Microsoft's new IllumiRoom puts a living room in your Xbox (Durango?)

Summary: Many expect Microsoft to announce its next-generation Xbox (720 or Durango maybe?) but it could be missing one its best features - a projector which extends your video over an entire wall.

Microsoft has given all indications that its yet-to-be named, next-generation Xbox will be unveiled at its "A New Generation Revealed" event May 21 at 10am PT / Noon ET. One feature that is expected to bring the Xbox 720 to a new level (but might not be ready at launch) is IllumiRoom which Microsoft first showed off at this year at CES.

Microsoft Research describes it as a system which "augments the area surrounding a television screen with projected visualizations to enhance the traditional living room entertainment experience."

Here's a video that Microsoft prepared to show off the basics of IllumiRoom.

As usual, rumors about what is going to be included in the new gaming console are flying everywhere but Microsoft, following the footsteps of Apple and Steve Jobs, has dilvulged almost no information and no one has left a device in a bar, as yet.

The name of the new device is not even known. Most people and publications are calling it the Xbox 720, but some say it was given the code name Durango which could stick.  More on this and other rumors at the end of this gallery.

IllumiRoom projects across an entire wall.

Credit -Brett Jones Microsoft and ZDnet.

Samsung: Galaxy S4 sales to hit 10 million next week

CEO opens up on sales of the flagship Android smartphone

KOREAN PHONE MAKER Samsung's flagship Galaxy S4 smartphone will reach the 10 million sales milestone next week, according to the firm's co-CEO

Speaking to the Korea Times, Samsung co-CEO JK Shin talked up how well the Samsung Galaxy S4 has been selling since its release in April. He said, "We are confident that we will pass more than 10 million sales of the [Galaxy] S4 next week. It is selling much faster than the previous model [Galaxy] S3."

What isn't clear is whether Shin was referring to actual sales or shipments to retailers and mobile operators. However, given that earlier this week it was revealed that Samsung shipped four million Galaxy S4s in five days with the expectation to hit the 10 million mark by the end of the month, we're assuming that he was talking about shipments. We've contacted Samsung to clear this up.

Either way, these statistics make the Samsung Galaxy S4 the firm's fastest selling smartphone to date. If the Samsung Galaxy S4 reaches 10 million sales in the next week it will have done so in less than a month. In comparison, the Samsung Galaxy S3 took two months to hit the 10 million sales mark.

"Samsung spent 50 days to pass the 10 million sales mark for the [Galaxy] S3. The [Galaxy] S4 will be Samsung's first '10 million seller' device less than a month after its official debut," Shin added.

These figures show Samsung's continued dominance in the Android market, despite its Galaxy S4 handset being widely criticised for its lack of available storage and its cheap plastic casing. Yesterday, for example, it was revealed thatSamsung rakes in 95 percent of all profits in the Android industry, putting rivals HTC and Sony to shame.

By -inquirernet

Samsung: Galaxy S4 sales to hit 10 million next week

CEO opens up on sales of the flagship Android smartphone

KOREAN PHONE MAKER Samsung's flagship Galaxy S4 smartphone will reach the 10 million sales milestone next week, according to the firm's co-CEO

Speaking to the Korea Times, Samsung co-CEO JK Shin talked up how well the Samsung Galaxy S4 has been selling since its release in April. He said, "We are confident that we will pass more than 10 million sales of the [Galaxy] S4 next week. It is selling much faster than the previous model [Galaxy] S3."

What isn't clear is whether Shin was referring to actual sales or shipments to retailers and mobile operators. However, given that earlier this week it was revealed that Samsung shipped four million Galaxy S4s in five days with the expectation to hit the 10 million mark by the end of the month, we're assuming that he was talking about shipments. We've contacted Samsung to clear this up.

Either way, these statistics make the Samsung Galaxy S4 the firm's fastest selling smartphone to date. If the Samsung Galaxy S4 reaches 10 million sales in the next week it will have done so in less than a month. In comparison, the Samsung Galaxy S3 took two months to hit the 10 million sales mark.

"Samsung spent 50 days to pass the 10 million sales mark for the [Galaxy] S3. The [Galaxy] S4 will be Samsung's first '10 million seller' device less than a month after its official debut," Shin added.

These figures show Samsung's continued dominance in the Android market, despite its Galaxy S4 handset being widely criticised for its lack of available storage and its cheap plastic casing. Yesterday, for example, it was revealed thatSamsung rakes in 95 percent of all profits in the Android industry, putting rivals HTC and Sony to shame.

By -inquirernet

Samsung Galaxy S4 Review: The everything phone for (almost) everyone

The Galaxy S4 is Samsung's latest flagship Android smartphone so here's our in-depth Samsung Galaxy S4 review.

The Galaxy S4 is Samsung's latest flagship Android smartphone so here's our in-depth Samsung Galaxy S4 review.

The Galaxy S3 has not only got to follow-on from the hugely popular Galaxy S3, but take on the might of rival flagship smartphones including the iPhone 5, Sony Xperia Z and HTC One. See also: Samsung Galaxy S4: details, what you need to know.

Here's what we think of the new Android heavyweight.

Samsung Galaxy S4: Design and build

The Galaxy S4 looks something like a cross between the Samsung Galaxy S3 and the Galaxy Note 2. It comes in 'black mist' and 'white frost' colours which look pretty standard but still stylish. We understand that other colours will launch later on in the year.

Despite the fact Samsung has stuck with the same flimsy plastic rear cover found on the Galaxy S3, the design of the Galaxy S4 is impressive. This is mostly because the firm has managed to put a larger screen into a slightly smaller handset, compared to the S3. It's an impressive feat and means the Galaxy S4 doesn't feel unwieldy in the hand. It's both thin and light at 7.9mm and 130g.

The device feels more solid than the Galaxy S3, but the plastic build is a downfall of the Galaxy S4, it can't compete with the likes of Apple, Sony and HTC in this area.

There are a couple of caveats other than the build quality to mention. The first is a minor niggle in that the front of the handset is interrupted by the front facing camera and three sensors, most noticeable on the white model. The other is that the touch sensitive buttons below the screen which sit either side of the physical button are a) difficulty to reach and b) get pressed too easily due their close proximity to the edge of the device – namely the back button if you're right handed.

Samsung Galaxy S4 video review

Samsung Galaxy S4: Hardware

There's no faulting the Galaxy S4's hardware which rivals devices like the HTC One and Sony Xperia Z. It's a shame that the UK model comes with a 1.9GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 quad-core processor instead of the Exynos octa-core chip. Nevertheless, the Galaxy S4 is no slouch of a phone.

With a whopping 2GB of RAM the Galaxy S4 blasted through our benchmarks as we expected it would.

It breezed its way to being a new record holder in both Geekbench 2 and GLBenchmark with results of 3227 and 41fps. The former is significantly more than the HTC One's 2721 previous record and almost twice that of the Galaxy S3.

The Galaxy S4 couldn't quite manage a treble win but still gave us an impressive time of 1092ms in the SunSpider test. The iPhone 5 remains the best phone in this area at 903ms.

However, at the end of the day these are just numbers and you can get excellent performance from similar hardware for less money in the HTC One and Sony Xperia Z. Even with outstanding benchmark results, we found the Galaxy S4 occasionally laggy when opening certain apps.

Once again, storage is an iPhone matching 16GB, 32GB and 64GB and Samsung has gladly kept the microSD card slot for expansion. This is an area where Samsung has one up on many of its competitors, namely the iPhone 5 and HTC One.

However, as others have found, the device comes with a large chunk of the storage space already used up. Our 16GB model had just over 9GB of free storage which is much less than we are accustomed to finding. The microSD card helps but you can't install apps here so it makes for a tricky situation.

The 5in Full HD screen on the Galaxy S4 is really impressive. The SuperAMOLED technology means colours are vibrant but not over the top like previous models. It matches the Xperia Z's pixel density of 441ppi meaning the HTC One is still the highest at 469ppi – a minor difference. Samsung says it consumes less power than the Galaxy S3's display which we hope is true.

Samsung Galaxy S4: Software

As you might know, the Galaxy S4 will ship with Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. The interface is familiar to that of the Galaxy S3 so existing Samsung users will feel right at home. Other Android users shouldn't find it too hard to get used to either, since everything is located where you would expect it to be.

One tweak is that the settings menu has been split into different tabbed sections, but this isn't hard to get accustomed to. As well as the Google Play Store, the Samsung Hub is another source for games, movies, music and books.

What Samsung offers is seemingly endless amounts of software features on top of the usual Android ones. The firm did this with the Galaxy S3 to differentiate itself and has gone even further with the Galaxy S4. Since there are so many we'll go through each one, explaining what it does and whether it's any good.

Air View and Air Gesture

Air View and Air Gesture are innovative screen technologies. The former lets you can preview information by hovering a finger above the screen while the later means you can scroll through content or answer the phone with a wave of your hand. They work reasonably well once you get the hang of it and could be handy, albeit in a few niche situations such as when you're cooking and have messy hands.

Smart Scroll and Smart Pause

Samsung has also advances its Smart Screen technology with the Galaxy S4. Smart Scroll and Smart Pause are two new features which utilise the front facing camera. They allow you to scroll up and down pages and pause video content without touching the screen.   

We found the automatic scrolling of Smart Scroll buggy and hard to use – apparently it doesn’t work too well if you wear glasses and it often scrolled when holding the phone at a suitable viewing angle. When it does work, it's a neat thing to show off in the pub but we can't see a real-life use for it apart from being extremely lazy. It also doesn't work if you're using the Chrome browser or Gmail which is a shame.

We can see that automatically pausing a video if you look away from a screen is cool but pretty handy too, the problem is a slight delay before it happens and a weird sensation where you don't know if the handset has done it properly or not. The feature works with your own videos and apps like YouTube.

Multi Window

One of our favourite features is Multi window. This allows you to use two apps side by side in a similar way to Snap Views in Windows 8. You can have a straight 50:50 split or let one app take up more real estate than the other to varying degrees. It works in both portrait and landscape but an annoying retractable side bar stays put unless you switch the mode off.

S Translator and S Health

Two key apps which Samsung pre-loads onto the Galaxy S4 are S Translator and S Health. The S Translator helps you communicate either by text or speech recognition with someone who doesn't speak your language. It works pretty well but there are only eight languages aside from English plus it needs a data connection to work which isn't handy when you're abroad and roaming.

For those into fitness gadgets, the Galaxy S4 is one in itself. With its multiple sensors and S Health app you can keep track of your steps, calories used and other information.

WatchON

Like the HTC One, the Galaxy S4 can be used as a TV remote control because it has a built-in infrared sensor. It's a handy way of controlling your TV if you've lost the remote and also works for multiple devices in rooms around the house. Furthermore, it tells you what's on the box and gives recommendations. Compatibility will vary between devices and you might not get all the functions working. At the end of the day, reaching for the dedicated remote is still easy, if far more boring.

Overall it's a mixed bag when it comes to these software features. Many seem to be there for the sake of it, to have bragging rights but no real day-to-day benefit to the user. However, some are really handy.

Plenty more software features appear in the camera app which we'll talk about next.

Samsung Galaxy S4: Cameras

The Galaxy S4 has a 13Mp rear facing camera and a 1.9Mp front facing camera and both images and video footage from each was very impressive with excellent levels of details, good exposure and colour saturation on the default 9.6Mp (16:9) setting.

When not being used so heavily, the Galaxy S4 holds it charge well when in standby so lighter users can expect a couple days use from the phone. We got through 24 hours and lost just over half of the battery, the screen sucked up most of the power
.

Picture Credit - CNet

Content Provider - PCAdvisor.

IDC: Apple's iOS fell to 17% of smartphones shipped in Q1, Windows Phone passed BlackBerry

Gains made by Google's Android platform chipped away at the smartphone market share of Apple's iOS in the first quarter of 2013, while Microsoft's slow-growing Windows Phone managed to surpass BlackBerry in the battle for third place.

The latest market data released on Thursday by IDC shows that Apple's iOS accounted for 17.3 percent of smartphones shipped in the first quarter of the year, down from 23 percent a year ago. Still, Apple saw its strongest first quarter ever in terms of shipment volumes, as the company already announced last monthit shipped a record 37.4 million iPhones.

But Apple's iOS platform, which is not found on smartphones other than the iPhone, couldn't keep up the pace of growth seen by Google's Android, which is available on a multitude of devices from numerous manufacturers. 

Shipments of devices running Android surged from a 59.1 percent market share in the first quarter of 2012 to 75 percent in the same period this year. The number of Android devices estimated by IDC to have been shipped reached 162.1 million.

Google itself announced at its annual I/O developers conference on Wednesday that activations of Android devices recently surpassed the 900 million mark. Just a year ago, there had been 400 million activations, while the 100 million milestone was achieved in 2011, demonstrating the platform's accelerating growth.

With Apple and Google seeing their platforms combine to take more than 92 percent of the smartphone market, remaining competitors were left to take the scraps. Microsoft's Windows Phone took third, surpassing BlackBerry and growing its share from 2 percent a year ago to 3.2 percent in the first quarter.

Shipments of Windows Phone devices grew from 3 million in the first quarter of 2012 to 7 million in the same period this year. The quarter marks the first time Microsoft's Windows Phone platform has gone as high as third place.

Microsoft's gains were BlackBerry's losses, as the Canadian smartphone maker fell to a 2.9 percent share in the quarter, down from 6.4 percent a year ago. Just 6.3 million BlackBerry devices were shipped.

A better picture of BlackBerry's health will be made in the second quarter, when the company's new BlackBerry 10 platform and devices running it will have been available for the first three months. More than a million BlackBerry 10 units were shipped in the platform's first quarter of availability.

"Underpinning the worldwide smartphone market is the constantly shifting operating system landscape," said Ramon Llamas, research manager with IDC's Mobile Phone team. "Android and iOS accounted for more than the lion's share of smartphones in the first quarter, but a closer examination of the other platforms reveals turnaround and demand for alternatives. Windows Phone has benefited from Nokia's participation, and BlackBerry's new BB10 devices have already hit a million units shipped in its first quarter of availability."

Google debuts music service for Android gadgets, steals march on Apple

SAN FRANCISCO: Google Inc launched a music service on Wednesday that allows users to listen to unlimited songs for $9.99 a month, challenging smaller companies like Pandora and Spotify in the market for streaming music.

With its new service, announced at its annual developers' conference in San Francisco, Google has adopted the streaming music business model ahead of rival Apple Inc, which pioneered online music purchases with iTunes.

Google's "All Access" service lets users customize song selections from 22 genres, ranging from Jazz to Indie music, stream individual playlists, or listen to a curated, radio-like stream that can be tweaked. It will be launched for U.S. users first, before being rolled out to several other countries.

Google shares jumped $18.90, or more than 2 percent, to $906. Pandora shares slipped 0.4 percent to $16.68 on the New York Stock Exchange.

The entry of the world's largest Internet company amps up the competition as major technology giants jostle for position in the nascent market for subscription-based, streaming music.

Amazon.com Inc and Apple are among the Silicon Valley powerhouses sounding out top recording industry executives, according to sources with knowledge of talks and media reports.

Pandora is spending freely and racking up losses to expand globally. Even social media stalwarts Facebook and Twitter are jumping onto the streaming-music bandwagon.

All these companies see a viable music streaming and subscription service as crucial to growing their presence in an exploding mobile environment. For Google and Apple, it is critical in ensuring users remain loyal to their mobile products.

Music has been integral to the mobile experience since the early days of iTunes, which upended the old models with its 99-cent-per-song buying approach.

Now, as smartphones and tablets supplant PCs and virtual storage replaces songs on devices, mobile players from handset makers to social networks realize they must stake out a place or risk ceding control of one of the largest components of mobile device usage.

At $9.99 a month, the service is costlier than the $3.99 required for Pandora, but on par with Spotify.

Google executives argued their new service takes the work out of managing massive music libraries, in part because the streaming-model can be endlessly customized. The company will also have a hand in music selection, acting as a curator of personalized content.

It's unclear how large the library will be for streaming. Tech blog, The Verge, reported Tuesday that Google had signed deals with Universal Music and Sony Entertainment Group, two of the world's largest record labels.

TWEAKS BIG AND SMALL

The new music service was among the highlights of the company's annual developers' conference, a venue in the past for major hardware unveilings as well as important updates to Google's family of software. On Wednesday, various executives described updates to everything from Google+, the company's fledgling social network, to its gaming development platform.

Many of those updates are designed to enable Google's products to work better on Android and other mobile platforms, and help its crucial community of developers craft the applications that are the mobile operating system's lifeblood.

New features described on Wednesday ran the gamut from a new Google "Hangouts" video conferencing and messaging app, to better support for pictures and a redesign of the core "stream" that users first see on Google+.

Executives said Wednesday that some 900 million smartphones and tablets running Google Android software had been activated since the platform's inception in 2010.

Revenue from Android, the software used by Samsung

and other mobile device makers that competes with Apple, is also gaining momentum. Google executives said revenue per user for Android applications developers is now 2-1/2 times its year-earlier level.

Roughly 5,500 software developers are attending this year's "Google I/O" convention at San Francisco's Moscone Center from Wednesday through Friday.

-By ET