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The best tech April Fools’ Day jokes of 2014

Apr01
by on April 1, 2014 at 1:36 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Insider, Roundups, Shareables

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April Fools’ Day jokes are by and large disappointing — Google aside — but there is some hope outside of Mountain View. Here’s what companies other than Google did that was actually interesting. Tumblr — Tumblr Pro Tumblr pranked a lot of its young userbase after it added a button to allow users to upgrade to ‘Tumblr Pro’ on its microblogging service. Clicking to upgrade to the free service, users are shown a video designed to inspire creativity within… and are ultimately rewarded only with a hat for their avatar. I activated Tumblr Pro and this happened???????????????? pic.twitter.com/OOqiCtvqp0 — LadyPipit’s…

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IE11 gains the most market share, and Chrome finally passes Firefox

Apr01
by on April 1, 2014 at 1:26 pm
Posted In: Apps, Around the Web, Google, Insider

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March saw the fifth full month of IE11 availability with Windows 8.1, the release of Firefox 28, and the first full month of Chrome 33 availability. The latest numbers from Net Applications show that Chrome was the only major winner last month, having finally passed Firefox. Between February and March, IE dipped 0.23 percentage points (from 58.19 percent to 57.96), Firefox fell 0.42 percentage points (from 17.68 percent to 17.52 percent), and Chrome gained 0.68 percentage points (from 16.84 percent to 17.52 percent). Safari meanwhile gained 0.01 percentage points to 5.68 percent and Opera slipped 0.03 percentage points to 1.20…

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BBM updated with stickers, support for sending larger files, and photo sharing in multi-person chats

Apr01
by on April 1, 2014 at 1:19 pm
Posted In: Apps, Around the Web, Canada, Insider, Mobile

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As expected, BlackBerry today released a new version of BBM, adding stickers, support for sending larger files, and photo sharing in multi-person chats. If you don’t see it yet, you should note the company says the update “will begin to roll out to users starting this afternoon.” Stickers is probably the biggest addition, as it lets users download a variety of packs right inside the app from the BBM Shop and it gives BlackBerry a new way to monetize its messaging platform. Each sticker pack contains between 20 and 25 stickers and features content developed by “talented artists,” relating to…

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Samsung reveals 3 new mid-range Galaxy Tab4 series devices

Apr01
by on April 1, 2014 at 1:01 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Gadgets, Insider, Product Launches

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Samsung has announced the new versions of its Galaxy Tab range of tablet devices today, confirming that it will be sticking to the 10.1-inch, 8-inch and 7-inch form factors. The new devices sit firmly in the mid-range of the market, and include Samsung’s custom entertainment services like Group Play (for sharing and playing music with friends in real-time – it also supports document sharing), Samsung Link (for playing content across different devices) and WatchON for viewing TV or movies. All of the devices also run the Android KitKat (4.4) operating system, too. The largest of the series includes a 10.1-inch…

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Flurry: Android and iOS users spend 32% of their app time playing games, 17% in Facebook, and 14% in a browser

Apr01
by on April 1, 2014 at 1:00 pm
Posted In: Apps, Around the Web, Gadgets, Insider, Mobile

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Android and iOS users in the US spend an average of 2 hours and 42 minutes every day using apps on smartphones and tablets (up just four minutes compared to last year). Of that, 86 percent (or 2 hours and 19 minutes) is spent inside apps, while the remaining 14 percent (or 22 minutes, down 6 percentage points compared to last year) is spent on the mobile Web using a browser. These latest figures come from mobile firm Flurry, which provides analytics and ad tools that developers integrate into their apps. The company collected data between January 2014 and March…

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