Microsoft has made available the Xbox SmartGlass app for Android. Xbox SmartGlass is a free downloadable app that works on Windows 8 and Windows RT, as well as Apple's iOS, Android, and Windows Phone 8. It allows you to convert your mobile device into a smart second screen for entertainment.
Xbox SmartGlass lets your phone work with your Xbox 360 console to bring rich, interactive experiences and unique content about what you're watching or playing, right to the device that’s already in your hand. Interact with your favorite TV shows, movies, music, sports, and games, and bring remote control to a whole new level.You can also connect with your Xbox friends, track and compare your achievements, and change up your 3D avatar.
Xbox SmartGlass lets you:
• Navigate your Xbox 360 with swipe and tap
• Use your phone’s keyboard to type to your Xbox 360
• Browse the Internet on your Xbox 360 with full keyboard and zooming
• Play, pause, fast forward, rewind, and stop videos and music on your Xbox 360
• Search the full Xbox catalog of music, video, and games
• Enjoy rich, interactive experiences from select game and entertainment content creators
• Track and compare your achievements with your Xbox friends
• Change up your 3D avatar
• Message your Xbox friends
• Edit your Xbox profile
Use Xbox SmartGlass to enhance your entertainment on Xbox 360.
The app requires an Xbox membership to sign in and requires Android 4.0 or newer in order to work.
Windows 8 themes have features that are not supported in Windows 7. Therefore, you cannot open Windows 8 themes on a Windows 7. Here is a workaround that allows you to port a Windows 8 theme to Windows 7 system, even though those Windows 8 only features will not be available.
Ready! Here is how
1. Download and extract the content from .deskthemepack file. Using a zip utility tool.
2. Go to Desktop Background in Desktop Personalization window.
3. Click Browse… button and select the desktopbackground folder you extracted earlier.
4. Click OK, and Save changes. You will notice the desktop background is changed immediately.
You can save the theme and share it with others by right-clicking the unsaved theme and choosing Save theme for sharing.
The S3 has been a runaway success since its release at the start of the summer, and is about to go head-to-head with the iPhone 5 in the smartphone showdown of the year.
So we could hardly believe our eyes when reading a report from South Korea which claims the Galaxy S4 could be hitting the shops in the not-too-distant future. So what do we know about the Samsung Galaxy S4 so far?
Release Date
According to the report, the South Korean tech giant is planning to unveil the Galaxy S4 at MWC 2013 in February.
Not only that, but Samsung will release the device as early as March next year. It’s a bold claim given the usual yearly product cycle – the S3 is likely to still be selling well in March next year, and any new launch could damage sales.
Specs
According to the report, the S4 will have a larger 5-inch screen, with an HD AMOLED display that could possibly utilise Samsung’s flexible screen technology.
We’ll also see a quad-core Exynos processor, the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean operating system as standard, and LTE capabilities.
The specs claims all sound very reasonable, and we’d expect to see some or all of these included. But that doesn’t mean this rumour is true by any stretch of the imagination.
Our main concern is with the launch date and location. After such a huge solo launch of the S3, Samsung is unlikely to revert to an MWC launch for what will be a very important product.
We also can’t see Samsung jumping the gun with the release. The yearly product cycle works, and if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. Then again, stranger things have happened in the tech world.
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According to reports, delivery on white and silver versions of the iPad Mini are subject to delays, as are Wi-Fi only versions of the model. These are expected to ship in two weeks from now, as opposed to 2 November.
However, black and slate models in both 32GB (£349) and 64GB (£429) sizes are said to be on track for 2 November.
Those users who are looking for iPad Mini or iPad 4 with cellular data, i.e. with 4G, will have to wait until ‘late November’. iPad 4, or iPad with Retina display, models are unaffected so far.
Reviews of the iPad Mini have said that its A5 processor-powered apps, games and websites run along ‘very smoothly’, while also praising features such as the iPad Mini LED-backlit screen, which help to ensure that “colours are vivid, text is pin sharp,[and] web pages render quickly”.
In a recent statement EE, which is set to roll out 4G in the UK next week, gave the fourth-generation iPad the thumbs up.
It said that the Apple-designed A6X chip offers “blazing fast performance” while its Retina display was “gorgeous”.
The fact that EE is set to offer a “range of attractive data plans” for the iPad Mini and iPad 4, could help sales of the iPad Mini could reach between 4 and 6 million by the end of the year – as some analysts have predicted.
Smaller than a standard iPad but noticeably bigger than a 7-inch Android tablet, it’s the most affordable iPad yet – but will it appeal to you? Here’s what you need to know.
1. Order and Released date
Apple will start accepting iPad mini orders on the October 26th. We expected the iPad mini to ship in plenty of time for Christmas, and Apple didn't disappoint: the Wi-Fi model will start shipping for delivery on November 2nd, with the LTE version coming along a few weeks later in late November.
2. Specs
3. Price
Prices are slightly higher than anticipated, but it’s still the cheapest iPad yet: the Wi-Fi version of the iPad mini starts at;
$329 for 16GB
$429 for 32GB
$659 for 64GB
As you'd expect the mobile broadband version is more expensive: it’s;
$459 for 16GB
$559 for 32GB
$659 for 64GB
Screen Size
Apple clearly believes that 7 inches is a little too small for a tablet: the iPad mini has a 7.9-inch backlit IPS display running at a resolution of 1024×768. That gives it the same resolution as an iPad 2, so while it isn't a retina display the smaller screen means it should look much sharper than the iPad 2.
The overall dimensions of the iPad mini are 200mm high, 134.7mm wide and 7.2mm deep, and the entire package weighs a titchy 308g.
By keeping the same screen resolution as the iPad 2, the iPad mini will be able to run iPad apps without any horrible rescaling or black bars – and as Phil Schiller showed far more often than was strictly necessary, it delivers significantly more screen real estate than a typical seven-inch device.
4. A5 Processor
While the fourth generation iPad gets an A6X processor, the iPad mini sports something a bit older: an A5, the same dual-core processor you’ll find in the iPad 2 and iPhone 4S.
That isn’t the very latest Apple processor, but as we know from our iPad 2 it’s more than capable of handling even the most demanding apps – and it doesn’t need an enormous battery to keep it running.
5. Colours
The iPad mini comes in a choice of white or black, although while the normal iPad has a plain metal back the iPad mini has iPhone 5-style silver and black back covers.
Perhaps we’ll see multi-coloured cases in next year’s inevitable second-gen model.
6. 4G LTE
Like the iPhone 5, the iPad mini has different versions for different LTE bands: model A1455 will do LTE bands 1, 3, 5, 13 and 25, and model A1454 will work on LTE bands 4 and 7. That means for U.K. users, its model A1455: band 3 is the 1800MHz frequency used by Everything Everywhere’s 4G LTE network.
7. Camera
The iPad mini has a front-facing 1.2MP camera for FaceTime calls and a 5MP rear-facing camera for still shooting and 1080p HD video recording, and that smaller case won’t look as silly when you try and shoot photos with it.
There’s no flash but the sensor has backside illumination and an f/2.4 aperture for low-light shooting.
8. Wireless
Both the Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi+Cellular versions of the iPad mini benefit from dual-band Wi-Fi, with support for 802.11a/b/g wireless and 802.11n on both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequency bands.
All iPad minis also get Bluetooth 4.0 for low-power connections to accessories and peripherals.
9. Battery
One of the best things about the iPad is its all-day battery life, and the iPad mini touts 10 hours of battery life from its 16.3-watt-hour lithium polymer battery.
On mobile data, Apple reckons you’ll get nine hours of web browsing.
10. Lightning Connector
the iPad mini has the same tiny Lightning connector as the iPhone 5 so you’ll need an adapter if your existing accessories expect a Dock connector.
