Siri gave up the secret when some geeks simply asked, “what language do you speak?” Siri responded, “I can speak French, English, Japanese, and German… But I’m always learning.” Obviously, Japanese wasn’t there originally. It’s worth noting that Japanese isn’t reported to appear in the Siri settings menu at this point. With Siri already admitting to speak Japanese, the addition must be coming soon.

The strange thing to me is that if Chinese and Russian are coming alongside Japanese, why is Siri not admitting to those languages when asked? If an update was applied to Siri to add Japanese to her responses, why were Chinese and Russian responses not at the same time? The official announcement is expected to come next month, so we hope to learn more soon.

[via 9to5Mac]

Nokia has already warned that such a slump is likely to continue through 2012, with interest in Symbian devices fading faster than previously expected. Meanwhile the company is pushing ahead with Windows Phone, though Microsoft’s platform only had 1.9-percent of the worldwide smartphone market share in Q4 2011.

Android held the Q4 smartphone OS top place, with 50.9-percent of the market worldwide, while iOS had less than half that amount at 23.8-percent. Both saw significant increases year-on-year however, unlike RIM whose share dropped from 14.6- to 8.8-percent.

Overall, Gartner says smartphone sales worldwide reached 149m units in Q4 2011 and 472m units for the full year, a rise of 47.3- and 58-percent year-on-year respectively. Smartphones made up almost a third of overall device sales, though 2012 growth is predicted to slow somewhat. Of course, market share and league tables doesn’t necessarily equal success for individual companies: iOS may be less popular than Android, but since only Apple uses it the Cupertino company keeps the spoils to itself. Meanwhile, Android’s dominance has to be shared between the many Android devices and multiple vendors using Google’s platform.

To connect your VooMote to your television box (or straight up to your television, as it may be), you’ve only got to select the model from the vast list of devices the VooMote application has pre-configured. If your device is not in the VooMote library, you have only to take the time to connect the buttons on the remote control you use now to the digital remote control you’re about to use on your iPhone. This process can be a bit of a hassle the one time you’ll have to go through it, but once you’re connected, you can go ahead and toss that old remote in the bottom drawer.

In the hands-on video above you’ll see in a very general way what it means to have the VooMote Zapper connected to your iPhone 4S. In addition to the Zapper there’s a whole collection of cases that go with the line and match up with its lovely set of color options: Smart gray, blue, green, pink, navy, red, white, or what we’ve got here: black. Each VooMote Zapper has 4 built-in IR transmitters (or what they call “Mini Blasters”) that’ll allow you to change channels from any which direction you can imagine – just so long as you’re in range of the unit in general.

You get a set of several screens with control buttons that you can attach to your television (or game console like the Xbox 360, for example) that, again, will be connected automatically or manually to the functions you’d like them to be connected to. The VooMote Zapper App will also be updated inside 2012 to include TV Guide as well as integration with Facebook and Twitter for sharing – exciting stuff!

You can purchase the VooMote Zapper for $69.99 USD (and the app is free) or the VooMote One (a similar device with basically the same functionality but a slightly different form factor for $99.99 USD – your choice! Then the cases you see in a couple of the photos in the gallery below are coming soon – brightness! Also feel free to check out the app on the iTunes App Store right this second too, totally free – you’ll need the Zapper to do much of anything with it, of course.

When the final question was laid down Apple today it was regarding Cook and his position in the company: “As CEO you’ve stated that you want to focus on preserving Apple’s culture, Apple’s strategy. When you look back at CEO changes historically – every CEO leaves their mark on a company’s strategy and on their culture. Can you walk us through, in your opinion, what you’re really determined to maintain?” Cook’s answer was more than just an talk on his position in the company, but of his company’s position in the world:

“Well I think the most important part of that question is that second part. Apple is this unique company – unique culture that you can’t replicate. And I’m not going to witness or permit the slow undoing of it because I believe in it so deeply. Steve grilled in all of us over many years that the company should revolve around great products, and that we should stay extremely focused on a few things, rather than try to do so many that we did nothing well. And that we should only go into markets where we can make a significant contribution to society – not just sell a lot of products.

And so, you know, these things along with keeping excellence as an expectation of everything in Apple. These are the things that I focus on – because I think those are the things that make Apple this really magical place that really smart people want to work in and sort of do… not just their life’s work, but their life’s best work.

There’s no better thrill than to look out at an audience – I can’t see anything because of these lights – but look at the audience and see people using iPhones, or go to the gym and see people using iPods, or go to Starbucks and see people using iPads.

These are the things that bring a smile to me face.

There’s no replacement or no substitute for that. And so we’re always focused on the future. We don’t sit and think about how great things were yesterday. I love that trait because I think it’s the thing that drives us all forward. Those are the things I’m holding on to. It’s a privilege to be a part of it.” – Tim Cook

Sound like the man you’d like running your largest technology company on earth? It seems as though Apple is in good hands with Tim Cook.

Apple does have an Apple TV box at the moment and there are rumors that there will be some sort of iTV in the future, but it’s become apparent especially today that Apple does not have the same amount of power pushing into the smart TV world as they do the mobile and desktop world – it only stands to reason, of course. As Cook noted today:

“Apple doesn’t do hobbies as a general rule. I can’t live without [my Apple TV] – we’ve always though there was something there, and that if we kept following our intuiting and kept pulling that string, we might find something larger. … Something that could go more main market for it to be a serious category.” – Cook

Does this mean we’re going to continue seeing string pulling through 2012? You can bet on it. Will the iTV be revealed inside the next few months? That’s much more up to debate than the idea that Apple will stay in the smart TV business.

This talk covers many topics we’ve been speaking about over the past few weeks, namely the first and foremost on many people’s minds: what will Apple do about the suggestions that they’ve got bad working conditions in supplier plants around the world? This of course was the first thing answered by Cook as he started the conference, assuring the world that it was no small subject for Apple and that they’d be taking measures above and beyond the call of duty.

Have a peek at the feed right now at http://www.apple.com/quicktime/conference/ and listen along with us as we continue to report the news from within. Do you think Cook will reveal any information on the upcoming iPad release? We’re guessing no – but there’s always great things to be heard when Tim Cook is speaking – listen in!

Tim Cook spoke of how he has “spent a lot of time in factories personally, and not just as an executive,” noting that Apple does and always has taken its working conditions “very, very seriously.” Be it in Europe, Asia, or the United States, “we care about every worker” said Cook, continuing on that “in terms of problems we’re working to fix, you can read the details on our website, but I can tell you that no one in our industry is doing more to improving working conditions than Apple.” Cook is speaking of the Apple Supplier Responsibility website they’ve set up very recently in response to talks that they’d not been paying enough attention to their suppliers’ means of supplying.

Cook then launched into a few examples of how Apple is attacking the suggested problems they’ve been having at their supplier locations:

“We think the use of underage labor is abhorrent. It’s extremely rare in our supply chain, but our top priority is to eliminate it totally. We’ve done that with our final assembly and are working on down the supply chain. If we find a supplier that intentionally hires underage labor it’s a firing offense. We don’t let anyone cut corners on safety. There’s a production process that can be made safer, we seek out the foremost authorities, foremost experts, and cut out a new standard, and take that and apply it to the supply chain. We focus on the details. If there’s a fire extinguisher missing from the cafeteria, then that facility doesn’t pass inspection until that fire extinguisher is in place.

Continuing to focusing on the problems endemic to our industry like excessive overtime. Our code of conduct has a cap of 60 hours per work week, but we’ve consistently found violations to this code over the course of our time. So the beginning of this year, we announced that we’re determined to drive widespread change and we’ve begun to manage working hours at a very micro basis. An example, in January, we collected weekly data on over a half million workers in our supply chain, and we had 84 percent compliant. This is significantly improved from the past, but we can do better. And we’re taking the unprecedented step of reporting this monthly on our website so that it’s transparent to everyone what we’re doing. As you probably know, the Fair Labor Association began a major audit at our request. We started working with the FLA … and just in January, we were the first tech company ever admitted to their association. The audit they’re conducting is probably the most detailed factory audit in the history of mass… in scale, in scope, and in transparency, and I am looking forward to seeing the results.” – Cook

Apple is wasting no time making sure the world knows that they’re not a company that accepts the failure to be fair and give fair working conditions to their workers, be it here in the United States or abroad. Tim Cook himself making these announcements speaks to the weight that the entire situation has for both Apple and the tech world at large.

“We know that people have a very high expectation of Apple. We have an even higher expectation of ourselves. Our customers expect us to lead and we will continue to do so. We have the smartest and most innovative people on earth, and we put the same kind of effort and energy into supply responsibility as we do with our new product. That is what Apple is all about.” – Cook

[via The Verge]

The story of Blackberry in the last few years is perhaps the most extreme example of how the mobile market has changed since the introduction of Android and the iPhone. Once considered a behemoth in the smartphone industry, Blackberry is now looked at as ancient and irrelevant. The problem is the company simply did not adapt to the changing environment. It thought it was too big to fail, and even when it started losing chunks of consumers to the Apple and Google alternatives, it had a mindset that at least it would always have corporate enterprise users in its back pocket.

But that strategy didn’t work out, as more and more companies are ditching their employee Blackberries and replacing them with iPhones. Now, finally, it has realized that it needs to change its operating system. Not just little tweaks here and there. It needs a completely brand new interface that has no signs of the antiquated Blackberry OS whatsoever. The new images, reported to be exclusively obtained by Crackberry.com, show an OS that does exactly that. But even though it’s a huge move forward for Blackberry, it’s unclear if the new platform will be truly differentiated from Android, iOS, or Windows Phone. Only time will tell.

[via Crackberry]

Wilcox is a former Microsoft employee who, during his time at the software giant, developed a hack that would turn an Xbox controller’s vibration function into something more romantic. The hack made the controller vibrate in response to music. He was so proud of the idea that he took it to Microsoft’s patent office, which flatly refused the idea because of its adult purpose.

So instead, Wilcox decided to run with the idea himself and modified it for smartphones. Available on the Android Market and iTunes App Store, Closer ToGetHer is an app that allows one user to remotely control the vibration function of another phone. In other words, it’s a remote vibrator. In an interview with Mashable, Wilcox said, “I’m not a pervert, and this isn’t how I spend most of my time or anything. I’d rather be helping kids or something.” For now, though, he’s hoping the $9.99 app might bring in some cash.

[via Mashable]

You’ll download the app, open it up, snap a couple photos, and poof! They’ll be uploaded do your Dropbox. You’ll need a Dropbox account of course, and you’ll need to hook it up to your QuickShot with Dropbox app one single time in a rather simple manner, but that’s it! From there it’s just you approving or disapproving of the media the app collects through your iPhone’s camera. You can take front or back-facing photos or video, you’ve got the ability to use your flash, touch to focus, and that’s it!

So really the biggest drawback in this app is your inability to do anything really strange or above average with the photos you’re taking. In that case, if you’re worried about such a thing, you can upload photos from your gallery taken with other cameras. You can do this through QuickShot with Dropbox and it will upload all photos and video in, again, the background. Have a peek at the hands-on video with this app we’ve got here, then download it instantly from the iTunes App Store for a mere $1.99 – it’s worth it!

Also note that we’re using the iPhone 4S for this review, and that if you’ve got any app on the market that you’re interested in us reviewing, give a hollar!

This release has been confirmed (in so many words) by the folks at The Loop and falls in line with “first week of March” rumors we’ve been hearing now for some weeks. This device will quite likely feature upgrades that number greater than what we’ve heard thus far, but for the most part this appears to be an upgrade of specifications rather than of operating system as well.

The iPad 3 (or the iPad 4S, as some are suggesting) will almost certainly have a much more powerful camera than any iPad before, details appearing this morning pointing at a shooter much closer to the iPhone 4S. Pricing details will appear on the day of the announcement, but will likely end up keeping with the pricing setup Apple has for the iPad 2 while the iPad 2 will have its price reduced as was the case when the iPad 2 was released and the original iPad’s price was cut down.

[via iMore]

What you’ve got to do in this game – available for both the iPad 1/2 and the iPhone – note that we’re reviewing it on an iPhone 4S here – is keep yourself in the game. In the hands-on video I compare this game to the greatest schoolyard game you might never have played: Spread the Eagle. This game from your middle-school days was one in which you didn’t necessarily have to do anything at all in order to stay in the game, but because you want to have fun, you go nuts with action. The same is true here, to a degree, as the monsters surrounding your building want to have a great time, and if you give them condos to eat, they most certainly will!

If you give them the wrong color condos to eat – you’ll notice they’re color-coded – you’ll find that they are prone to getting angry. There are so many symbols and markers, graphics that’ll blow your mind, and animations that you’ll be surprised are sitting pretty here on a game that costs less than a buck, and it’s all controlled with one of two actions: swipe left, or swipe right!

Feed the right colors to the right monsters, then try to match up three of the same color condo to switch your monsters out and drum up additional points. There are several modes of play, but the game concept remains the same through the whole of them: keep the monsters happy, and keep your tower straight. This game is a must-buy for those of you wishing to see the full graphics capabilities of your iPad or iPhone – but don’t let your grandmother play it, she’ll likely freak out. Monsters Ate My Condo is available on the iTunes App Store right this minute for $0.99 cheap!

The parts being posted today show the back of the unit (or so they say) and a high resolution LCD display. This display may well be the Retina-grade display we’ve heard about for so long and as recently as last week, while the back plat does indeed look to be an iPad cover, complete with logo and 30-pin connector slot at the bottom. The LCD screen appears to have been manufactured by Sharp, the profile is one millimeter larger than the previous model, and the length and width are the same as the iPad and iPad 2.

The back panel also has a slightly different ring around the lens hole than in the past, this suggesting that the iPad 3 may have a camera closer to the advanced setup in the iPhone 4S than the lower-grade iPad 2. There have been 8-megapixel cameras in tablets in the past, but never on an Apple-made device. This would mark the first time Apple has released an iPad with a camera made for more than just video-quality media capture.

Have a peek at our review of the original iPad as well as the iPad 2 in the timeline below and stick with SlashGear for all your iPad 3 rumors up unto the release, whenever that may end up being!

In addition, as is the custom, each of these designs have been formatted to fit your iDevice backgrounds, desktop, iPad, and iPhone sizes included. These collections come in a Snap Case for iPhone, a Snap Case for iPod Touch, a Campus Pack, and some canvas sleeves for your laptops. There’s a 13-inch Canvas Sleeve and a 15-inch Canvas sleeve – both of which happen to fit Apple products perfectly, incase you’re wondering.

Also for those of you that do not recognize the designs, Shepard Fariey is an artist famous for his original Obey Giant graffiti campaign as well as the Obama HOPE poster image revealed during the 2008 election season. The incase online store has the snap cases for $39.95, campus packs for $149.95, and canvas sleeves for $79.95 and $98.95 depending on the size. All of these designs are available for purchase right now!

Also if you want to pick up some wallpapers, head over to incase’s Shepard Fairey page and head to the bottom – your desires are met!

This controller will connect to your mobile device, by it your iPod Touch, your Android phone you iPad, or what-have-you, with Bluetooth. This is an extension of the already popular iCade line created by ThinkGeek, each new bit released by the team creating a cross-over gaming experience that shouldn’t be missed! As ThinkGeek GeekLabs’s oan Ty Liotta notes,

“We’re excited to extend on the success of the original iCADE. And with millions of iOS and Android devices in circulation it only makes sense to widen the field and bring the fun of iCADE to every possible device.” – Liotta

This controller is battery powered and has eight fully fucntional buttons, controlling everything from the original Pac Man to Super Mega Worm to more modern games as well. Developers can get in on documentation for the controller here and start making their games ready for the oncoming of this magical device in full force soon! Games like Box Cat, Muffin Knight, Plum Crazy, and more are already ready to work with the controller before it’s released! This controller has been revealed at the 2012 Toy Fair in New York City and will be available for purchase later this year for $24.99 – we’ll be sure to let you know how fabulous it truly is!

The rocketing share price comes at the tail end of a record breaking financial quarter for Apple. The company announced that, for the first time, it had surpassed $40bn in revenue, as well as selling 37m iPhones and 15.43m iPads. The market had expected revenues under $40bn and just 30m iPhone sales, so the news had an instant impact on Apple’s shares.

More recently, the company has reacted to claims of worker mistreatment in its supply chain, requesting a full audit from the Fair Labor Association to counter allegations of poor conditions. It’s unclear exactly how much of a sway that news may have made; rumors recently that Apple plans an iPad 3 event in the first week of March is likely to have been a bigger consideration.

The upward rise looks unlikely to change any time soon. Apple is expected to reveal the iPhone 5 later in the year, and even the aging iPhone 3GS continues to be a strong seller despite the influx of Android devices. Meanwhile new Apple TV products are also expected, along with a significant Air-style refresh of the MacBook Pro.

Those of you looking for protection for the back of your iPhone, you’re certainly going to find it here. This is a plate, meaning its flat and does not wrap around the edges of your device in any way. These plates are not made specifically for protection, nor do they interfere with any other accessory you might have for the device (to a degree – it’s not invisible, after all,) and will not cut down on your reception in any way at all. These plates are made to make your iPhone into a “sculptured work of art” – and they certainly have no trouble doing that.

Have a look at the application video here and see how simple it is to get one of these mothers on to the back of your iPhone. Here we’re using the iPhone 4S from Verizon, but know this: these plates work perfectly fine for all iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 models. The only complaint I’ve had about the plate I have here (it being the Etched Great Wave Steel) is that I get worried that the metal will scratch the OTHER devices I’ve got in my pocket. If you’re not the sort of person who carries around more than one smartphone at a time in one pocket, you’ll be just fine.

At the moment the folks at SkinIt have five different designs for their Etched Metal series: Flourish, Sudden Blush, Millipede, Circles, and Great Wave, and each design has its own set of color options. Each design has Black, Steel, Berry, and Lime color options, while the Wave has Blue instead of Lime, and the metal is actually a different color if you choose steel over any of the other colors. the colors come in behind the metal in a surface that lie between the adhesive and the metal – so you wont be seeing your iPhone’s back color with these plates.

The best part about this whole situation is that all colors and designs are a mere $24.99 each – pick up a batch! These plates are all in stock right this second over at SkinIt’s own online store.

If you’ll take a look back at our first of several posts regarding the Retina status of the future iPad’s display, you’ll find a leaked photo of some iPad 3 components. In this photo you’ll find a three wide ribbon cables as opposed to the two that the previous models had. This extra cable is more than likely in place to carry additional data to the high resolution display. Should the iPad 3 carry a Retina display at the massive 2048 x 1536 pixels that are being rumored, the data transfer of three cables will be needed.

Next there’s a peek at iBooks 2 icons that were released some weeks ago. These icons show the requirements for future apps, the amount of pixels being the same change that’d be in play should the Retina display be in full effect on this next iPad. Retina Display code has been spotted in developer code. This week’s iPad 3 component photo leak suggests a new LCD. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Apple recently updated their requirements for developers sending in screenshots for their apps, as seen here:

When you create or update your apps in iTunes Connect, you must upload screenshots that are high-resolution. We require your screenshots as high-resolution images so that your app is optimized for the Retina display.

The requirements for high-resolution images are 960 x 640, 960 x 600, 640 x 960, or 640 x 920 pixels. Images must be at least 72 dpi, in the RGB color space, and the file must be .jpeg, .jpg, .tif, .tiff, or .png. You can update your screenshot files at any time in iTunes Connect.

This could mean that iPhones before the iPhone 4 are simply being phased out, the same being true of older iPod Touches leading up to new models in 2012, but as MG Siegler says, “[if] Apple allows the iPad to run iPhone/iPod touch apps with the option to scale them up 2x, non-Retina iPhone apps (480 × 320) will undoubtedly look pretty bad on the Retina iPad.” This may very well be happening in desktop and laptop machines as well, the crisp nature of the future being Apple’s to take in this 2012 season.

So developers, heed the call – amp up your graphics, develop with the future in mind!

Over the last few months, we’ve seen several projects that have been successful in racking up significantly more money than the project owners figured they needed. Kickstarter has announced that there are now two products going on the site that have racked up huge sums in pledges. In fact, both the Elevation Dock for the iPhone and the Tim Schafer video game project dubbed Double Fine Adventure have both surpassed the $1 million mark.

The Elevation Dock hit the $1 million donation mark as of yesterday at about 1:30 PM Eastern. Double Fine Adventure hit the million-dollar mark yesterday as well. That is very impressive, the Schafer project was seeking only $400,000. I wonder if racking up such a huge amount of money above and beyond what the project was seeking is a blessing or curse. Having to build and ship a physical product such as the Elevation Dock for the iPhone in such a massive quantity could potentially be a burden to the new company with limited resources.

[via TheVerge]

WolframAlpha boasts the new Pro version brings users fundamentally new and remarkable capabilities. The biggest difference in the Pro version and the existing version, is that the Pro version requires a subscription with pricing at $4.99 a month for normal users or $2.99 a month for students. There is a free trial subscription to let you try out and see if you like the service before subscribing.

The Pro version offers the user access to their history once logged in and allows the defining of favorites for easy access. You can also now download raw data that is behind output from WolframAlpha to a spreadsheet in formats for raw data and formatted data. The Pro version also adds support for Computable Document Format, which is format that lets people create documents that have computations. The number of new features in the Pro version are too numerous to list, suffice to say if you enjoyed the free version and use it frequently you will want to check out the free trial account of the Pro version.

[via WolframAlpha]

So now, instead of toiling away on a smartphone interface that still has roots in the early 2000s, NOAA will be equipped with a bunch of iOS-powered iPhone 4 handsets and iPad 2 tablets. This becomes yet another hole in the grave for Research in Motion as it continues to lose enormous enterprise-level contracts. It has happened both in the public and private sectors.

Among the groups that have abandoned Blackberry are Citi, Bank of America, and Halliburton. RIM used to have a mindset that it was too big to fail, and that even if it wasn’t able to meet the technological advancements of the iPhone and Android, it would always have its corporate customers in its back pocket. There seemed to be almost no question of those customers being lost. So much for that idea…

[via Apple Insider]

Featured: Our featured stories today include a review of the Acer Aspire S3 (Core i7) as well as a review of Tweetbot for iPhone. Be sure to check them out. In addition, if you’re looking for some early analysis on this month’s upcoming Mobile World Congress, check out this column from our Chris Davies – Apple will dominate MWC and it won’t even be there.

Mobile: AT&T is doing some damage control as it tries to explain away is 2GB throttling of unlimited data plans. Meanwhile, on the rumor mill, we’ve heard a new report on the possibility of a 7-inch iPad being released this year. 2012 could finally be the year that two iPads are released; the iPad 3 is expected to come forth within the next month. Oh, and HTC fans should be please to see this scheduled of Android 4.0 ICS upgrades.

Other Stuff: Hey, here’s something we don’t get to say often – TiVo’s in the news. The company has released a new set of “DirecTiVo” boxes for DirecTV customers. And on a completely separate note, Sony has revealed everything you can expect in a PlayStation Vita First Edition bundle. And if nothing above strikes your interest, this surely will – Steve Jobs FBI file pulled with Freedom of Information Act. Well that’s all for today. Check back tomorrow at the same time for Friday’s evening wrap-up.

Essentially everything about this monster is recycled or recyclable – not that you’d ever want to recycle such a lovely amalgamation – and is made to give you a unique experience as well as vision. The wood you’ve got here is FSC certified Birch, the canvas is durable and will bring you back to your army days, and the plastic throughout the setup is entirely recyclable. The packaging the whole setup comes in is recycled, as well, so you’ll have nothing you need to throw away when you get the device in the mail.

The speakers you see here are both 4.5-inch high-definition woofers, the setup also having two 1-inch tweeters, 32 watts of power and DSP Sound Processing on the whole. That means high quality sound on both the high and the low end. There’s a pocket on the side, two sets of handles for the different ways you might want to carry while you blast, and the whole beast is set to ship this month. If you order one of these mothers up today, you’ll get it by the middle of the month – $349.99 at the House of Marley right now.

Android Temple Run fans should take note that once speaking with the official crew behind the game we’ve discovered that the original March 9th date was never an official marker for the game to come out, only a guesstimation mostly passed on as a rumor. The postponing of this game’s release isn’t so much an error or a fix as it is a simple reality: the game was not necessarily going to come out today anyway. But so it goes, and so goes the game to a later date and we to the waiting box once again.

For those of you rocking an iPod Touch or an iPhone in the meantime, you can head to the iTunes App Store right this second to pick this game up for free. This game also works on iPad and we can expect that it’ll work on any sized Android device once its released as well. Jump and skip and flip and collect those coins soon!

[via Android Community]

Once you sign in, you’ll see your Twitter feed on the leftmost tab, your mentions next, messages, then two custom tabs. In these tabs you’ll have a selection of Favorites, Lists, Retweets, Mute Filters, Search, and your Profile. These two buttons have all of these options but will not repeat the same option twice. It’s kind of magical like that. Your interface gives you all the options you get on the desktop web browser version of Twitter and more – connections!

When you double-tap on a users profile, you’ll be taken to their profile on Favstar. If you double-tap on the direct messages tab, you get the option of marking all of your DMs as read at once. There’s even a triple-tap for each tweet, your options being several including replying or starring that tweet as a favorite. To access a Tweet’s entire conversation, you’ve only to swipe to the right. If you want to see any replies that a single tweet has gotten, swipe left.

This entire app also has a lovely set of sound effects for each action, each of them a simple foosh, tic, or bamp, making the whole set of interactions fun to initiate. This application is currently on the market for both iPhone and iPad and you can pick up the iPhone version for a cool $2.99 – go grab it!

“Following Google’s acquisition of MMI [Motorola Mobility Holdings, Inc.], Google will honor MMI’s existing commitments to license the acquired MMI Essential Patent Claims on RAND [reasonable terms and conditions demonstrable free of any unfair discrimination] terms, as required by IEEE rules and consistent with MMI’s longstanding practice. This letter is irrevocable. Google understand that, pursuant to IEEE rules, MMI is prepared to grant licenses for Essential Patent Claims with a maximum per-unit royalty of 2.25-percent of the net selling price for the relevant end product on a go-forward basis, subject to offsets for the value of any cross-licenses or other consideration received from the licensee” Allen Lo, Deputy General Counsel, Google

Apple has argued that Motorola’s fee demands are excessive, and that its rivals are not following FRAND (fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory) guidelines in a similar way to that which sparked an EC investigation into potential antitrust behavior by Samsung. The Cupertino company’s legal team has also sought disclosure from other smartphone manufacturers as to how much they’ve agreed to pay Motorola in licensing fees, though it’s possible Motorola could argue that the reciprocal licensing means the deals are non-comparable.

Meanwhile, Google’s stance on potential injunctions is apparently unchanged from Motorola Mobility’s existing approach: that is, to apply for an injunction if licensees don’t agree to its royalty terms. If, it’s suggested, the 2.25-percent referred solely to the specific component the patented technology was applied in – for instance, a baseband 3G/UMTS radio chipset – then that might be reasonable, but Motorola is chasing 2.25-percent of the entire end-product, i.e. almost $15 on the unsubsidized price of each entry-level iPhone 4S.

The decision as to whether Google is allowed to acquire Motorola Mobility is expected to be reached on February 13.

[via Fortune]

Asked whether they believed Apple should be singled-out over workforce mistreatment allegations, 31-percent of the 5,444 responses said they felt responsibility should be shared across the electronics industry. 30-percent, however, said that Apple’s heft in the consumer technology market meant that it should bear the brunt of the blame.

Interestingly, 26-percent agreed that if Apple led the way in changing workplace ethics, the rest of the electronics industry would follow. The survey is non-scientific, but does illustrate how divided opinion is toward what expectations we should have of the companies that produce our geek toys.

The protests are set to take place in Washington, DC; New York City, San Francisco, London, Sydney and Bangalore. Around 250,000 signatures have been collected by the two petitions, which arose in the aftermath of a newspaper report that singled out Apple in worker mistreatment. Senior executives at the company faced “an unresolved tension” it was alleged, trying to balance their desire for responsible labor conditions against the commercial need for rapid product production and competitive pricing.

Apple responded strongly, pointing out its comprehensive annual responsibility report, and a leaked internal email from Tim Cook revealing the CEO as “outraged” at what were described as “offensive” allegations. The company declined to comment on the petition presentation action planned today.

The study that revealed this information came from Parks Associates and is titled Trends in Digital Gaming: Free-to-Play, Social, and Mobile Games. Based on the title of the report alone, you can probably guess what the conclusion of the study was. It’s thanks to the explosion of games on new and non-barrier-heavy platforms on which to play video games like Facebook and cell phones. These are platforms that everyone has access to, as opposed to the old environment where gamers had to go out and buy a dedicated game system or piece of computer gaming software.

The research group found that among Facebook gamers who actually spend money, the average amount spent per month is $29. In addition, those who log into free-to-play games including freemium mobile games, and end up paying for in-game currency or items, are racking up an average of $21 per month in charges. These numbers are pretty low compared to what you might have considered a typical gamer just a few years ago, and it doesn’t even factor in those who are perfectly content playing the free games and never putting in their credit card number. We all knew the industry was expanding, but 44% of the country now defined as an active gamer? That’s a pretty big amount.

[via VentureBeat]

Featured: Our Chris “Burnsy” Burns takes a look at Google+ hangouts in his column, Google+ Hangouts present bold threat to Skype. Our other featured story of the day, also from Mr. Burns (I just like calling him that) is a review of the G-Form Extreme Portfolio for iPad 2. Check it out. It’s pretty interesting. As for other news…

Mobile: Hey, check this out – the Phoenix Suns have ditched the iPad and decided to make the Galaxy Tab their official tablet. Also, we have a list of Nokia 803 details, otherwise known as the phone that will officially end Symbian. And the Mobile World Congress is coming up soon, and guess what? That’s exactly when Microsoft plans to launch Windows 8′s Consumer Preview, and it’s no coincidence.

One of the major investors in Path mister Michael Arrington earlier today suggested that the correct way to move forward after this PR debacle fell was to first off delete all the information Path had collected. Path had collected the contacts from every person they had open their app – just so you know. The note left by David Morin today puts it all in perspective and makes it clear that the creators of Path take the whole situation very seriously:

As our mission is to build the world’s first personal network, a trusted place for you to journal and share life with close friends and family, we take the storage and transmission of your personal information very, very seriously.

Through the feedback we’ve received from all of you, we now understand that the way we had designed our ‘Add Friends’ feature was wrong. We are deeply sorry if you were uncomfortable with how our application used your phone contacts.

As for how exactly they were wrong and how the app did really use your contacts, Morin made such things clear as well:

In the interest of complete transparency we want to clarify that the use of this information is limited to improving the quality of friend suggestions when you use the ‘Add Friends’ feature and to notify you when one of your contacts joins Path–nothing else. We always transmit this and any other information you share on Path to our servers over an encrypted connection. It is also stored securely on our servers using industry standard firewall technology.

And of course the most important part did come with the update, the assurance that all the data they’d already collected has been deleted – we hope!

We believe you should have control when it comes to sharing your personal information. We also believe that actions speak louder than words. So, as a clear signal of our commitment to your privacy, we’ve deleted the entire collection of user uploaded contact information from our servers. Your trust matters to us and we want you to feel completely in control of your information on Path.

The newest version of Path, version 2.0.6 released today, will have you prompt in and out of sharing your phones contacts with Path’s servers. The download is still free, and will still act the same outside this extra little prompt. All for your privacy!

[via Path]

This case is the relative of the G-Form iPad case, one that’s allowed the iPad to survive a fall from outer space – 100,000 feel falling free down to the unforgiving earth. Now this sports action should let you in again on the ultra protective properties in the G-Form world. This case is made for the iPhone 4 but of course works for the iPhone 4S as well as they’re essentially the same device on the outside – and notice the puckness of the case as well. Looks like it helps out with sliding!

This case is being released in two forms, the first being the X Protect, the second being the Extreme Grid. Each version of the case is available in a yellow color scheme (not unlike the iPad case we’ve seen previously) as well as an all-black form. Both cases will be available from G-Form for a total of $39.95 and are currently on pre-order. Shipments will start at the end of February, 2012.

Top-up increments of $4.99 and $9.99 are supported, though if your friends and family use Vonage VoIP accounts for their home or business line then you might not need to bother. Calls to those numbers are also free, though you don’t need to be a Vonage subscriber to use the new mobile app.

As you’d hope, there’s integration with your phone’s address book, and you’re contacted via your existing mobile number. For the moment, Vonage is also throwing in free calls to the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico from anywhere in the world.

The iPhone and Android smartphones are supported, along with the iPad and iPod touch. You can find Vonage Mobile in the App Store and the Android Market.

Featured: Our big featured story of the day features one of our favorite things – ice cream. More specifically, Ice Cream Sandwich. Yep, a beta version of Chrome has been released for the newest version of Android and we have a hands-on review ready for your consumption right now. Just be sure to wipe your hands after; ice cream sandwiches can be a real mess.

Mobile: Hey, did you know that Siri accounts for 25% of Wolfram Alpha queries? Yeah, go figure. Okay, so that covers our Siri factoid for the day. Let’s move to the other side and take a look at Windows Phone. And guess what? We’re not talking about Nokia. Yeah, believe it or not there are still other people who make Windows Phones, and these pictures of LG’s Miracle phone prove it. Well, that’s all for now. Tune in tomorrow for Wednesday’s wrap-up.

It is California that leads the states with app-related jobs, it holding a whopping 25% of all App Economy jobs in the United States. New York is the top metropolitan area for app-related jobs, but the combined efforts of San Jose and San Francisco California trump New York in numbers. The study held no reservations about how burgeoning the market is in this sector, calling it nothing short of a phenomenon:

“The incredibly rapid rise of smartphones, tablets, and social media, and the applications — apps — that run on them, is perhaps the biggest economic and technological phenomenon today. Almost a million apps have been created for the iPhone, iPad and Android alone. On an economic level, each app represents jobs — for programmers, for user interface designers, for marketers, for managers, for support staff.” – TechNet

Rey Ramsey, president and chief executive of TechNet, decidedly pinned the success on how quickly these developers and the manufacturers behind the hardware they develop for can innovate. Hundreds of thousands of workers here in the United States work in the App Economy, and TechNet pins the start of this economy on the year Apple introduced the iPhone. The iTunes-based App Store now has over 500,000 applications for the iPhone and the iPad combined, and no small amount of workers in the App Economy work for iDevices completely exclusively.

Then there’s Facebook which the study noted contains at least 182,000 app related jobs. Another study done by University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business is noted as racking up as many as 235,644 jobs counted working in or around Facebook for the App Economy – these are “more aggressive estimates” of course. Let’s keep this crazy ship sailing forward! Jobs for everyone!

[via AFP]

Some headlines regarding the new report claim that “only” 8.5% of Internet downloads and uploads come from smartphones. From our perspective, though, the word “only” is a complete misnomer. Just look back one year – StatCounter’s version of this same study one year ago found that 4.3% of Internet usage came from mobile, and in 2009 the number was 1.6%. So in the span of just two years, mobile Internet usage has increased more than five-fold. That’s pretty impressive if you ask us.

As for who is responsible for that usage, Nokia remains the leader in mobile Internet access, purely because of the volume of handsets it has throughout the world. In addition, in many of the areas where Nokia has never declined in its ubiquity, like developing countries, much of the population does not haves access to a computer so phones are the primary Internet medium. Second on the list was Apple, for a completely different reason – though it does not have the global reach Nokia does, the customers it does have are far more likely to eat up gobs and gobs of mobile data. Samsung, RIM, and HTC rounded up to the top, in order.

[via PaidContent]

Featured: If you’re a PC junkie, be sure to check out this Dell Alienware X51 hands-on report from our Chris Davies. If mobile is more of your thing, check this out – iPhone 4S Spigen GLAS.t and Ultimate Class Screen Protector Review. And our Chris Burns gives his opinion in this latest column – StumbleUpon changes repeat Digg blunders of old.

Mobile: It wasn’t a huge day for mobile news, but it was interesting because it’s not often the name Haliburton comes up in this category. The company you may know as being embroiled in Bush-era controvery is dumping the Blackberry to switch to corporate iPhones. And on the Android side, Lenovo has released an Android 4.0 timeline for those wanting a ThinkPad upgrade. And that’s all for today. Check back tomorrow for the Tuesday evening wrap-up.

What you’re going to see here is the application process for both iterations of Spigen’s glass-based screen protector solution, one thick, one not quite as thick, both powerful in their protection and overall excellence. The Ultimate Class uses a kind of material called GP73 which allows it to be twice as thick as your favorite screen protector and will fit perfectly on your iPhone 4 or 4S display. This pane has a hole for the speaker, the home button, and the front-facing camera on your iPhone.

The GLAS.t is Spigen’s newest solution, this one made out of real Oleophobic Coated Chemically Treated Glass, another formula made for perfect protection of your device. This pane has just two holes, one for the speaker and one for the home button, and will not affect your camera’s vision in a perceivable way because of its transparency. The installation process on the GLAS.t is a bit more difficult because the pane is much more rigid than the Ultimate Class, but as you can see here in my first attempt, it’s certainly not impossible.

The thickness on the Ultimate Class is 0.2mm while the GLAS.t is twice as thick at 0.4mm, making the protection twice as great as well. Take a peek at the difference in thickness here, and feel the power!

I’ve used both panes now and can confidently say I’ve got no worries that any damage to the front of my iPhone will result in damage of the display – one good crack with a hammer might do it in, but then we’ll just need a new GLAS.t, and at these prices – why not?

You can pick up the GLAS.t for a grand total of $27.99 before shipping, and the ship date is currently set for the 24th of February. The Ultimate Class is currently out of stock, but is also set at $27.99 when it was available last. Now you’ve just got to go through the billion and a half backside covers for the iPhone and find one that rocks enough to utilize and you’ll be set!

“Over the next year, we will begin expanding the use of our mobile technology by transitioning from the BlackBerry (RIM) platform that we currently use to smartphone technology via the iPhone,” said the company in an internal newsletter distributed to employees this month.

The company’s decision comes after “significant research” in comparing Google’s Android against Apple’s iOS platform. Ultimately, it was determined that Apple’s platform would provide the best controls, capabilities, and application development security.

[via Cult of Mac]

“Apple has integrated our processor IP in certain of its mobile phones” Audience confirmed in its IPO documentation last month. Based on the company’s EarSmart technology, it allows phones to use effective background noise cancellation even when the microphone is held at arm’s reach, rather than when it’s near the user’s mouth.

Audience doesn’t detail its “custom processor for Apple” but the volume inclusion timescale – Q4 of 2011 – fits in with the launch of the iPhone 4S. EarSmart models the human brain, using two microphones and custom DSP to filter out background sound.

It’s that ability – present in the iPhone 4S but missing from the iPhone 4 and earlier devices – which limits Siri’s backward-compatibility, Gwennap argues. As we’ve seen from unofficial hacks, the A4 chip powering the iPhone 4 is capable of running Siri on a power level; it seems the stumbling block is whether Siri can actually hear you properly.

Apple is a licensee of Audience’s next-gen noise reduction tech, though the company points out that the iPhone maker is under no obligation to actually use it. Still, that could appear in the Apple A6 chipset, expected to be at the heart of the iPad 3

The software on the two devices we’re looking at here is the most updated version from either software group, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich from Google, and iOS 5 from Apple. The devices we’re looking at are the iPhone 4S from Apple and the Galaxy Nexus from Samsung. The iPhone 4S is the same as each iPhone before it in that Apple uses it as a hero device for its software, while the Galaxy Nexus is a special case for Google because they do not currently produce their own hardware, this one produced with Samsung to be the hero for Google’s software. In this way these two devices are the best examples for Apple and Google’s Android for this feature story.

Applications

Both Android and iOS are built with a basic user interface which includes a grid of icons, each icon connected to an app. All Android devices you’re going to purchase from a carrier here in the United States and the iPhone are connected to app stores where apps can be purchased or download free. If you switch from Android to iOS or back the other way around, you will need to download a whole new set of applications. This is true of any switching between devices, but if you stick with one software, like switching from Android to Android, you wont have to re-purchase applications like you would when switching from iOS to Android and back again.

Multi-tasking

The question of multi-tasking is one we’ve been writing about and hearing about for years, ever since the birth of this mobile environment in smartphones. The newest versions of Android and iOS both have a very basic but fairly effective means of switching back and forth between apps. For the iPhone you’ll be double-tapping on your home button and a row of applications will appear at the bottom of your display – each of these are able to be opened or, if you hold down on one of them, closed entirely. A similar situation happens with Android 4.0 when you tap the “Recent Apps” icon, this being the double rectangle on the far right – the applications pop up here with a preview and an icon, each able to be opened, closed entirely, or have its App Info accessed.

Pull-down Menu

Both Android and iOS now have a pull-down menu that can be accessed by sliding your finger down from the top of the display. Both have status updates from applications and are organized a bit differently from on another, and Apple’s version has a couple of widget-like selections at the moment not unlike what Android has on its several home-screens. Both menus’s individual updates can be tapped to access and can also be closed with a simple action: an x-out or a push to the left.

Home Screens

Android has two layers to its containment of applications, while Apple’s iOS has one. Android has a set of home-screens where you can add apps as well as a wide variety of widgets, widgets being anything from a simple picture frame to a stock-ticker like you’re seeing in the pull-down menu on iOS. Android also has an App Drawer where applications are placed in a basic grid and can be pulled up and out to Android’s home screens. Apple’s iOS has home screens which are essentially the same as Android’s App Drawer. Both operating systems have the ability to pack several apps in one app’s grid spot in a “drawer” for a simplified way of organizing, both having this feature on home screens.

Taking Photos and Video

The photo-taking experience on Android and iOS is basically the same. You’ve got a viewfinder that’s nearly the whole display large, you’ve got one button that takes the photo or the video, and there’s are at least a few options on both interfaces. The camera on iOS 5 has options for your flash or lamp (for video), tap to focus, and have a single button to flip between front and back cameras.

Android has the same set of options but also has a selection of special effects here on the Galaxy Nexus, including a panoramic mode for long photos. As far as the devices we’re looking at here, the iPhone 4S has the better ability to take fabulous photos as its 8 megapixels strong over the Galaxy Nexus’ 5 megapixels. Both devices claim to have the fastest shutter speed in the west, but the iPhone 4S has a much better shot-to-keeper ratio from what you humble narrator has experienced.

Sharing Photos and Video

The iPhone is limited in its capability to share a photo or a video directly from the gallery – if you open a photo and want to share it, you can email it, tweet it, text message it, assign it to a contact, make it your wallpaper, or print it. With Android, you can do all of these things plus more – Android connects your gallery to any and all applications that are able to share images. For iOS you’ve got to go into each of those applications outside the gallery to share. This simple difference will drive you nuts when switching from Android to iOS if you’re a big sharing sort of person.

Settings

Bot operating systems have a basic Settings menu, both of them able to work with items like Wifi, screen brightness, and settings for your main account – or multiple accounts with Android. With the Android version here specifically on the Nexus device you’ve got a set of developer options you wont get with any other Android device. Both operating systems have access to individual app settings, but only iOS has the ability to access GPS settings for each individual app. When switching back and forth between operating systems, you’ll definitely have to do a bit of searching before you find each of the bits you’re used to working with, but it’s all there for the most part between the two.

Ecosystems

There are massive followings surrounding both the iPhone and Android devices, with the Android Community being both a developer and a hacker group and Apple’s being just one gigantic set of people of all types. When you need support for an iPhone, you’re going to want to head to an Apple store. When you want support for an Android device, you’ll be encouraged to go to your carrier. Both choices have a big online support community comprised of users from around the world that want to help out their fellow compatriots with problems big and small.

Wrap-Up

A few years ago I’d have said that the iPhone had a much more massive and impressive developer base for applications than Android, and you know I’d have been right. At this time both groups have an ever-expanding world-sized set of developers working for them. You absolutely cannot judge one device over the other based on this simple factor, nor should you choose one over the other trying to compare them based on one specification. The whole package is what you’re going to want to see here.

I’m going to continue using the iPhone 4S as one of two daily devices. I’m in a unique place here as a tech writer and reviewer of devices where I don’t have to drop hundreds of dollars down a month to have service and new devices, and as it’s my job to stay updated on the trends of the day, I’ll also need to keep an Android on hand. I’ll continue to watch and review the other operating systems as well, but at the moment it’s not quite as important for me to carry one along at all times. The app, case, skin, and service reviews and hands-on for the iPhone 4S will continue into the future right here on SlashGear courtesy of yours truly.