Alright, I’ll stop being sarcastic, despite thinking that anyone who does do that only has themselves to blame, and that they should stop whining, and just put their phone away while walking. But anyway, I digress; the Android Market has just come to the rescue with a new app called Transparent Screen, designed to help people who can’t stop fiddling with their phone for even a second… 

Basically, this is how it works, right: the app overlays the phone’s entire UI over a feed from the camera, so that you can see whatever’s in front of you, while using your phone as normal. I may have been incredibly mocking in those first two paragraphs, but I have to admit, that is a very cool concept. I just debate how much it’s really needed, especially when you have to pay for the privilege (£1.45, in fact, which isn’t much, granted, but it’s still not as good as it being free).

I mean honestly, I’m not bothered how connected you feel with your HTC Sensation XE, or your Samsung Galaxy Note, or whatever, surely there comes a time when it’d be better to just put the phone away? That’s what sensible people do, right?

Yes. Yes it is. For everyone else, there’s the Transparent Screen app.

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It’s called the Nokia “Coffee” Tab, and it’s quite clearly based on the looks of the Nokia Lumia 800, which is no bad thing, really. The designer has also chosen to imagine it as having Windows 8, which makes an awful lot of sense, when ye think about it (more on that in a second).

Oh, and the specs ain’t bad, either…

Y’see, the designer’s imagined it as having a 1.4GHz processor, and a properly nice 9.7 inch ClearBlack screen, with a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels. On top of that, he’s also chosen to imagine it with an 8MP camera, as well as a second camera (at 2MP) on the front, for video conferencing. There’s some intelligent placement of the camera going on there, too, with it being in the top corner, thus meaning it won’t get obscured by the user’s hand in either portrait or landscape view.

And that is clever design.

However, it’s the fact that it uses Windows 8 Tablet Edition that’s caught my eye, ‘cos you can pretty much guarantee that’ll be the OS that Nokia uses, if they do bring out a tablet device. Think about it; Nokia smartphones now all use Windows Phone, and the next version of that OS is going to be based on the exact same kernel as Windows 8. So, in effect, the phone OS and the tablet OS are basically going to be just different versions of the same core OS.

So, if Nokia do make a tablet device, I’d bet good money on it not looking hugely different to this beastie.

Mark my words!

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Yup, that’s right, the HTC Sensation XE is due to get the ICS update by the end of March. Of course, it’s not just the Sensation XE, ‘cos the original HTC Sensation is set to get the same update around the same time, and the HTC Sensation XL will follow, soon after…

And so, March is going to be one hell of a month, especially if you’re me. However, since no-one reading this is me, I’d best explain why, right? Not only is the phone I’m probably going to be getting about to be updated to an awesome new version of Android (which means I finally get to see what Sense looks like on Ice Cream Sandwich), but Mass Effect 3 (aka/ OMG BEST GAME EVAH) is coming out. And there’ll be an iPhone game to go along with it, so you can be damn sure it’s going to get a mention on this blog!

So yeah. I cannot wait to see the new and improved version of the Sensation XE. I’m predicting it’s going to be, as they say, made of win.

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Well… I say it’s hit Android, but you need a phone running Ice Cream Sandwich (so, basically, just the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, for now) to use it. And it’s still very much a beta, so there’s a few bugs left to work out. But bearing that in mind, it’s still a mobile version of the browser that a fair few PC users seem to have fallen in love with. So, why is it so exciting?

I’ll tell ya now, it’s not because of its amazing Flash support, because it doesn’t have Flash support. Granted, Flash is slowly going the way of the dodo, and also granted, Adobe have said they’ll no longer support Flash, but I hated its exclusion on the iPhone, so I have to hate its exclusion here. When the whole net switches over to html5, it’ll not be a problem, but until then, it’s an issue I can’t not mention.

So, if we look past that, what’s so cool about Chrome for Android? Well, the key point is that it syncs up with the version of Chrome you’ve got running on your desktop, letting you open up all the same tabs, and so on. That’s pretty cool, but it does mean being logged into your Google account at all times, and you’re pretty much humped if you don’t use Chrome (which I don’t, ‘cos I vastly prefer Firefox).

Also, as I said, it’s only available for phones running Ice Cream Sandwich, which basically means that if you don’t have a Galaxy Nexus, you’re humped. Again. You won’t be, in future, if your phone is getting an official software update (say, for example, if you have the HTC Sensation XE), but if you have an older then sorry, but you’re still out of luck.

So, we’ll see how it pans out, I guess…

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However, the European plants will be kept, and Nokia say they’re going to be used for the software side of things. Since there’s not much modification that can be done to Windows Phone, what does that mean?

Well, basically, it means adding in network and region-specific features, as the source link points out. But yeah, the actual hardware is going to be produced elsewhere, so I can’t help but feel like this is the end of an era. It’s going to be really weird seeing phones like the Nokia Lumia 800 not being made in their home country of Finland, but them’s the times we live in.

Everything is made in Asia (usually in China), so is it any surprise that Nokia are now doing the same as, say, Apple?

Still, I can’t say that I don’t feel a little bit sad..

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According to Engadget, Hasbro have now decided to update that brand, and naturally, in the modern day and age, they’ve chosen to tie it in closely with mobile phones. Or, more specifically, with iOS devices like the iPhone 4S. So, what’s this Lazer Tag 2012 all about, then?

Basically, it’s just like the Lazer Tag I remember, but with a crucial different. You still have plastic guns to shoot your friends with, and those plastic guns have a laser in ‘em. Only it’s not a very strong laser, naturally, ‘cos the last thing you want to be doing is impromptu ophthalmic surgery on your best mate, right? Basically, you shoot them, you score points, they shoot you, they score points. Simple.

Lazer Tag 2012 combines that concept with a dock, on the guns, for your iPhone, and it includes an augmented reality app, with online stuff built in, to really bring the art of laser tag games into the third millennium. So, that’s brilliant, and we should expect to see it on Android next, right?

I wouldn’t get my hopes up, if I were you…

Y’see, there’s a big difference between porting an iOS app across to Android, and porting a combo of app and accessory across. From Hasbro’s point of view, they know all the phones using it will be the same shape, so there’s no compatibility issues, but what would happen if they tried to make it work with the HTC Sensation XE, and the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S, and the Samsung Galaxy Nexus?

Quite simply, if they tried to make it work with all of them, it likely wouldn’t work very well with any of them. And thus, expect it to only make an appearance on the iPhone. While you’re at it, expect it to either be in very short supply in the UK, or to not appear over here at all, just like all of the really cool Transformers figures that I really want.

Yeah, that’s what I was getting at in the opening sentence…

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Hmm, it’s rare indeed to see a phone with a 4:3 screen; come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve seen one in ages. The fact that said screen also comes in at 5 inches, from corner to corner, makes it even more unusual. If I’m honest, it kinda worries me, too…

Y’see, the thing about phones with big ol’ screens like this is that, up till now, they’ve all been, well, long and thin. That’s part of what makes them easy on the hand, despite having massive screens; the fact that they’re not that wide means you don’t have to stretch your fingers to hold one of the damn things. That’s why something like the HTC Sensation XE is big, but not unwieldy.

Basically, the LG Optimus Vu is necessarily going to be wider, and thus harder to hold.

But then… the more I’ve thought about it (as I wrote that last paragraph, in fact), the more I’ve realised that this thing is only going to be about the same width as the Samsung Galaxy Note, and that phone doesn’t seem to be too unwieldy. Come to think of it, it’s not going to be as long as the Galaxy Note, either, so it should be less unwieldy.

So, basically, what are we to learn from this? Well, first, you can safely disregard the paragraph where I spoke about how I was worried.

And secondly, I should probably learn to think these things through before I start actually writing the post…

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Turns out to have been the right thing to do, ‘cos those details have now been confirmed by Paul Thurrott of WinSupersite. And so, what we’re looking at is the actual list of new stuff that Apollo, version 8, will bring to Windows phones.

So, what can we expect?

Well, the big news is that it’s not going to be based on the same software kernel as the current version of Windows Phone. No sirree, it’s going to be based on the same kernel they use in Windows 8, and that’s intriguing, ‘cos it means that, with this new version, Windows Phone will now support multi-core processors, different screen resolutions, and best of all, removable SD cards.

Sure, that doesn’t help current gen phones like the Nokia Lumia 800, but it’s nice to know it’s coming to future phones, right?

Since it’s going to be based on Windows 8, there’ll also be deeper integration with that tablet/PC operating system, and while we’re on that subject, this move means that developers will be able to make apps for both tablets and phones, under the same platform, much like Android or iOS. Meanwhile, while we’re on the subject of apps (I’m getting good at these slick links, eh?), it seems that current apps will all still work perfectly on the new version, and although there was never any real doubt about that, it’s nice to see it said again.

In spite of the rumour going round that current phones won’t be upgradable to Windows Phone 8, I’m hearing other reports saying they will be. So, hopefully, phones like the HTC Titan will be upgradable to the new version.

So yeah. Top stuff, I’d say.

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So, this new thingie that Google have come up with, according to their own blog, is a very welcome addition to the Android platform. It’s called Bouncer, and it’s specifically designed to add another layer of protection to Android users. So, then, how does it work?

Well, the clue’s in the name, innit? Bouncer acts as, well, a bouncer, for the Android Market; whenever an app is uploaded to the Market, it scans it for known malware, and looks to see if it acts like it might be doing something nasty. It even runs the app in a virtual environment, to check what it will do on phones, and then, if it’s wearing trainers it looks dodgy, it doesn’t get in. Simple as.

So, it’s an extra layer of protection, but how does it apply to users? Say a user has the HTC Sensation XE, or the Ice Cream Sandwich-powered Samsung Galaxy Nexus; what do they need to do to be protected by Bouncer?

Ah, well, that’s the best bit. Users need to take the incredibly difficult and complicated step of doing PRECISELY NOTHING WHATSOEVER. Y’see, Bouncer sits in the Market itself, and does all its business before an app is allowed to be uploaded (oh, and it also retroactively does it on existing apps), so all of that technical stuff goes on in the background. Every Android user will get the benefits of Bouncer, without ever having to lift a finger.

And that is brilliant!

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But every now and then, I feel like doing a post about who the current top manufacturers are, ad now we have the results of the IDC study for 2011. And the top three?

In ascending order, it’s Apple, then Samsung, but to my surprise, Nokia still has the top spot…

That was a bit of a surprise, but what ended up being more surprising is who’s in the number four and five spot. Well, okay, the number four spot isn’t too surprising, ‘cos it’s LG, who were always one of the Big Five. No, the surprising bit is who’s in at number five, ‘cos it’s not who I expected, i.e. it’s not HTC.

No, apparently, it’s Chinese manufacturer ZTE.

Now, that is a surprise, but then, its been on the cards for ages. Chinese manufacturers like ZTE and Huawei are making a big push on the worldwide stage, so it’s kinda cool to see one entering the Big Five.

The question, now, is this: which phones have made this happen? Well, Apple’s easy, ‘cos the iPhone 4S sold like gangbusters in the tail end of 2011, and as for Samsung, the obvious answer, there, is the Samsung Galaxy S II. Nokia’s a bit more difficult, ‘cos they’ve not had any real superstar phones out in the last 12 months, what with the switch over to Windows Phone, and all that. I suspect, though, that their operations in developing nations have given them a huge boost.

So, yeah. That, apparently, is the new Big Five. How times change, eh?

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