| Samsung aims for bended displays in 2014, foldables starting 2015 Nov 6th 2013, 07:29, by Juan Carlos Torres Some may have had their fill of the curved smartphone craze that erupted last month, but Samsung is seemingly not done yet. Samsung CEO Oh-Hyun Kwon revealed during the company’s Samsung Analyst Day in Korea its timetable for the years to come, which curiously mentions plans for bended and foldable displays in 2014 and 2015. 
The recently announced Samsung Galaxy Round and LG G Flex probably failed to capture the fancy and interest of the public, falling short of the ideal flexible device that you can fold and tuck away or use with only half a display. If that is your kind of thing, then you might want to keep an eye on Samsung who not only showed prototypes of its YOUM flexible OLED display last year but is now set on delivering the goods in the coming years. After having just outed a curved display, Samsung plans to bring out bended ones in 2014. Whether this means actual bendable displays or simply ones that are bended in fixed angles is something we’ll just have to find out in due time. More interestingly, however, Samsung has earmarked the years starting 2015 and beyond as its time to produce foldable displays, which would bring it closer to those futuristic devices you’d commonly see in concept videos or films. Whether this refers to displays that can just be folded like a piece of cardboard or if it also applies to being able to wrap around things just like paper does, again only time will tell. 2015 is still a good year or so away and foldable displays are still far from becoming reality, much less commercially available. And even before that takes place, Samsung needs to cross what it has clearly marked as Technology Barriers, which could mean anything from manufacturing processes to materials or even to components that make up a fully functional smartphone. VIA: Sammy Hub |  | comScore report shows Apple leads smartphones, Android trumps platforms Nov 6th 2013, 06:20, by Juan Carlos Torres Analytics company comScore has just released its 2013 third quarter report that gives their own take on the current state of the smartphone industry in the US. Using data gathered from its MobiLens online survey and Mobile Metrix census-based measurement methods, comScore paints us a picture of the mobile device market that, frankly, shouldn’t surprise anyone by now. 
As much as we’d like it to be otherwise, Apple leads the smartphone race in the US, at least when it comes to the OEM market share. From a total of 147.9 million people in the US owning smartphones, 40.6 percent hold a device produced by Apple. Somewhat a bit behind is Samsung, who managed to grab 24.9 percent of the market. While HTC and Motorola managed to retain their position in third and fourth, respectively, both have suffered losses in market share in the third quarter, with HTC going down to 7.1 percent from 8.5 percent and Motorola sliding down to 6.8 percent from 7.2 percent in the previous period. LG managed to secure it’s place at fifth, with nary a loss of its 6.6 percent share. 
Also unsurprisingly, when it comes to smartphone platforms, Android still takes the lead with Apple following closely. However, Android did suffer a 0.2 percent loss despite getting 51.8 percent of the market, while Apple gained by 0.7 percent to reach 40.6 percent. Interestingly, BlackBerry has managed to stay afloat at third with 3.8 percent. Amusingly, there was still some room for Symbian at fifth with just 0.3 percent of the market. 
comScore has also measured the most popular websites and apps used on smartphones. Google and Facebook struggle for the top spots on both categories, with Google leading the browsing audience and Facebook grabbing majority of the app users’ attention. SOURCE: comScore | | Dayframe transforms your Android device into a digital photo frame Nov 6th 2013, 05:37, by Juan Carlos Torres With the rate that new mobile devices are churned out and bought these days, there is bound to be one or two old, unused tablet or smartphone lying around in people’s homes, gathering dust. While more advanced or adventurous owners might have some esoteric idea for those gadgets, regular users might just opt to dedicate the hardware for something less grandiose, such as a digital photo frame to showcase your family photos in the living room. 
If this is the path you have chosen to take, then the upcoming Dayframe app, from the makers of the popular HD Widgets, might just be the thing you need. Dayframe is a no frills, no nonsense app that turns your Android device, preferably a large screen tablet, into a slideshow of images. The app is able to harvest images from a variety of online sources such as Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Flickr, Dropbox, 500px, Google+, and Twitter. Of course, it can also get photos from the device’s own gallery so an active Internet connection is definitely not a requirement. 
Once image sources have been selected, Dayframe display’s the whole collection in a Pinterest-style dashboard, which in itself is already a sight to behold. Tapping on the play button starts the show, with photos taking up full screen. Unfortunately, at the moment the solid black notification bar rears its head even on the Nexus 5 running Android 4.4, which should, at least, be showing a translucent notification bar or none at all. Hopefully, the bug will be squished in time for the official launch. 
The app is still in beta and is schedule to make its grand appearance next week, November 12, to be exact. In the meantime, those curious about the app and would like to ensure that the rest of the users will enjoy smooth sailing are welcome to join the beta program to help the developers craft the perfect digital photo frame experience. VIA: SlashGear | |
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