Google's Pixel XL priced like Apple's iPhone 7 Plus but is half as fast, lacks many key features

Google's Pixel XL priced like Apple's iPhone 7 Plus but is half as fast, lacks many key features: "In a departure from previous Nexus phones that aimed to deliver Android on a budget, Google's HTC-built Pixel XL demands Apple's price, starting at $769 for the 32-gigabyte version. It offers the same 128-gigabyte option for $100 more, but lacks the largest 256-gigabyte storage tier available on iPhone 7 Plus."

Half the phone for the same price, what a proposition!

Report: Huawei is building a successor to the Nexus 7 | Ars Technica

Report: Huawei is building a successor to the Nexus 7 | Ars Technica: "Perennial product leaker Evan Blass claims that a new Google tablet is on the way. Huawei will apparently be building a 7-inch tablet for Google, making the device a follow-up to the Nexus 7. Blass says the device is due out before the end of the year."

Especially important with the latest Android OTA update turning the Nex7 into a slug.

Cult of Android - Can Samsung's new Galaxy S7 convert a hardcore iPhone fan? | Cult of Android

Cult of Android - Can Samsung's new Galaxy S7 convert a hardcore iPhone fan? | Cult of Android "To change this, I set myself the challenge of using Android and the S7 for a week as my primary smartphone. Check out the video down below to see how it worked out."

Personally, I think it takes 6 months of daily use to really make a transition to Android. That's my experience with dual use of Nexus7 and iPad.

Apple created a mysterious new emoji and no one knows why | Cult of Mac

Apple created a mysterious new emoji and no one knows why | Cult of Mac A mysterious new emoji has been added by Apple to iOS 9.1 and OS X El Capitan, but unlike the other emoji supported by Apple, this weird new pictogram wasn’t created by the Unicode Authority, and no one knows why it exists.

In case you want to be apprised of the very latest emojii news. Oh, those crazy Japanese!

Apple buys multi-lens, DSLR-quality camera tech with $20M purchase of LinX Imaging

Apple buys multi-lens, DSLR-quality camera tech with $20M purchase of LinX Imaging: "Word of the acquisition was first reported by The Wall Street Journal, and Apple confirmed that the company had in fact been bought. Prior to the deal being closed, the two companies were said to be discussion an acquisition price of around $20 million."

Cool!

Android v. iOS Marketshare

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Having witnessed firsthand the trouncing of MacOS by Windows 95 in the early 90s, this is all looking mighty familiar.

New Samsung ad says ‘we’ve had it for two years’ to those anticipating iPhone 6′s larger screen | 9to5Mac

New Samsung ad says ‘we’ve had it for two years’ to those anticipating iPhone 6′s larger screen | 9to5Mac: "Samsung is continuing its approach of pushing anti-iPhone ads on its YouTube channel. Today’s ad showcases two friends, an iPhone user and a Galaxy S5 user, speaking to each other about the upcoming iPhone 6′s larger screen."

Some might say, the second-mover advantage falls to the maker of the most popular smartphone. Only time will tell.

All hail the king: iPhone 5s is the world’s most popular handset | Cult of Mac

All hail the king: iPhone 5s is the world’s most popular handset | Cult of Mac: "According to new research from market intelligence firm ABI Research, the iPhone was the world’s most popular smartphone in Q1 2014, leaving competitors in the dust as the top-selling handset globally."

It's good to be the king. Except that everyone wants to kill you so they can be the king. Long live the king!

New Steve Jobs email a treasure trove of information about Apple TV, Google ‘holy war,’ and behind-the-scenes strategy | 9to5Mac

New Steve Jobs email a treasure trove of information about Apple TV, Google ‘holy war,’ and behind-the-scenes strategy | 9to5Mac - As we’ve previously noted, Jobs referred to 2011 as a year of “holy war” against Google, but this document goes above that and describes how exactly Apple planned to wage this war.

WingMakers - Angels must be confused by war. Both sides praying for protection, yet someone always gets hurt. Someone dies. Someone cries so deep they lose their watery state.

Confused.

Non-poaching emails show Jobs was warring with Google long before iPhone was launched | 9to5Mac

Non-poaching emails show Jobs was warring with Google long before iPhone was launched | 9to5Mac - The damage had been done, however. Two years later Apple would unveil the iPhone, and just one year after that Google would go public with its own competitor. Jobs decided enough was enough, and a rivalry was born.

Since it's not possible to build an iPhone competitor in a year, it is safe to assume that Android only became an iPhone competitor when the iPhone emerged. Prior to that, it was a Symbian and Windows Phone competitor.

9to5Mac: Apple iPhone, Mac and iPad News Breaking All Day

9to5Mac: Apple iPhone, Mac and iPad News Breaking All Day - When you do genuine like-for-like comparisons with truly equivalent products, the Apple premium shrinks considerably.

While I think the reasoning behind this post is sound, I'm not sure the facts are correct. For example, the Google Nexus 7 has a very high build quality and retina-type display. It's about half the price of an iPad.

I have a lot of Apple devices. The Nexus is just as good as any of them.

How Android lost global open market share to Apple's integrated iOS

How Android lost global open market share to Apple's integrated iOS - This All Happened Before

Another way of looking at this is that the iPhone is about to go the way of Symbian. I see large screened phones everywhere I look. Those are Samsung phones. The phone market completely turns over ever 3 years.

The DeanBeat: The new golden age of gaming | GamesBeat | Games | by Dean Takahashi

The DeanBeat: The new golden age of gaming | GamesBeat | Games | by Dean Takahashi - Now we have the Unity engine and the App Store. We can build games with small teams. We’re entering an age where the cost of building games will go down.

Geez, time to invest in Unity. What an incredible vote for the platform.

Apps no longer differentiator in iOS vs. Android war, services next battleground

Apps no longer differentiator in iOS vs. Android war, services next battleground - The app ecosystem has transitioned to where it no longer matters how many apps each OS has, but rather the satisfaction the user gets out of them

News to my ears.