We’ve all heard the rumors that Google is working on a native third-party version of Google Maps for iOS 6.x devices. It seems there has been lots of substance to these rumors, as reportedly, the app has already been distributed for testing to interested parties outside Google’s labs.

According to “a person with direct knowledge of the matter”, who spoke to Wall Street Journal, Google is already putting the finishing touches on the app and should be ready to submit it for approval to the Apple’s AppStore sooner rather than later. Read more »

The Samsung Galaxy S3 has been enjoying Jelly Bean for some time now. But a handful of features that we first saw on the Galaxy Note 2 have been out of reach so far.

The split-screen view mode, for instance, allows big-screen smartphones with plenty of oomph to display too apps at the same time. Today’s good news is that you can now get this and other new features on your Galaxy S3 via a pre-release official firmware.

Rumors suggest these enhancements are to arrive officially to S3 owners this December as a sort of a Christmas present. But obviously presents will come early this year. Well, sort of, this one’s more like a teaser. Read more »

Nokia’s official blog Conversations has posted an article detailing 10 things you might have missed about the Lumia 920.

Did you know that the camera decoration and side buttons are made out of zirconium? Or that the LED flash on the back is a higher-powered dual one? Hop after the break for more. Read more »

As usual after it releases a new Android version to the general public, Google contributes its source code to the Android Open Source Project.

As of now Google has made the Android 4.2 Jelly Bean source code public so that developers can download it and start developing ROMs based on it. Read more »

If you own a GoPro camera, then you’re familiar with its abilities to capture all the cool stuff you do on the go, and in full HD to boot.

The folks behind the GoPro HERO series cameras have just released an Android app which lets you control the camera from your Android-powered cell phone. Read more »

It’s been one and a half year since Microsoft acquired Skype and we are finally starting to see the fruits of the acquisition. After releasing the new Skype client for Windows 8, Microsoft has released a new Skype Preview for Windows Phone 8 devices.

This new version brings some much needed features over the Windows Phone 7 version. The biggest feature is that Skype can now run in the background and always stay on, just like the new Windows 8 app. This allows you to get messages like any other instant messaging service and calls come in like regular phone calls. Read more »

Back in May we reported the sighting of what looked like Microsoft Office running on an iPad. Back then Microsoft denied working on such an application but turns out that wasn’t true at all.

According to The Verge, Microsoft has been working on a version of Office for iOS as well as Android and plans to release early next year. The iOS version will be released around late February or early March and the Android version will arrive in May. Read more »

Just when you couldn’t get enough of Instagram, Facebook updates its main iOS app to use one of 13 filters when uploading a photo.

You can also rotate and crop your pictures before uploading them to your timeline. Read more »

Android’s app store has a reputation of having more free apps and games than the iOS store, which is good for consumers, but the iOS store is better known for bringing in more revenue, which is good for developers. According to App Annie that is still true, but the gap is closing.

The analysts at App Annie have taken the two types of paid apps into account – premium apps (you pay for the app) and freemium apps (the app is free, but you can pay for in-game purchases). Freemium apps are the primary revenue generators on both platforms, showing incredible growth. Read more »

As if the recently refreshed Nexus line-up and the Android 4.2 announcement didn’t give Apple enough things to worry about, Google has now told Bloomberg that it’s about to overtake its rival in the apps count race.

In fact, there are a just under 700,000 different applications in the Google Play Store, which is pretty close to what Apple touts in its App Store. Read more »

Google has released a new version of the Search app for iOS and it brings with it a greatly improved voice search experience that you may have experienced on Android devices running Jelly Bean.

The new Google Search app for iOS features a prominently placed voice search button below the search bar and one tap on it lets you speak your query to the device. Your words appear on the screen as soon as you speak them and then the app searches for the answer. For questions with short answers you also get a voice response, just like on Android. Read more »

The new Android 4.2 Jelly Bean was just announced and one of the most interesting new features is called Photo Sphere. It lets you shoot spherical panoramas, similar to what you see in Google Street View.

Capturing a Photo Sphere is easy, you just snap photos left, right, up, down, wherever, and the camera app will automatically stitch them. If it still sounds confusing, check out this video demo by Hugo Barra himself (Android’s Director of Product Management). Read more »

Today Microsoft stepped on stage and released its Windows 8 and Windows RT to the tech world in what was largely conceived as the biggest Windows release ever. Availability starts today and active Windows 7 customers can upgrade starting from $39.99.

Microsoft talked OS features, integration along a wide variety of devices, the services that are launching alongside the OS and demoed all of them. Read more »

Well this happened quickly, right. That is if a year is quick for your taste. But it has happened – LG have released the ICS source code for the world’s first dual-core smartphone – the Optimus 2X.

The source code concerns the LG Optimus 2X SU660, which is the Korean version of the handset, meaning it will take some tinkering from knowledgeable hackers if the international variant of the Optimus 2X is to receive some ICS joy via various ROMs. Read more »

Remember the Multi-Window feature that debuted on the Galaxy Note II? As it turns out the Galaxy S III owners might get a chance to join the multitasking action with the upcoming Android 4.1.2 update.

According to SamMobile, the update is coming in December and in addition to the Multi-Window functionality will also bring bug fixes and stability improvements. Read more »