We’re halfway through the day, the week, and the news. There’s been plenty happening this morning, if you’ve missed out on anything you can catch it all here in our lunchtime rundown of all the big stories. Don’t grab a sarnie without it.
July, 2011
Code in iOS5 has revealed the Apple TV’s Bluetooth support is about to be turned on. So what? Well it means you’ll be able to hook up other devices like keyboards, mice, and even iPhones/iPads to use as controllers and to navigate menus. Excited? You should be.
Read on to see exactly why Nintendo should be frightened.
Though RIM has been battered with bad news in recent months, packing a BlackBerry is still big in Britain according to new figures from research firm Kantar Worldpanel ComTech. Android is out in the lead with 45.2% of the UK market, BlackBerry increased its share in June to jump to 22.3%, keeping the iPhone in third place with 18.3%.
The report says it’s women and teenagers keeping BlackBerry in the battle with most of its new customers coming from folk flinging away their old feature phones and switching to smartphones. Read on to discover why Britain is still backing BlackBerry…
While Windows Phone 7 has some limited Xbox support, a mad rumour now doing the rounds suggests Windows 8 could play Xbox 360 games. The rumour originates from gaming site, Teknylate, which claims Windows 8 will be able to run game disks plonked directly into the DVD drive.
Quite why Microsoft would want to encourage gamers to move away from the Xbox 360 isn’t clear. The original report goes on to suggest that it will offer subscriptions to an online multiplayer service similar to Xbox Live for PC gamers avoiding the prospect of control-pad-touting console owners facing gamers with a keyboard and mouse in combat.
We’re filing this one in the folder marked “Barmy” for the time being. Click the headline and jump into the comments to let us know what you make of the idea.
Out TBC | £TBC | Xbox (via Destructoid)
Fire up the Android Market on a device running Android 2.2 Froyo or higher and you’ll find it’s been given a nice new look. Google has totally overhauled the Android Market mobile interface to better showcase top apps and games.
The new Android Market layout adds a range of charts charts including which apps are among the top paid, top free and top grossing. It also handily cuts down the buying process to two taps. One thing you might notice while you watch the Google video after the break is how similar to Windows Phone 7 that tiled UI looks…
We’ve known the Apple TV has secrets since the first teardown back in September last year revealed its operating system was littered with references to other iOS devices. Now software sleuths have discovered code in iOS 5 that suggests the Apple TV’s Bluetooth abilities are about to be turned on.
While the most obvious consequence of adding Bluetooth support to Apple TV is the ability to use the Apple wireless keyboard to navigate menus and enter text, there’s more to it. The move would also make it possible to hook up your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch as well as a host of other peripherals. It also adds new impetus to talk of Apple TV app support and its future as a console…
The prospect of a Windows Phone 7 tablet has been shot down again by a senior Microsoft exec.
After Steve Ballmer made light of disappointing Windows Phone 7 sales at the same event earlier this week, Windows Phone 7 president, Andy Lees, took to the stage at the Worldwide Partners Conference to reaffirm the company’s belief that the world wants Windows 8 tablets…
The Japanese have come up with a new way to cool down this summer: instant cool in a can. Just spray it on yourself, and it forms a foam that you can wrap around you. The foam will last an hour, which should be plenty of time, especially if this week is anything to go by.
There’s also an ice spray – this forms a more diffuse pattern of what looks like pustules, fizzing on the skin like they’re burning when actually they’re chilling down to -9 degrees Celsius. See them both in action after the break.
All we need now is some sun.