Microsoft and Nokia are planning to invest $23.71 million into Nokia’s AppCampus program over the next three years to catapult the apps ecosystem on the Windows Phone platform reports The Next Web.
Both the companies are calling this the ‘mobile app accelerator program’ and the idea is to give world-class training, coaching, marketing and distribution support to app developers. This way, Microsoft and Nokia are not only giving a financial incentive to app developers, but are also ensuring that they get proper training with regards to the Metro design language, so that they can build better apps.
Developers will get anything in-between $26,000 and $92,000 depending on the complexity of the app. This is a lot of money. In comparison iOS and Android both have burgeoning app ecosystems that boast more than 700,000 apps. Windows Phone on the other hand only recently crossed the 100,000 apps mark, but the quality of apps available on the store is very questionable and a number of high profile apps like Instagram are missing.
Posted in: APPS
When one thinks of a $99 tablet then one always thinks of Asus, because of the fact they launched the Nexus 7 with Google, which broke ground in the $199 price bracket. That said WSJ believes that Acer is planning a $99 Android tablet and is also working on a cheap Windows 8 tablet.
Yes, you read that right. Often I find myself in a conundrum on the iPhone because of the lackadaisical nature of the built-in music player because of the lack of equalization controls on the iPhone. Yes, you get a crippled set of EQ setting buried in the vast depths of the setting menu, but that’s about it. And if you happen use the standard Apple earphones then good luck, because the sound will not be what audiophiles expect it to be. On the other hand if you download a third-party music player that does offer you a number EQ settings, then a novice will be at a loss because you need some basic working knowledge of the app, before you even start otherwise you could end up ruining the sound. The Amp Audyssey Music Player is what you want on the iPhone as it offers the perfect balance between ease of use for fine-tuning the sound of the music and usability.
How does it do this? Instead of conjuring a confusing list of EQ settings it offers to tweak the sound on the basis of the headphone you are using. The app has a database of 200 popular headphones/earphones and chances are you will find your own product in the database.
This may sound similar to the Beats Audio EQ engine found in HTC smartphones, but there is a massive difference. Beats Audio only works with the headphones supplied with the device or a compliant Beats headphone, the Amp Audyssey music player supports a legion of products that cater to whims and fancies of different users with different musical tastes. Beats is decidedly geared towards bass heavy hip-hop music.
In my testing the sonic difference was wildly different. Be it the crappy old Apple earphones, the new earpods supplied with the iPhone 5 or the elegant suave Bowers and Wilkins P5 headphones.
I, for one, have even started using it in my car set on the Bowers and Wilkins P5 setting because they are truly very balanced headphones and the setting that Audyssey has put in place even has a positive effect on my car audio system.
Barely days after the first 
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