Android

A new market forecast by research specialist Gartner predicts that device shipments (that's PCs, tablets, ultramobiles and mobile phones -- no toasters or coffee makers) will reach 2.5 billion units in 2014, up 7.6 percent from last year.

It also sees Android passing the one billion user mark across all devices this year, with 75 percent of Android volume coming from emerging markets by 2017.

When it comes to tablets (and other things), size matters. After all, a tablet, like other computers, is a tool. If you go to Sears for a screwdriver, you will find tiny ones for eyeglasses and enormous ones for automotive and lord knows what. In other words, you buy the tool that meets your needs. Much the way that different-sized screwdrivers have different purposes, so do tablets.

For instance, if you want to create content, a larger tablet like an iPad Air or Surface 2 would be ideal. Conversely, if you only want to consume media, maybe you can get by with a Nexus 7. But what if you need your tablet for serious business? Like, multiple-windows-open-simultaneously type business? The bigger the better then, right? Well, Samsung announces that it wants to meet the unmet needs of these users, with the Samsung Galaxy NotePRO and TabPRO -- 12.2 inches of fondle-friendly productivity.

Android is certainly no stranger to your car, as we all carry our devices along wherever we go, though hopefully you aren’t using yours as you drive. Now Google aims to take the idea of Android in vehicles and improve upon it, in much the same way that Ford has done with Sync.

The company announces a new Open Automotive Alliance bringing together Android with Audi, GM, Honda, Hyundai and Nvidia. The effort aims to make your mobile device more useful and much less distracting when you are out on the road.

All-in-one PCs are popular in the office and in customer-facing environments because they’re stylish and take up less space than conventional models.

HP has been an active player in this field for a while and has now updated its range of all-in-one (AiO) models with four new systems including -- for the first time -- one that runs Android.

Google may have just announced the closure of Flock and Bump, but it's not all about closures -- there are also acquisitions taking place as well. The latest addition to the Google fold is Bitspin. The name of the company may not be immediately familiar, but this is the company behind the Android alarm clock app Timely. At this stage it is not clear whether the company has been bought outright by Google or if there is a partnership in the cards, but there is certainly something afoot.

An announcement on the Bitspin website says:

It's becoming quite a trend with Google. Buy up an interesting company or service, sit on it for a little while… and then shut it down. The latest victims of Google's seemingly never-ending cull are Flock and Bump. Bump was only acquired back in September, but it is already on the kill list. At the time of the acquisition, there was debate about whether the service might be rebranded, but as of the end of January it will be no more.

Bump was, in its day, quite an innovative tool, seen by many as the precursor to NFC. It enabled files to be quickly transferred between devices by bumping them together. Flock was a similar tool, but concerned solely with photo sharing. However as of 31 January, both apps will disappear from view, as announced in a blog post by CEO and co-founder of Bump, David Lieb:

As mobile operators across the globe continue to roll out 4G LTE networks, more consumers will be able to take advantage of faster data speeds. By 2017, market research firm Strategy Analytics predicts that the technology will reach 1 billion connections. The main requirement, on the user side, is a compatible, 4G LTE device.

Nowadays, 4G LTE smartphones are increasing in number and availability, but without mobile operator subsidies consumers may still be put off by the cost. Luckily for price-conscious buyers, more vendors are lowering the admission bar by offering even more affordable 4G LTE phones. French consumer electronics company Archos just revealed that one of its latest such devices can be had under the magical €200 mark.

Right before the end of the year, Microsoft releases an update for its OneNote Android app which adds major features and improvements, as well as better integration with the mobile operating system.

OneNote now makes it easier for Android users to share content from another app, as the new version of the note-taking software introduces an Add to OneNote option in the OS' Share via menu. Rival players like Evernote have offered this feature for quite some time, so it's nice to see that Microsoft is paying attention to the competition and enabling a more tailored user experience.

As 2013 winds down, my colleagues have been busy talking up their resolutions for the coming year. But, like Ian Barker, I don’t actually have any of those -- they'd likely just serve as embarrassment when I failed to deliver on my promises.

I don't have a problem with backups -- I pay for Crashplan to take care of that for me, so I never need to think about the potential for disaster. I don’t resolve to use a particular product, as others have. I simply utilize whatever is available at the time, and I'm in a fortunate position to frequently have the latest, though it isn’t always the greatest, hardware.

It's inevitable that at this time of year tech companies and analysts like to try to grab headlines with their predictions for the coming 12 months. Security specialist Kaspersky Lab is no exception, and guaranteed to make waves is its forecast of the collapse of the internet as we know it.

This, it says, will be driven by pressure to break the web up into national segments. So far this has only applied to counties like China with its Great Firewall, but other nations including Russia have planned legislation to prohibit the use of foreign services. In November, Germany announced that all communications between the German authorities would be fully locked within the country. Brazil too has announced its plans to build an alternative internet channel so as not to use the one that goes through Florida.

This past year has been incredibly busy, and a huge amount of hardware has passed through my hands. Some of it has impressed, a lot has disappointed, but a handful was great enough to make it to my list of favorites for the year.

While I've tried out a great deal of software, this has been a year in which it has been hardware that has caught my eye. So here it is: my favorite tech from 2013.

This hass been a much quieter week than usual with Christmas meaning that many companies have been on a virtual shutdown. But there has still been a bit of activity over the past seven days. We've reached the end of the year and the BetaNews team finds itself in a reflective mood. Mihaita was the first to pick his favourite tech products of the years, and Wayne wasn't far behind. Brian also got in on the action and Ian shared his thoughts as well. Bing also took a look back at the year, putting together a list of the top ten homepage images of 2013.

A delay at UPS meant that the delivery of many Christmas presents was held up, but if the delivery man did manage to make his way to your door in time to bring you a Surface 2, Brian has a guide to getting started. Alan was also on hand to help anyone who was the lucky recipient of a Kindle Fire HDX or a Google TV. Many people will have received, or bought themselves, a Windows 8.1 PC: Wayne had the info you need to get started.

It's the big day. You've been waiting to tear the bow and paper off all those gifts that have been temptingly resting beneath the tree, and now you've finally been able to do so. We're curious what you got, but we certainly hope it was all you dreamed for. And, if your holiday haul included the latest tablet from Amazon, then we'd like to give you a bit of help.

Amazon refreshed its lineup of tablets just recently, and several of us here at BetaNews have been enjoying the latest models. Not long ago I reviewed the 7-inch version, and my colleague Mark Wilson has been reveling in the fabulous screen of the 8.9-inch model of the device.

Throughout the year, I work pretty darn hard -- I wear multiple hats. Because of this, I decided to spend the holidays in sunny Florida as a working vacation. Sadly, the airfare was a bit too expensive, so I decided to drive there from New York.

Unfortunately, the place at which I am staying does not have WiFi or Television -- a nerd's worst nightmare. As a tech-writer, I was going to have to think smart about which devices I would bring and which would stay home. You may be surprised by my choices.

Android is Linux; it utilizes Linus Torvald's kernel. However, for many, it is looked at as a bastardization of Linux -- not a true distribution. I get that; after all, Google's own Android apps are closed-sourced and many of the devices have locked bootloaders. These hindrances, whether the fault of Android or not, are not exactly in the spirit of the free and open Linux community.

Many users crave more -- to have a full-fledged Linux distribution on their mobile device. And so, Canonical, owner of one of the most popular distributions, Ubuntu has been trying to answer the prayers of those dissatisfied with Android, with Ubuntu Touch. While the software has been promising, it is not yet ready to replace Android. Today, Canonical announces an interim solution -- the Ubuntu and Android dual boot developer preview.