Project Ara

Motorola has announced a free, open hardware platform for smartphones called "Project Ara". The Goal is to emulate what Android platform has done for software: create a vibrant third party developer ecosystem, increase the pace of innovation and lower the development timelines substantially. 

When Google bought Motorola a year ago, one wondered what the search giant will do with a hardware firm. Little did we knew back then that they'd come up with an idea/product so early that could well be a revolution in the smartphone industry. Here's what Ara is according to Motorola:

"The design for project Ara consists of what we call an endoskeleton(endo) and modules. The endo is the structural frame that holds the modules in place. A module can be anything from a new application processor to a new display or keyboard, an extra battery, a pulse oximeter- or something not yet thought of!"

This would mean that users will be able to customize the hardware components of the device in whichever way they like.

For the project, Motorola is teaming up with Phonebooks, a company with similar idea to make this reality. Motorola will soon start signing up for "Ara Scouts"; developers and interested members of community who can give inputs in shaping up the project. 

The hardware innovations in the Software market has been very few for quite some time now. It goes without saying that if Motorola is able to make this work, the hardware firm would be back in the reckoning.

Fantasy iTeam 13-14

Knowing How popular Fantasy Football apps are each season, we recommend to you one of the top contenders, Fantasy iTeam 13/14. It is available both on iOS and Android.

The app features a full mode for Premier League, Champions League and the World Cup. You'll get live updates, stats and real time player values. It is sponsored by Betfred and you can choose to take it one step further with Betfred betting. For a free app, it is definitely one of the best around.

Android Link

iOS Link

Install it now and give your own reviews of the app below.

The BBM hoopla

BlackBerry's popular instant messaging platform, BlackBerry Messenger or BBM finally landed on non-BlackBerry OS platforms, Android and iOS, on Monday, after a delay of more than a month.

After Launching the beta version earlier this month, Blackberry finaly launched the complete version of the app. However several of BBM features like BBM Voice (voice chat), BBM Channels (broadcast groups) and BBM Video (video chat) are still missing.

Blackberry reported that the app was very well received in both platforms earning 60,000 five star reviews from about 87,000 reviews. Also the app recorded a combined(in iOS and android) download of over 10 million. The app has reportedly become number one in more than 75 countries.

The app allows users to exchange texts, voice notes and pictures with each other. It also offers group chat. Users need to sign-in with a BlackBerry ID following which a PIN is allocated to them, in a manner similar to BlackBerry Messenger on BlackBerry.  Users can then add friends by sharing their PIN with friends via SMS, email and social networks in addition to QR codes.

Nokia's Revival

Nokia has always been a leading mobile manufacturing up until the markets were revolutionized by touchscreen smartphones. With the ios proving to be the premium OS platforms for mobile devices and Google's android making progress in leaps and bounds, Nokia's home grown symbian appeared to be no match against its competitors.

After struggling for a while and seeing their sales drop almost exponentially, Nokia reinvented itself in the market by joining hands with Microsoft's Windows. A decision, heavily criticized by experts at that time and the initial sales record and reviews only confirmed those doubts. One was left wondering, what might have happened had a smartphone manufactured by Nokia and running on android would have seen the light of day.

However, with Nokia bringing in more and more Lumia devices in different price ranges targeting various markets, the sales began to pick up.

Turning tides in the OS market

By the middle of 2013, the mobile OS scene took another sharp turn. Apple, under a new CEO failed to bring in any substantial innovation in its OS design and began emulating it to the Google's Android(with the slide screen lock and the notification bar).

Android on the other hand face a different crisis. The OS seemed to perform sluggishly than its rivals even when running on similar processors. With the Blackberry almost on  the verge of extinction, suddenly windows's prospects look bright.

The sales chart for Nokia is already on the rise, and with Microsoft's Windows 8 getting rave reviews, the situation seems to blossom up a little more. 

The challenge for Nokia(Now owned by the Microsoft itself) is to bring in a wider range of apps and enhance it's app store which lags way behind in terms of sheer numbers when pipped up against that of apple's and android's.