Galaxy S III’s Chaotic U.S. Launch Could Cost Samsung Millions - By Sean Patterson

It’s clear now that Samsung underestimated how popular its new flagship Android smartphone would be. Sales of the Galaxy S III are predicted to top 10 million units by the end of July. However, supply problems have begun to become a problem, and as a result, the U.S. launch of the smartphone has been a confusing mess.

Reuters is reporting today that Samsung believes their supply problems are nearly behind them. Samsung admitted to underestimating demand for the smartphone, telling Reuters that, “It is simply that demand far exceeded our expectation. But that doesn’t mean we had set a very conservative demand forecast.” Reuters also reported that a problem with the design of the “pebble blue” version of the device was part of the reason for the manufacturing delays.

According to financial analysts cited by Reuters, the delays have hindered the shipment of an estimated 2 million Galaxy S III devices, meaning millions in lost sales this month for Samsung. Samsung seems to be telling the truth about the supply problems being fixed, though. Barclays, a British financial services company, revised its third-quarter shipment forecast for the device from 1 million units to an amazing 15 million.

Despite the delays, it’s clear that Samsung’s new smartphone is on fire (figuratively and literally). It’s also clear that Samsung has propelled itself past HTC and Motorola to become the strongest Apple competitor in the smartphone market. If the company can continue its success, it’s not unimaginable that rumors of it splitting off from the Android community and creating its own software ecosystem could come true.

As for Android fans in the U.S., most customers should be able to get their hands on a Galaxy S III by June 28. Verizon customers, though, will have to wait until July 11 for the phone to go on sale.

Zynga Digs Deep For Its Next Facebook Game - By Zach Walton

Despite a sluggish stock, Zynga is still toiling away on new games hoping to catch their next big break. They pushed Zynga Slots to mobile last week which will probably do really well. Their next Facebook game, however, is a little more uncertain.

The next Facebook game from Zynga is called Ruby Blast. It’s a match-three puzzler with a twist. The player is not trying to clear the board of gems, but rather going deeper until the timer runs out. It’s a popular variation on the match three puzzle genre. So, does Zynga bring anything new to the table?

Surprisingly, Zynga has added some neat additions to the classic formula. The first is that your friends can join your game to help clear blocks. It appears that your friend’s face is applied to a drill and then they destroy a line of blocks.

While not new to the genre by any means, the fact that Zynga has included power-ups is a welcome addition. Too many puzzle games are just boring grindfests. Being able to destroy entire lines of gems or blocks with multi-tiered explosions is one of the best puzzle game mechanics.

That game also features the requisite leaderboards for competing with friends. If your friends are into puzzlers, then Ruby Blast may just be the Facebook game for you. If your friends hate you for your constant requests for items in Farmville, you may just want to play this one alone.

Check out the trailer for Ruby Blast. It should give you a look into the gameplay as well as Zynga apparently trying to tell a story via animatics. You can start playing the game once it goes live on Facebook or at Zynga.com.

Zynga Games About To Be Flooded With Foul-Mouthed 12-Year-Olds - By Zach Walton

While I don’t play Zynga’s games, I praise them for their simplistic take on competition. Players enjoy a single-player experience and let others know through charming Facebook posts that it’s the opponent’s turn or that they beat a high score. It’s non-threatening and conducive to a wholesome family environment.

 

In a move that will single-handedly destroy that wholesome environment, Zynga has decided tointroduce live multiplayer into one of its titles. The first title to receive the update is Bubble Safari, a match three puzzle game. Now up to four players can play the game together competing for high scores.

Zynga apparently isn’t putting any safe guards on this one either as players can enter into quick matches with random strangers. While I doubt the people who play Bubble Safari are on the level of those you find in a Call of Duty match on Xbox Live, there are probably some bad apples in the Zynga grove that could ruin the game for everybody.

Thankfully, the only form of communication seems to be through regular text chat. That makes it easier for Zynga to block offensive comments that any particularly angry person can lobby at your mother or sexual orientation. Even then, it does nothing to stop the flow of immature jerks who make it their life goal to ruin your good time.

Zynga’s new live multiplayer is fortunately only available in Bubble Safari for now. I would hate to see what kind of fights would break out in Zynga Poker, Mafia Wars, or Farmville. I’m sure they’re testing it out on a relatively harmless game first to see if Zynga attracts the same kind of people that you wish you could just mute on Xbox Live.

With all that being said, I look forward to a future of hilarious griefing videos featuring Zynga’s games. If you want to get a head start, you can start playing Bubble Safari with its new multiplayers features right now for free.

Facebook Honored With GLAAD Award For Support Of LGBT Community

Will become first social media company to receive the media award

By Josh Wolford

Tomorrow night in San Francisco, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation will hold its 23rd annual GLAAD Media Awards to honor “the most outstanding images of the LGBT community in the media.” And that ceremony will provide us with a first – an award to a social media company.

Facebook will be honored with a GLAAD Media Award, “for the company’s strong stand and leadership around bullying prevention as well as its inclusive options for LGBT users,” according to a blog post. Facebook is being given the award for a number of reasons – first and foremost for their part in the Network of Support.

Coming as a response to the slew of tragic stories about LGBT bullying victims committing suicide, Facebook announced that they would be partnering with a half-dozen organizations to form a “Network of Support” for bullied youth. That partnership saw Facebook team up with MTV’s A Thin Line campaign, GLAAD, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the Trevor Project, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), and Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG). The goal of this network is to provide support and resources for the bullied and those that want to speak up and report bullying.

Other reasons that GLAAD notes for giving Facebook the Media Award -

• Facebook gave users the choice to list themselves in “civil unions” and “domestic partnerships.”
• The addition of LGBT resources information the the Help Center
• The launch of the “Stop Bullying: Speak Up” campaign with Time-Warner (which just hit Latin America this week)

The award will be received by Facebook Public Policy Communications Manager Andrew Noyes and Sara Sperling, who is in charge of “diversity and inclusion.” It will be handed out by a high school student named Brittany McMillan, whose idea for “Spirit Day” now sees millions of people wear purple and change their Facebook pics to purple in support of LGBT youth.

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Google Literally Spills The Beans On Android 4.1 - By Zach Walton

It’s pretty much accepted now that Android 4.1 is going to be called Jelly Bean. Google I/O starts tomorrow and the company has not made much of an effort to contain all the leaks confirming the next Android update. The latest leak, however, might be the most obvious yet.

Google posted an image to their Google Developers Google+ page this afternoon that features an interesting sculpture on the Google campus:

Google Developers2 hours ago

Spotted at the Googleplex this morning. (via +Fred Chung)

1650    347Powered by socialditto

As you can see, that’s obviously a jar of jelly beans turned over. Now, this could be Google just adding more sculptures to their abnormally large candy collection, but you’ll notice a pattern. The image features cupcake, ice cream, gingerbread and an eclair – a past versions of Android. It’s no secret that Google creates a sculpture for each new version of Android so this is obviously the newest to be created in honor of Android 4.1.

If you are really skeptical and still not buying this, here’s a photo from someone visiting Google’s campus of the jelly bean jar standing right up. I’ll think you’ll find the shape to be familiar:

Misha M.-Kupriyanov58 minutes ago

Say #jellybean!!!!

#io12#gdg#ambassador#android

22    3Powered by socialditto

At this point, I’m pretty sure Google just doesn’t care anymore. We all know it’s Jelly Bean and we’re just waiting to hear confirmation. We’ll be covering Google I/O so check back for the all the latest and greatest news on Android tomorrow.

iOS 6: Video Shows Siri For iPad In Action - By Shaylin Clark

 

One of the big stories from last week’sWWDC 2012 Apple keynote was iOS 6. The newest version of Apple’s mobile operating system comes with a slew of new features, many of them requested by users over the last couple of years. New features in iOS 6 include an overhauled (and Google-less) Maps app, Facebook integration, improvements to Siri, better privacy settings, and more.

One remarkable bit of news is that Siri would finally be making the jump to a device other than the iPhone 4S. When iOS 6 launches alongside the new iPhone this fall, owners of the new iPad will be getting Siri as well. While older iPads will be left out, the fact that Siri is getting spread around even a little is very promising.

While iOS 6 won’t be out until the fall, the beta version of the software has been out since last week, allowing us to get a sneak peek at some of the new goodies coming with the update. Over the weekend, the folks at iJailbreak uploaded their own hands-on video of Siri running on the new iPad. Check out the video for yourself below:

Video Captures Siri, S Voice Showdown - By Shaylin Clark

If you’ve heard much about Samsung’s new Galaxy S III, you’ve probably heard about S Voice. In case you’re not familiar, S Voice is the new voice-activated personal assistant software that’s integrated into the Galaxy S III. Of course, in fine Samsung tradition, it totally doesn’t look anything at all like Siri, the voice-activated personal assistant software that’s integrated into the iPhone 4S. And by “totally doesn’t look anything at all like Siri,” I mean “looks an awful lot like Siri.”

Of course, in the great War of the Fanboys, there’s plenty of… discussion about whether Siri or S Voice is better, whether S Voice is a ripoff of Siri, and which smartphone is the fairest in the land (turns out neither phone gives the answer you’d expect).

Of course, the obvious answer to the debate is to put the two together in a head-to-head competition. And that’s just what you’ll find in the video below. As it turns out, Siri and S Voice are pretty evenly matched. While S Voice takes a little more time to perform certain tasks than Siri, it does them equally well. Of course, S Voice wins in one respect. The last test is finding a particular restaurant. While Siri balks (being as this is in Australia, where Siri doesn’t do local business searches), S Voice pulls up Google Maps and displays a route to the requested destination.

While that might seem to give S Voice a bit of a lead, iOS 6 will fix that when it launches this fall. Apple announced during their WWDC 2012 keynote on Monday that the iOS Maps app would be getting turn-by-turn navigation and local business search in a variety of new countries when it launches this fall.

Check out the video for yourself and decide who wins:

Chevy Sonic, Spark Are First To Get Siri Eyes-Free - By Shaylin Clark

One of the highlights of Apple’s WWDC 2012 keynote was the introduction of iOS 6. During the presentation, Apple unveiled a bunch of great new features that would be coming to their mobile operating system when it launches alongside the new iPhonethis fall.

Among those awesome new features were improvements to Siri, and the addition of turn-by-turn navigation to the Maps app. As part of that, Apple announced that Siri would be getting an “eyes free” mode. That is, a button on the steering wheel of your car would activate Siri, allowing you to give commands (including navigation requests) without ever taking your hands off the wheel or your eyes off the road.

As part of the announcement, Apple said that they had been working with a number of auto manufacturers who were on board and would be bringing eyes free Siri integration to their vehicles soon. They flashed the logos of nine auto makers on the screen, including GM, BMW, Toyota, and Chrysler. Ford, which already has similar technology in place with its SYNC system, was conspicuously absent from the list.

The question, of course, was which of these auto makers would get Eyes Free-capable vehicles rolling off their assembly lines first. The answer, it seems, is GM. According to GM Authority, GM is prepping two models that will have Eyes Free integration: the Chevy Spark and the Chevy Sonic. The timing of the rollout is unclear, but the report suggests that there will be an announcement sometime within the next year. That suggests that we won’t be seeing Eyes Free in the 2013 models of either vehicle, though the 2014 model seems pretty certain.

It is not yet known when any of the other car makers will be rolling out Eyes Free integration in their vehicles.

iOS 6 Beta 2 Seeded To Developers - By Shaylin Clark

Apple has released the second beta version of iOS 6 to developers today. The update went live less than an hour ago. Developers with iOS 6 beta 1 installed on their devices can download the update over the air directly to their devices.

It’s not clear what has been changed with the new beta version. All Apple says is that it includes bug fixes and improvements. The update is 322MB in size. Apple has not yet updated the developer site with further details on the new beta.

The first beta of iOS 6 was released shortly after the WWDC 2012 keynote two weeks ago. According to early reports the new features were generally great, but the system tended to be fairly buggy and unstable. This release presumably fixes some of the instabilities of the previous version. It’s also possible that it adds new features, but we’ll have to wait until the developers start digging around in it to know for certain.

The final version of iOS 6 is scheduled to release sometime in the fall. Though Apple didn’t say so during the keynote, iOS 6 will release at the same time as the new iPhone, which has been widely rumored to be coming in October.

After Years of Waiting, Apple Releases a Podcast App - By Sean Patterson

Podcast listeners are a relatively small, yet loyal group. While others spend their daily commute or house-cleaning time listening to music, podcast fans listen to people talk, constantly filling their heads with both valuable knowledge and worthless inanities. These fans have always been well-equipped if they use Android phones. The Google Listen app allows users to subscribe to their favorite feeds, and have them update automatically via a data connection or Wi-Fi.

Podcast listeners on iOS, though, have been stuck syncing their phones to iTunes, sorting out their podcasts among the rest of the audio on their device. Either that, or turning to one of the few unofficial podcast listening apps in the App Store. It’s been a shame, really, since iTunes was the platform that allowed podcasting to decisively take off as a medium. Finally, though, rumors began circulating earlier this week that a podcast app would be coming with the launch of iOS 6.

Today Apple surprised everyone by releasing a dedicated Podcast app for iOS. The app is simply called “Podcasts,” and allows users to search and subscribe to thousands of podcasts. Most of the features of the Podcast section of iTunes have made it into the app. Apple will promote “Top Stations” in a variety of categories including comedy, news, and sports. Top charts will be displayed in the Podcasts app, and episodes can be streamed or downloaded for later listening, over data or Wi-Fi. Apple has also thrown some minimal social support into the app, allowing users to Tweet, message, or email podcast episodes. iTunes sync is a feature of the Podcasts app, though in this case it syncs playback of episodes, meaning seamless transition between Apple devices such as iPods and iPads.

An official podcast app from Apple should be worrying to 3rd-party podcast apps such as Stitcher. The functionality of the new Podcasts app looks to encompass everything users were looking for in those 3rd-party solutions, along with built-in iTunes integration. The new app is available for free in iTunes and the Apple App Store. It requires iOS 5.1 or later, and the iTunes syncing feature requires iTunes 10.6.3 or later.

Microsoft Thinks Wi-Fi Is Just Fine For All Your Surface Needs By Zach Walton

Do you like to use mobile data with your tablets? You might want to sit out on Microsoft’s Surface tablet, at least at launch.

There’s no doubt that Wi-Fi is still the most popular, and preferred, method for people to connect to the Internet via their mobile devices. Tablets are no different and Microsoft should obviously know this. There are people who enjoy choice though and the iPad recognizes that choice by offering 4G LTE versions of its new iPad. Microsoft won’t be offering such a choice.

Anonymous sources speaking to Bloomberg revealed that Microsoft wil be equipping the Surface with only a Wi-Fi short-range connection. It will be good enough for most people, but it will be lacking the 4G/4G LTE connections that at least a few people want out of their mobile devices.

So why would Microsoft cut out this potential source of revenue? The cost, of course. Apple can afford to offer a 4G LTE version of the new iPad because they’re sitting on more money than Scrooge McDuck ever had through all four seasons of Duck Tales. Microsoft is entering the market late and has to capture the largest audience first before they can start offering a product for a niche audience.

It should also be noted that the Surface is obviously targeted towards productivity. You don’t really need a mobile data connection to do work on a tablet. Wi-Fi would be just fine for the majority of those who are buying the Surface. If anything, I can see Microsoft offering a 4G LTE version of the WIndows RT-based Surface later down the line, while keeping the Windows 8 Pro version on Wi-Fi only.

For those who are a bit bummed over the rumored exclusion of 4G LTE, you should stick with Apple. They got ya covered unless you live in Australia.

Is Microsoft’s Major Announcement The Xbox Surface? [Rumor] - By Zach Walton

Microsoft is making a major announcement today in Los Angeles at 3:30 p.m. PST. Nobody has any idea what it is and Microsoft has been very secretive with the announcement. The major consensus at this point seems to be that it’s going to be a tablet, but what kind of tablet? A recent leak may hold the answers.

Thanks to a leak coming out of Shifted2u, we know that the potential Microsoft tablet may be called the Xbox Surface. That fits in with a rumor we reported on earlier this morning that Microsoft was working with Barnes & Noble to make a Nook tablet that streams Xbox Live content. The Xbox Surface is a little more interesting than that, however, if the leaked document ends up being true.

The leaked documents reveals that the Xbox Surface has a 7.0 ince multi-touch LED screen, a max resolution of 1280×720, SD card slot, bluetooth and Wi-Fi. That’s a pretty standard tablet by today’s standards, but the innards is what really excites me as a technophile and a gamer.

The document says that the Xbox Surface will be powered by two IBM POWER7 SCMs with each SCM having 6 active cores at 3.1 GHz. It’s also rumored to have 5 GB of DDR3 RAM and a custom 28nm GPU from AMD featuring 1.2 GB of memory and full Direct3D 11 support.

As for storage, it will have a 250 GB disk drive alongside storage that can be expanded via USB drives. It will also have support for up to four wireless game controllers and one headphone port per controller which pretty much confirms that it uses Xbox 360 controllers. It also features 4 USB 3.0 ports and component video/HDMI out.

As you can see, this machine is not a tablet, but rather some kind of awesome monster PC hiding inside of a tablet. I can already feel the skepticism and you wouldn’t be wrong to be skeptical. Tablets today are weak compared to this, but maybe Microsoft needs this to grab our attention. If they just announced a tablet, it wouldn’t be news. If they announced a tablet that’s many times more powerful than the iPad or anything else on the market, that’s news.

Of course, the real question is how to find a market for such a thing. A lot of people just want tablets for content consumption and nothing else. They’re fine with shallow experiences that allow them brief distractions from their day. If true, the Xbox Surface will be the tablet for the power user and gamer. It will be Microsoft handheld that many consumers have wanted for years to combat the 3DS and the PS Vita. It will just have the extra benefit of being able to compete head-on as a portable computer as well.

It’s important to note that this is all a rumor for now. We won’t know anything until tonight at 6:30 p.m. PST. If this is true though, count me among the first in line. I haven’t jumped on the tablet bandwagon yet due to my status as a power user. The iPads and Kindle Fires of the world just don’t cut it. The Xbox Surface, if true, would cut it and then some.

UPDATE:

Thanks to our readers pointing out my own lack of being able to see light grey text on a white background, it would appear that the Xbox Surface document points to two separate devices. One of them being the tablet with the other being a “stationary computing device.” What does it all mean? It’s too early to tell at the moment, but it could be the next Xbox. We’ll find out later tonight at Microsoft’s press event.

Asus Confirms New Google Tablet On the Way By Chris Gabbard

For a few months now there have been rumors that Asus and Google will be releasing a 7-inch Nexus tablet at the upcoming Google I/O conference. Now a report from Android Authority is confirming that the rumors are true. They sat down with an Asus executive over the weekend, and he said that the Google tablet does, in fact, exist. On top of that, he confirmed that it would be available by the end of June.

This really does seem to indicate that the rumors of the I/O conference unveiling are also true. The San Francisco conference wraps up at the end of June, so this can be the only logical conclusion.

Late last week, a few shots of the rumored tablet were supposedly leaked. The tablet is said to have a 7 inch screen and will run on a quad core Tegra 3 processor with 1 gigabyte of RAM. The pictures also revealed a forward facing camera and what appears to be an earpiece similar to a smartphone.

Early rumors also pointed to the possibility of it running on Android 5.0 Jellybean. Later reports are saying that that is false, and it will run on Android 4.1 OS. So the operating system doesn’t appear to be getting a complete overhall, but expect to see quite a few changes to the 4.1 OS.

According to Android Authority, ASUS is also in talks with carriers to bring the Padfone to the United States. So far, they all hate it (free data), but AT&T may be willing to give it a try. According to the source, this front is moving slowly.

Google Tablet Details Leaked: Nexus 7 - By Chris Gabbard

Gizmodo Australia has uncovered a training document that details the exact specifications of the new Google Nexus 7 tablet, and how much it is going to cost. The news comes ahead of the I/O developers conference which starts tomorrow. Gizmodo made the discovery late yesterday, so a one or two day heads up is all you’re going to get on this leak, but its still good to stay ahead of the game.

The tablet will be called the Nexus 7 and will be built by Asus. It will include a 1.3Ghz quad-core Tegra 3 processor, a GeForce 12-core GPU and 1GB of RAM. You will have two different storage options with 8GB and 16 GB releases.

Nexus 7 will feature NFC and run Google Wallet (though probably not in the US, because we’re way behind on mobile payment technology) and Android Beam.

The screen is an IPS display with a 178-degree viewing angle and will have a resolution of 1280 by 800. It will include a 1.2-megapixel front-facing camera and a battery life of 9 hours of continuos usage.

The 8GB model will sell for $200 and the 16GB will cost $250.

It will be the first to run on Jelly Bean, the newest version of Android. Google will also handle all updates for the device, but it is unclear if that will apply to all Jelly Bean deices or just the Nexus 7. We will probably find that out tomorrow at I/O.

No release date was given on the document, but tech blogs are reporting that it wil likely be in July. Then again they might surprise us like Apple did at their conference, and have them ready to ship immediately after the announcement.