Gingerbread, Froyo still dominant Android versions

According to Android developers, the vast majority of Android devices are currently running various Gingerbread variants, with no ICS update in sight.

Overall, Gingerbread 2.3.x is happily running on 55.5 percent of all Android devices out there, but Froyo is still going strong, with 30.4, while 8.5 percent of users are, for lack of a better word, stuck with Éclair.

Only 0.6 percent of Android devices run Ice Cream Sandwich versions, which is hardly surprising given the fact that only one phone ships with the new OS and updates are rolling out at the pace of a tired snail returning home from a funeral.

Android tablet sales in 2011 were not too impressive, and the tablet-centric Honeycomb is used on 3.3 percent of all Android devices. This is actually a good score, as Honeycomb’s share was under 1 percent just a few months ago.

Xbox Live Indie guidelines revised

Larger titles and removal of pricing restrictions

Microsoft has announced some changes today for its Xbox Live Indie Game development program. The road has been difficult for Indie game developers with a less than ideal situation when competing head to head with the commercial offerings; and Microsoft has listened to Indie Game developers and made some changes to its guidelines.

The biggest change is that Microsoft has raised the size limit for a project from 150MB to 500MB, which will give Indie developers significantly more room to work with to create new projects. The next change is that Microsoft has removed the restriction that all games greater than 50MB had to be priced at $3 or $5, which made many titles a more difficult sell when compared against the other offerings. In addition, the minimum price has been lowered to just $1, or 80 Microsoft Points, which should also help Indie developers be more competitive.

Beyond these changes, Microsoft also finally raised the cap on the number games a developer is allowed to host on the Indie Game service. It has now doubled to 20 total titles, which should allow some developers more room to move.

Microsoft is hoping that these changes will be well received and will help the Indie development community continue to create even better games. We think that these moves are good and address the needs of Indie developers. If Microsoft could only find a way to call more attention to their offerings from within the dashboard, then we think Indie developers would be even happier.

Lenovo unveils all-new ThinkPad X1 Hybrid

Lenovo is gearing up for the Consumer Electronics Show just like every other PC hardware manufacturer on the planet. But rather than waiting four more days to unveil its products to the public, the company has decided to give the press and its prospective consumers a sneak peek of what to expect on the show floors this year.


Back in November 2011, rumors abounded of a new ThinkPad X1 Hybrid that would essentially be “2 notebooks in 1” – a full-fledged notebook running Windows 7 (or Windows 8), and a low-power mode called “Instant Media Mode” (think netbook) running a custom Linux based OS. The rumors turned out to be true, and the device unveiled by the company today is essentially a flagship rehash of the current ThinkPad X1.



Lenovo's new ThinkPad X1 Hybrid, however, takes dual-booting to the next level by switching between operating system environments at the click of an icon, with no rebooting required, and by running Linux on its own dual-core Qualcomm processor.

In terms of hardware, the notebook features a 13.3-inch display coated with Gorilla Glass, the same material used on the iPhone. It comes with your choice of a Core i3, Core i5 or Core i7 Sandy Bridge processor as the main CPU, additional dual-core 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon APQ8060 processor, 1GB DDR3 RAM, 16GB of internal storage to power the secondary “Instant Media Mode” based on the custom Linux OS, a spill-resistant backlit keyboard, USB 3.0 and an optional SSD.



Lenovo claims that the new ThinkPad X1 Hybrid can run with up to 5 hours battery life on the Intel Core processor and up to 10 hours battery life on the Snapdragon APQ8060. Additionally, the notebook features “Rapid Charge” technology which allows it to hit an 80-percent charge in just 30 minutes. If these battery life numbers are tested and confirmed to be true, we may see Lenovo gain the upper hand in competition with the likes of Apple’s MacBook Air and several other Intel-based ultrabooks debuting over the next few months.

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Hybrid will start at $1,599 USD and is targeted at home users, students and professional business users. It will be available for purchase sometime in Q2 2012.

Intel to discontinue 25 desktop CPUs in 1H 2012

Suppliers prepare for 22nm Ivy Bridge in April
According to industry sources in Taiwan, Intel has notified its hardware partners that it will cease production of 25 desktop CPU models in order to pave the way for its upcoming 22nm Ivy Bridge desktop CPUs, which are expected to launch in April 2012.


The report states that Intel will cease production and then terminate production of these CPUs in two major segments over the first half of 2012. Between January 2011 and March 2011 (Q1 2012), Core i7 875K, Core i7 860S, Core i5 760, Core i5 750S, Core i5 655K, Celeron 450 and Celeron 430 production will be terminated. During the same timeframe, Core i5 661, Core i5 660, Core i3 530, Pentium E5700 and Celeron E3500 production will all be suspended, and production will be terminated in Q2 2012.

Between April and June (Q2 2012), Core i7 960, Core i7 950, Core i7 930, Core i7 870 and Pentium G960 production will all be suspended and terminated. During the same timeframe, Core i7 880S, Core i7 870S, Core Duo E7500, Core Duo E7600, Pentium E6600, Pentium E550 and Celeron E3300 production will be terminated.

Google spremenil (odstranil) še Google Bar

V zadnjem času je podjetje Google bolj ali manj uspešno poskušalo izboljšati grafični vmesnik njihovih spletnih aplikacij in storitev, kot so Gmail, Google Docs, Google Maps in Google +. Zadnja sprememba, ki se je zgodila na tem področju je sprememba Googlove vrhnje vrstice ali Google Bar-a. Črna palice, ki je zasedala zgornji del zaslona je tako izginila, njene funkcije pa so po novem razporejene po drugih področjih grafičnega vmesnika.


Če smo natančnejši, vam bo prelet nad Googlov logotip v levem zgornjem kotu ponudil pop-up meni, ki vsebuje seznam vseh bistvenih aplikacij in storitev, kot so Google+, Google Search, Google Images, Google Docs, Gmail in podobno. Desni del črnega traku, ki je prikazoval trenutno prijavljenega uporabnika, število novih objav na družbeni mreži Google + ter polje za vnos nove objave, se je premaknil desno od iskalnega polja. Morda lahko omenimo, da nekateri uporabniki še ne bodo opazili sprememb, saj Google novosti vpeljuje po določenih območjih. Več podrobnosti o omenjenih spremembah, lahko najdete na uradnem blogu podjetja Google.

77% uporabnikov iPhona 4S obožuje svoj mobilnik

Podjetje ChangeWave Research je v svoji najnovejši raziskavi ugotavljalo, ali so lastniki mobilnika iPhone 4S z njim zadovoljni ali ne. Rezultati kažejo, da so le redki tisti, ki so nad to svojo tehnološko pridobitvijo razočarani. Kar 77 odstotkov jih je namreč dejalo, da so z iPhonom 4S zelo zadovoljni, dokaj zadovoljnih uporabnikov pa je 19 odstotkov. Tako lahko rečemo, da je kar 96 odstotkov lastnikov iPhona 4S z njim zadovoljnih.


V raziskavi je podjetje ChangeWave Research tudi ugotavljalo, kaj je uporabnikom najbolj všeč pri tem mobilniku ter kaj jih najbolj moti. Uporabnike najbolj navdušuje sistem Siri, ki jim omogoča glasovno upravljanje mobilnika. Druga najbolj navdušujoča lastnost iPhona 4S je po njihovem mnenju enostavna uporaba, tretja pa kamera z osmimi megapiksli. Uporabnikom najbolj moteča lastnost mobilnika iPhone 4S je avtonomija njegove baterije, nekateri pa na njem pogrešajo podporo za omrežje 4G.

Izjemno zmogljiv prenosnik, tablica in namizni računalnik v enem

Pri Gigabytu trdijo, da je njihov model prenosnika oznako Booktop T1132 prvo 3-v-1 enem prenosno računalo na svetu. Pa poglejmo o čem je pravzaprav govora. Gigabyte Booktop T1132 ima edinstveno obliko, ki je zelo priročna za pretvorbo prenosnika v tablični računalnik. Hm, nič novega torej. Prav tako je zelo enostavno prenosni računalnik preko posebne "docking" postaje pretvoriti v namizni računalnik. Hm, tudi to smo že videli. In kaj je potem tukaj fascinantnega? Njegova notranjost.

Gigabyte Booktop T1132 ima namreč znotraj majhnega ohišja, »velike« komponente. Tukaj je zmogljiv Intelov Core i5-2467M procesor, delovnega takta 1,6 GHz, vgrajenega ima kar 8 GB RAM pomnilnika, 750GB trdega diska, grafično kartico Nvidia GeForce GT520M z 1 GB delovnega spomina in podporo za tehnologijo NVIDIA Optimus. Vsekakor malce nenavadne sposobnosti za tako "majhen" računalnik, zato smo ob tem kar malce začudeni.


Novi Gigabytov malček premore 11,6-palčni zaslon HD ločljivosti 1366x768 slikovnih točk, spletno kamero z 1,3 MP, bralnik pomnilniških kartic, 4 zvočnike ter 3,5 G modul za mobilna omrežja. Zanimivo je, da ima že omenjena "docking" postaja vgrajen DVD snemalnik in USB 3.0 ter HDMI priključke. Kot pravijo v podjetju – z eno napravo boste kupili nov prenosnik, tablični računalnik in namizni računalnik. Praktično mar ne. Uradna cena še za enkrat ni znana, a sodeč po informacijah naj bi se le ta gibala nekje na 1300 ameriških dolarjih.