Ten times as many British phone fans want the Nexus 4 than Google expected. LG has once again blamed Google for stock issues with the perenially sold-out smash-hit Android phone, saying the Big G had no idea of the potential demand. Speaking to Challenges, LG France boss Cathy Robin pointed the finger at Google. LG says it simply built as many phones as Google asked for, a number based on the sales of previous Nexus phones, such as the Nexus S. It turns out that Google severely misunderestimated how many people would actually buy the phone. Fair enough: who woulda thunk that a quad-core smart phone with the latest Jelly Bean software and a high-definition screen costing £240 would be super-popular? Who could have seen that coming? You’d have to be some kind of visionary or something. It’s not just here in Blighty that the new Nexus has struck a chord. As it turns out, ten times as many phone fans bought the Nexus 4 as anticipated in both Britain and Germany. LG says it takes about six weeks to increase the frequency of deliveries. Happily, from mid-February, LG will ramp up production of the Nexus 4. Finally! The Nexus 4 went on sale at the end of last year — for about an hour. Since then it’s been sold out at Google Play almost continually, barring the odd day here and there. If you’re not one of the lucky few who managed to get in fast and bag a phone, the only way to get hold of the Nexus 4 is to get it on a contract from a phone network — which costs a heck of a lot more than £240, in the long term. But which is better: an expensive real phone, or a cheap hypothetical phone? Virgin Media announced this week it’s adding the Nexus 4 to its line-up. Virgin joins O2 and Three in selling the phone. Should Google have seen the demand coming http://crave.cnet.co.uk/mobiles/nexus-4-demand-10-times-higher-than-google-expected-50010190/
Windows Phone loses access to Google Maps
On Friday, some WIndows Phone 8 users discovered that you can no longer access the Google Maps website via devices running Windows Phone 7 or 8. While on the surface it seems like Google is deliberately crippling its own services on a competing mobile operating system, there’s much more to the story than meets the eye.
The mobile version of Google Maps never officially supported Windows Phone, because the version of IE that comes with it doesn’t have the WebKit support that Maps needs to work properly. That doesn’t mean that Google isn’t intentionally blocking Maps on phones that run Microsoft’s OS, but it’s more likely that the company fixed a bug that allowed these unsupported devices access in the first place.
Since Google doesn’t seem too keen on developing apps for Windows Phone—the company has a search app that hasn’t been updated in over a year—and with the search giant reportedly preventing Microsoft from building a proper YouTube app, it’s unlikely that this development will make Google more popular with either Microsoft or the Windows Phone users out there who use its services.
Google may be pushing for people to buy into using devices that run Android, but if the company can make its offerings work on iOS then it can definitely do the same for Windows Phone.
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via PCWorld http://www.pcworld.com/article/2023757/windows-phone-loses-access-to-google-maps.html
If you need these, you have a problem! Wearcom Jeans With Touch-Transparent iPhone Pocket
Alphyn Industries’ DELTA415 Wearcom jeans may as well have been called the Dork-O-Tron 3000, for they are nerdy in the extreme. They are also flat-out awesome, and if I was the kind of person who spent $160 on a pair of jeans, then I’d be al over them. Or all in them, I guess.
The Wearcoms are simple: the front right pocket has been replaced by a see-through phone pouch, complete with a protective flap to cover it.
Apparently inspired by the G-suits worn by fighter pilots, the jeans have a clear pocket through which the wearer can use a multi-touch screen, and a button hole through which you can thread a headphone cable.
It is of course ridiculous, although I can see at least one scenario where it would be useful: on a bike. You could ride and still have your iPhone ready to glance at maps or change the music you’re beaming to your Bluetooth speaker, all without having to put it on a handlebar bracket.
Orienting your phone screen-out does have some problems, though. Even with the flap closed, a good whack is going to break the screen and not just crack or dent the back.
The jeans are made of indigo-dyed denim, and come in fatty-unfriendly sizes of 28 to 38 inches. Available now.
via Wearcom Jeans With Touch-Transparent iPhone Pocket.
Verizon Reiterates Claims of World-Mode Next-Generation iPhone, Simultaneous With AT&T Debut
GSM and CDMA, but no 4g LTE! – http://pulsene.ws/1FqUB
