar
• 20 September: Primal Scream
• 21 September: HAIM
• 22 September:Ellie Goulding
  
• 23 September: Jessie J+ Lawson
• 24 September: Robin Thicke
• 25 September: Pixies + NO CEREMONY///
• 26 September: Tinie Tempah + Naughty Boy
• 27 September:  Dizzee Rascal
• 28 September: John Legend
• 29 September: Justin Timberlake
• 30 September: Katy Perry+ Iggy Azalea +Icona Pop
  

Image courtesy of iTunes.

Apple shares over $500! Time to invest?

Because of one man, the shares in Apple have gone up by more than 5%, almost reaching the $500 mark and making over 17 million dollars for Apple. Sweet.

First, it started with a simple tweet from stockbroker turned billionaire hedge fund manager and investor Carl Icahn. It read;

“Had a nice conversation with Tom Cook today. Discussed my opinion that a larger buyback should be done now. We plan to speak again shortly.”

Then came the second tweet;

“We currently have a large position in APPLE. We believe the company to be extremely undervalued. Spoke to Tim Cook today. More to come.”

Less than two hours later, Apple shares had closed up by nearly 5 percent at just under $490.

In the days leading up to the Icahn tweets the shares had already been rising due to the leaked news of the Apple iPhone 5S announcement on September 10th,  as well as the news that the Obama administration had overturned an import ban on some older iPhones and iPads, and that the International Trade Commission had ordered several Samsung smartphones be banned for infringing on Apple patents.

All positive things for Apple, which reflects in their share prices.

Icahn is investing in Apple because he believes it to be undervalued, yes, but also because he thinks that if Apple use some of their massive $150 billion cash stockpile to buyback stock, the value of the stock could skyrocket to around $700.

No news yet if this is something Apple will be doing, but with a slate full of new product releases scheduled for the end of this year through to 2014, the general consensus is that Apple shares will remain positive.

As of today, the stock prices have reached $507.15 after hitting a peak of 513.43 April 19th, the highest the shares have been since September 19th 2012, when it reached the peak of $702.10. Although the price has gone slightly down, the fact that they remain above the $500 mark is a good sign.

So, time to invest?

Images courtesy of Appleinsider.

Playstation 4 release date

Previously rumored to be released on November 13th, the much anticipated Playstation 4 now has a confirmed release date!

All you gamers, the more than one million people who have pre-ordered it, and, well, everyone else who’s interested can look forward to getting your hands on the wonderfully fantastic next generation Playstation on-

wait for it-

November 15th! 

Andrew House, president and group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment said this about the release:

“We set out to build the most powerful gaming platform with a deeply held, consistent focus on you, the gamer … I’m delighted to say that PlayStation 4 will be launching in 32 countries this holiday season.”

November 13th is also the 319th day of the year, and the day in 1969 that the first Wendy’s restaurant opened. So there you go.

The Playstation 4 will be going up against the XBox One which is yet to announce a release date, but it is believed to be around the same time.

The console will sell for $399.

Yay!

Image courtesy of  Harvey Norman.

iPhone 5S updates

It has been confirmed by AllThingD and 9to5mac that there will indeed be a champagne colored iPhone 5S option announced by Apple come September 10th.

Previous leaked pictures of this rumored third color option have come under fire for not only being false, but if true, looking overly bling bling gold and cheap.

Now, new photos have quietened the masses, as the backplate appears to be a super sophisticated light champagne color with a white front.

And, um….we really kinda want one.

We’ve also received reports that the iPhone 5S is expected to have a model which is equipped with a huge 128Gb.

The purported sapphire covered convex home button will include the fingerprint sensor but apparently, according to the amazing secret finder outerers at 9to5mac, it won’t look or feel significantly different to the current model home button.

More to come!

Image courtesy of Ubergizmo

iPad 5 and iPad Mini updates!

Apple has a busy second half of 2013 coming up!  As Tim Cook said, we can look forward to an amazing new product release schedule this fall through 2014. And look forward we will Tim, look forward we will.

Alongside the iPhone announcements and releases forecast for the upcoming months is the very likely prediction of the announcement and release of the 9.7 inch iPad 5.

The iPad 5 will reportedly be thinner and lighter, taking cues from it’s little bro the mini. Like the Mini, the iPad 5 will be incorporating smaller bezels on the sides in portrait mode (bezels are the sides that aren’t screen; see below) as well as GF2 or GF Ditto technology.

This means that instead of the G/G glass based touchscreen that the iPad has currently, the iPad 5 will have a film based touchscreen, making it overall a huge amount lighter and thinner.

The lovable little brother of the grown up iPad, the iPad Mini will be having it’s own little release at the end of the year as well! Most likely just a small update for the little fella, the mini is said to be getting a beautiful new retina display. And we all love those. Lovely little mini perfection.

Both the iPad 5 and the updated iPad mini won’t be announced on Apple’s September 10th Special Announcement, but we are promised from those deep in the know that we will see these devices released within the last three months of the Year.

Bring it on Apple!

Images courtesy of Tapscape.

Win tickets to see the Ashton Kutcher Steve Jobs biopic here!

Wanna go see the new movie “Jobs” on us? Wanna learn more about the mystery that is the man behind Apple as played by that 70’s show guy?

Done! We’ve got ya covered!

We’re offering 2 FREE tickets (issued by a Fandango $30 Gift Card) to be won by one lucky-ass winner.

“Jobs” opens in theaters nationally TOMORROW, and we’ll give you guys exactly 72 hours to enter and win!

That’s right, just make sure to enter in your info below 8pm PST Monday, August 20th and we will contact the winner within 24 hours! Easy as pie!

 Enter your name and email address below to win!

Image courtesy of imdb.