NEWS / ANDROID Flipboard sneaks onto Android via Samsung Galaxy S III

After much waiting with bated breath, the Samsung Galaxy S III was unveiled, making some squeal with delight and leaving others slightly disappointed. However, the Galaxy S III brings with it a surprise visitor that may be indicative of something other Android users might enjoy. In the demo video that Samsung produced for the Galaxy S III, if you pay close attention to the phone, you'll see a logo for Flipboard, the news and magazine app that currently only exists for iOS devices. If Flipboard truly made it to the S III, it's quite possible that other Android devices will be able to download the app as well. According to Mashable, Flipboard had previously said that they're working on an app for Android-based devices. SlashGear, on the other hand, says that the Android version of the app will be exclusive to the Samsung Galaxy S III. 

Flipboard logo on the Galaxy S III in the demo video

There has been no official word from either Samsung or Flipboard; however, a statement on Flipboard's teaser page for its Android app says that the application will be coming to certain select Android devices in the coming months. If you're not familiar with Flipboard, the application basically acts as a news and article gatherer based on your preferences. The app was originally launched for the iPad in 2010 and came to the iPhone in December of last year. Originally, Flipboard allowed you to save 9 publications to the app's home screen and you were presented with articles from those nine apps. Then, Flipboard updated to provide you with stories based on your preferences of subjects and also by scanning through your tweets and Facebook posts if you let it.

While some Android users might be able to enjoy Cover Stories soon, it will be interesting to see if Flipboard rival, Zite will make the jump to Android. When Flipboard came out for the iPhone, after being exclusive to the iPad, Zite soon followed suit, in fact, quite literally, three days later. Zite, like Flipboard, was originally exclusive to the iPad. Flipboard has also bumped itself up to support the Retina Display that the New iPad comes with. We'll have to see if Zite follows suit with the bump up. Android users, will you be excited if Flipboard came to your devices? Or are you happy with apps, like Google Currents that are already available for you. Let us know in the comments section below. 

Samsung's elusive Galaxy S III finally announced!

After months of speculation, many blurry pictures and quite a lot of mystery later, Samsung has finally pulled the wraps off their next flagship handset, the Galaxy S III. The successor to the very popular Galaxy S II, the S III ups the ante, not only for Samsung, but Android smartphones in general and is currently the Android handset to get. Most of the rumours we’ve been hearing off late were indeed true while some weren't. The Galaxy S III was inspired by some elements in nature like earth, water and wind. The design is heavily inspired by pebbles which is reflected in the curved design.The phone measures just 8.6mm in thickness and weighs 133g, making it thin and light. The Galaxy S III will be available in 145 countries. The 3G version will be available by the end of May starting with Europe, Asia and  Africa while the 4G version will hit countries like Japan and South Korea later on.  

Finally here!

One of the main features of the S III is the Siri-esque voice recognition system called S Voice. It features Smart Stay, a technique that uses the front facing camera to track your eye movement so it keeps the screen on as long as you're looking at it. Pretty cool. Social Tag uses face recognition that scans the faces in your gallery and maps them to your friends on Facebook or other social media sites. S Beam lets you bond and share data instantly between two S III devices using a combination of NFC and Wi-Fi Direct. AllShare Play uses DLNA to share your photos and videos on compatible TVs. Coming to the camera, it’s an 8MP shooter in the rear with a BSI sensor and a 1.9MP front facing camera. The camera also features new modes like Burst Mode and Best Buddy mode. The S III will have TouchWiz running on top of ICS so extra multimedia features like DivX playback is possible out-of-the-box.

The Galaxy S III definitely seems like a worthy successor of the S II and it does not disappoint. We, for one, can't wait to get our grubby hands on this beauty. The S III will go on sale on May 29 in Europe first followed shortly by a global release.

Microsoft may charge $15 for Windows 8 upgrade

Those who buy a new Windows 7 PC may not get the Windows 8 update for free, says a recent report by Computer World. Reportedly, the company is all set to charge users $14.99 for an upgrade. There had been reports earlier revealing that Microsoft would charge a fee for an upgrade, but all this while there had been no word on the amount. It had been revelead, back then that the charges would be disclosed as Microsoft starts releasing the update. The preview is expected to ship in the first week of June. Eligible customers should buy a new Windows 7 powered PC between June this year, until January next year.

Upgrade comes at a price...

To ensure that PC sales don’t drop, Microsoft has been offering upgrade programs. The program allows customers to purchase the PC running on the current operating system and gives them a coupon for the upgraded version. For this year, CNET reports that Microsoft will make the Windows 8 Offer available to consumers buying a Windows 7 PC running Home Basic or higher, and allow them to upgrade to Windows 8 Pro on the availability of Windows 8.

The Windows 7 to Windows 8 upgrade is said to be no way like the upgrade programs for Windows XP to Vista and Vista to Windows 7. Microsoft will not upgrade users to the corresponding Windows 8 edition and instead provide everyone with Windows 8 Pro which will be widely available at retail. The previous upgrade plans were offered at no cost or for a small fee, depending upon computer makers. Some manufacturers gave the operating system upgrade free of charge to its most recent customers who bought a PC running on the previous version. Apple is yet another company that will be releasing its new operating system, but has not announced an upgrade program. Apple had also offered its customers a free copy of OS X 10.7 or Lion for all those who bought a Mac that runs on Snow Leopard.

Chrome 19 now available, features Tab syncing

Google has announced the availability of version 19 of their popular browser, Google Chrome. A couple of additions have been made to this version, along with a feature called Tab syncing. Head over to the video below to see what Tab syncing is all about. Google has also explained the feature pretty well in its official blog post. Say you’ve found an awesome recipe on your work computer, while... ahem... working hard at the office. But when you get back home, you can’t quite remember, if it was two teaspoons of baking soda or two teaspoons of baking powder. Wouldn’t it be cool if you could pull up the same recipe on your home computer with one click? With this new stable release of Chrome, it’s possible.

When you’re signed in to Chrome, your open tabs are synced across all your devices, so you can quickly access them from the “Other devices” menu on the New Tab page. If you’ve got Chrome for Android Beta, you can open the same recipe tab right on your phone when you run out to the store for more ingredients. The back and forward buttons will even work, so you can pick up browsing right where you left off.

Chrome 19, available for download now

Open tabs aren’t the only things that sync when you sign-in to Chrome. Signing into Chrome also syncs your bookmarks, apps, extensions, history, themes, and other settings. That way, when you sign in to Chrome, you can have your personal Chrome experience on all your devices. Just go to the Chrome menu and select “Sign in to Chrome.” While Chrome will be updated to the latest stable version over the next few days, the tab sync feature will be rolled out more gradually over the coming weeks. 

That’s a pretty nifty feature to have as all your data is now synced together on multiple devices. As mentioned earlier, the browsing history will work as well, so you won’t have to face the ugly ‘No connection error’. Users can seamlessly sift through their visited websites back and forth. Google Chrome 19 can be downloaded from here