The Google I/O 2013 had plenty of talking points, but the one with arguably the widest impact was its decision to revamp its broken and disparate messaging systems to the unified Hangouts app.

Read on to know what Google’s biggest update to its (many) chat apps is like in our review!

 
Google Hangouts gets its name from the popular video chatting feature in the otherwise maligned Google+.
 
True to its name, the Hangouts app on Android has easy options to turn any conversation into a video call with up to 10 participants. This is a sea change from the often cumbersome video options in Google Talk on Android.
 
Hangouts allows conversations to be synced across all devices that they are open in, a la iMessage. This was always an annoying part of using Google Talk while you were signed in in multiple devices, and that’s thankfully done away with, and works rather well.
 
Moreover, you get to see the last part of the conversation viewed by the people in the conversation, and that is far more logical than the ‘Last Seen’ label in Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp.
 
However, Hangouts has a rather clumsy way of letting you know the people who are online in your friends list. All you can rely on is checking each name in your list individually to see whose display picture isn’t greyed out to know whether they’re online, and if you have a large list of people in your friends list, you are in for some trouble alright. Moreover, unlike Talk, it isn’t possible to appear offline anymore.
 
The emoji fans will be happy to see the sheer number and detail in each emoji in Hangouts – it’s a far cry from the rudimentary ones hitherto seen in Talk and Messenger. However, some of the basic ones do have slightly weird icons that could take some getting used to.
 
SMS integration, like in Facebook Messenger, is something that would make Hangouts a much better-rounded app, but that seems to only be in the pipeline right now as a future feature.
 
In conclusion, the Hangouts app is far more polished than either the Talk app or the Google+ Messenger app on Android, and it brings a lot more to the table than competitors like WhatsApp (which lacks any sort of video chatting options), LINE / KakaoTalk (which are predominantly popular in just East Asia), or Facebook Messenger with Chat Heads (which is often cumbersome and slow, and has no video options either). However, it does have some chinks in its armor that can be a bit of a bother for end users, and it has some scope for improvement.
 
Rating: 3.5/5
 
Download Google Hangouts

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo may have possibly revealed detailed specifications about the upcoming refresh to the popular Nexus 7 Android tablet from Google and ASUS in a research note.

The next generation Nexus 7 is expected to see a launch in the Google I/O 2013 that starts on May 15th, and from the looks of it, the new Nexus 7 may just live up to expectations! Read on to find out more about it.

 
According to Kuo, the new Nexus 7 will have a 7-inch LTPS display with 1920 x 1200 (WUXGA) resolution – giving credence to all the rumors about it having a screen to match up to Apple’s much hyped Retina displays.
 
It will also have a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, ditching the quad core Nvidia Tegra processor it’d used in the first gen Nexus 7 as we’d reported earlier.
 
It will have a 5 MP back shooter and an unspecified (‘HD’) front shooter. It will also come with an NFC chip like its predecessor, allowing quick file transfers through Android Beam, and payments through Google Wallet. The next gen Nexus 7 is predicted to have a 4000mAh battery, along with wireless charging support, interestingly enough.
 
Finally, the new Nexus 7 will not be shipping with Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie. It will have Android 4.3 Jelly Bean in it instead – presumably the last version of Jelly Bean before Key Lime Pie comes into the fold.
 
With the Google I/O just a couple of days away, the rumors about the next Nexus 7 are going to be put to rest for once and for all, but should the Nexus tablet have the specs that it is expected to have, it could make for a rather impressive tablet, much like the first Nexus 7!
 
[Source: Apple Insider]

Apple isn’t one to launch multiple devices in the same product segment usually, but they broke their seemingly unwritten rule to launch the 7.9” iPad Mini last year, at the same time as the 4th generation iPad.

Despite its overwhelming success, the iPad Mini has did face some criticism, but could the Retina iPad Mini 2 change all that?

 
The biggest issue in the iPad Mini inarguably has been its poor screen (with a resolution of just 1024 x 768).
 
Although this was somewhat mitigated by the fact that the pixel density wasn’t as low as in an iPad 2, it was still thoroughly underwhelming compared to the Retina displays seen in full sized iPads.
 
The iPad Mini 2 is expected to have a Retina Display could take away a lot of its critics in one fell swoop.
 
Should that happen, as is being predicted by industry watchers, there would be little to make the current 9.7” iPad (4th generation), or even the iPad 5 truly differentiate themselves from their 7.9” sized counterparts.
 
Moreover, given that the iPad Mini 2 will be a fair bit cheaper and more portable than the iPad 5 (while being just as productive), there may be little incentive for consumers to go for the iPad 5 down the line, unless Apple plans to revamp it substantially in some way.
 
Then again, should the iPad Mini 2 actually prove to be more successful than the iPad 5, Apple won’t really be complaining.
 
Tim Cook has been quoted as saying, “If we don’t cannibalize, someone else will”, proving that they don’t mind one of their iPad dominating the other in sales, as long as the iPad is the undisputed leader in the market. That, we must say, is the definition of a good problem to have.

Microsoft made an announcement a fortnight ago in their official Surface blog that they’d be launching their Windows 8 tablets in more countries in the next few weeks.

With reviews for the ambitious new devices being mediocre at best (and occasionally scathing, in the case of the Surface RT), and their sales being less than 5% of the sales of the industry defining iPad over the first quarter of 2013 according to IDC, was it really a good idea to hold back on launching their tablets to as large an audience as possible?

 
Microsoft has made a big bet on their new Windows 8 tablets letting them get the kind of control (and margins) that Apple gets by bundling their software only on their own hardware. However, the Surface RT proved to have an undercooked OS that had practically no desktop features, while the Surface Pro was prohibitively expensive, had internal storage space that was MUCH lower than they advertised, had a poor battery life, and more.
 
However, Microsoft went ahead with the strategy employed by Apple with its devices, by adopting a staggered release schedule for its Surface tablets, to the point that by the end of June this year, the Surface RT will still be available in just 29 countries – a full year after it was first announced (and over 8 months since its release)! The Pro was launched much later, in February this year, in fact. But it’s incredible to think that the Pro is only available in the US, Canada and China till at least the end of May.
 
All this indicates a gross miscalculation on Microsoft’s part, in all honesty. Perhaps they were expecting the Surface tablets to be universally adopted and adored in the North American market, but as time has told, they’ve sold less than a million units of them in the time since their launch.
 
Samsung’s scorched earth policy with the release cycles of its Galaxy Android tablets (such as the Note 8.0) crucially indicates that its folly to expect to take on the Apple iPad in its home market, considering just how firmly entrenched it is over there. Making the most of the initial buzz is the only way to go for a non-iPad tablet as of now, but Microsoft has simply not done that with its Surface tablets.

HP has just launched its first Android tablet, the Slate 7, to a mediocre response from both consumers as well as critics.

Undeterred by this (or the fact that its very first tablet, the webOS-based TouchPad, bombed in the market as well), HP seems to have lined up a new Android tablet in the next few months.

 
It’s expected to be a fairly high end tablet, and is presumably trying to hedge against the rapidly declining PC market with a 10 inch tablet.
 
TabTech.de, a German tech site that focuses on tablet related news, has discovered the possible existence of a 10 inch HP Android tablet that’s called the ‘HP Slate Book 10 x 2’.
 
This discovery has been possible because the renowned AnTuTu benchmarking tool’s database has an entry with this so-called Slate Book from HP.
 
TabTech goes on to reckon that the Slate Book will have a 10 inch display and a quad core Nvidia Tegra 4 processor. Its AnTuTu listing shows that it is loaded with Android Jelly Bean 4.2.2 right now, but that may change in the coming months with the impending launch of Android Key Lime Pie v5.0.
 
HP’s ventures into the tablet market have been misguided and hapless so far, to say the least. Perhaps a more focused and dedicated marketing approach towards the Slate Book Android tablet may change their fortunes, but don’t count on it!

There has been plenty of speculation revolving around the plans of Google and ASUS to launch a successor to the wildly successful Nexus 7, but the Nexus 10 (Manta) that featured a Google-Samsung collaboration hasn’t had the same kind of rumors surrounding it.

In any case, that’s about to change as Sammobile has cited unconfirmed reports in saying that there will be an 11 inch Nexus tablet coming in later this year from the latter of the two Google partnerships.

 
The report indicates that the Nexus 11 will have an 11 inch PLS TFT display, with an 8 MP back shooter and 2 MP front shooter.
 
The Nexus 11 will also be the world’s first octa core tablet, subject to Google’s approval, as it will be powered by the Samsung Exynos 5250 octacore CPU.
 
With Android 5.0 (code named Key Lime Pie) expected to launch this year, it’d be fair to guess that the Nexus 11 will be launched along with it.
 
The most curious part about this Sammobile report is the form factor of this new Nexus tablet. Traditionally, Android tablets have been in 2 distinct sizes – the ones with 7 inch screens, and the 10 inch ones.
 
Perhaps Samsung and Google have had reason to feel threatened by the Microsoft Surface tablets’ 10.6 inch form factor, but only time will tell why the two companies want to launch an XL sized tablet in the market.

After a fair bit of speculation regarding its existence, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 has just been officially announced by the Korean electronics giant in a press release today.

This is the latest addition to the large line of Android tablets that have been launched by Samsung in the recent past, and is a more budget friendly alternative to the high end Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 that saw a release earlier this month.

 
The Galaxy Tab 3 has rather insipid set of hardware specifications, and that seems to fall in line with the budget tablet buying demographic that it seems to be targeting with this new Galaxy device.
 
The 7 inch screen with a 1024 x 600 resolution, a 1.2 GHz dual core processor and a 3 MP rear camera (along with a 1.3 MP front camera) are all seemingly relics from Android tablets released in 2011 and 2012.
 
In fact, the Tab 3 is hardly an upgrade from Samsung’s very own Tab 2, with just an improved front shooter and slightly lesser heft in its physical dimensions.
 
Samsung will be rolling out the release of the WiFi version of the Galaxy Tab 3 first, and that’s lined up for the next month, while the 3G version will be out after that in June. Unfortunately, there isn’t going to be any LTE version, but as a compromise, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect the Tab 3 to try and undercut the upcoming Google Nexus 7 refresh.

Marvel Studios’ latest blockbuster, Iron Man 3, is the latest instalment in the armored superhero’s trilogy starring Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow.

While it has released in plenty of countries worldwide (with polarizing opinions), it is getting a delayed May 3 release in the US.

 
In the meanwhile, Gameloft S.A. is back to doing what it does rather well – launching a movie tie-in game of a summer blockbuster on Android and iOS.
 
Iron Man 3 is perhaps the most high profile movie tie-in released by the French game studio since last year’s somewhat impressive The Dark Knight Rises.
 
Does the Iron Man 3 game live up to its billing? Read on to find out!
 
First things first, anyone expecting Iron Man 3 to be an actual action combat game like The Dark Knight Rises is in for a major disappointment.
 
It is an endless ‘runner’ of sorts, quite like the Temple Runs and Subway Surfers of the world. As the titular superhero, you get attacked by drones and other (unmanned?) aerial vehicles that you can tap at or swipe to give them a taste of Iron Man’s repulsor beams.
 
Like any generic endless runner/flyer, there are obstacles that you need to avoid midair, such as crashing airplanes and powerful missiles, any of which on striking you will need you to wait for a prescribed period of time for your suit to get repaired, or nag you for an in-app purchase of the game currency.
 
The fact that Iron Man 3 is a freemium game has led to Gameloft pulling no stops in nagging you for in-app purchases throughout the game. The repair times are quite similar (and just as annoying) as Electronic Arts’ Real Racing 3, and you’ll be getting the urge to punch a wall in no time, unless you’re ready to churn out a fair bit of money on a mediocre game like this.
 
All said and done, the Iron Man 3 game itself is nothing extraordinary by any stretch. The graphics are passable at best, the gameplay gets monotonous in a while, while the music and sound effects are awfully repetitive. It could certainly be argued that this is in the bottom rung of official movie tie-in games in both Google Play and the iTunes App Store.
 
Rating: 2/5
 
Download from Google Play | iTunes

It’s been a long while coming, but HP has finally made its Android tablet, the HP Slate 7, available for purchase in the US from its website.

Priced at a bargain basement $169.99, it unsurprisingly doesn’t offer top notch specs, but deserves a fair shout out for any prospective tablet buyers who are looking at value for their money, instead of getting an iPad sized hole burnt in their pockets.

 
The HP Slate 7 is available for purchase from the official HP website at the aforementioned price of $169.99. As its name indicates, the Slate 7 is a 7 inch Android tablet that comes with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean right out of the box.
 
Like the exceedingly popular Google Nexus 7, this 7 inch budget tablet has a screen resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels. It has 1 GB of RAM, 8 GB of internal storage memory (that happens to expandable to boot, unlike the Nexus 7).
 
The battery is rather below par though, being rated at 3500 mAh (almost a 1000 mAh less than the Nexus tablet). The processor is a dual core 1.6 Ghz A9 Cortex processor, and HP claims that its low power consumption will compensate for any perceived lack of battery juice.
 
Like a lot of new HP and HTC devices, the HP Slate 7 comes with Beats Audio – ensuring some deep, booming bass in its audio output at all times.
 
With a metal build, it feels a bit more premium than the Nexus 7, but it’s hard to really to markedly point out an area where the Slate 7 is markedly superior to the Nexus 7, despite launching so many months later than the latter (albeit at $30).
 
Our best guess is that the Slate 7 might get a short run in the market, but the upgraded Nexus 7 that’s expected to launch in a couple of months will usurp its sales in any case.

Samsung may be inundating the tech world with tablets such as the Note 8.0 and the rumors about the Galaxy Tab 3, the Nexus / ‘Roma’, or one of the many other gadgets they churn out every other month.

But all eyes are and have always been on its crown jewel – the Samsung Galaxy S 4 Android smartphone. Its global launch is imminent now, and there have been plenty of reviews that have aired their opinions about the new smartphone.

 
Read on to find out about what the cream of the crop among them had to say!
 
The consensus seems to be that Samsung have adopted Apple’s model of launching an incremental, evolutionary device, rather than a revolutionary one. One thing that certainly hasn’t changed is Samsung’s now trademark lack of design aesthetic.
 
The S 4 “makes an awful first impression, slippery and slimy and simply unpleasant in your hand….Everyone I showed the GS4 to frowned and wrinkled their nose as if it smelled bad, before rubbing their fingers on the back of the phone and then handing it back to me” said David Pierce, for The Verge’s review of the new Samsung flagship phone.
 
TIME’s review by Harry McCracken made a reference to Samsung’s gimmicky software flourishes such as Air View, Air Gesture, and Smart Screen: “None of these features are transcendent breakthroughs. For the most part, they work only in Samsung’s own apps… They’re also a mixed bag in terms of practical utility and reliability.”
 
The screen and camera have been praised a great deal as well. The GigaOM review touts the “full-HD (1920 x 1080) display with 441 pixels per inch. The clarity is stunning, particularly for images and videos, although text is crisp as well. Samsung’s Super AMOLED technology has improved also. Colors don’t appear over-saturated as they did in prior Samsung handsets.”
 
Engadget’s Brad Molen says that the Galaxy S 4 “has better battery life, the same smooth performance and beautiful display.” He went on to praise the presence of a microSDXC and a removable battery cell, along with the camera’s performance in daylight shots.
 
Walt Mossberg of AllThingsD ended with an opinion that was shared by most other reviewers – that the HTC One is a far more polished and desirable Android phone and a genuinely brilliant alternative to the Galaxy S 4. In fact, the S 4 should only be an option for a consumer if “If you’re a nut for lists of new features, love Samsung or crave an even bigger display…..It’s a good phone, just not a great one.”