(Feel free to click around the Lytro image if you are bored.)

This morning, our boy Ron wrote up his opinion on the “fanboy” situation that plagues almost every tech community. Whether you own an iOS or Android or Blackberry device, someone is bound to call you a fanboy because you chose one over the other. At one time, Apple users were pegged as being the worst fanboys, but since, it has grown to include other platforms as well. Hell, even in the Android game you are starting to see groups of users band together as “Nexus fanboys” and/or “Motorola fanboys.” It really doesn’t matter what piece of technology is in your hand or on your desk, someone is bound to have a problem with it and thus refer to you as biased or as a fanboy.

But during his piece, Ron talked about removing the blinders and embracing “good” technology overall rather than siloing yourself into one platform or brand. I’ll just say that as someone who runs an Android site and has dedicated his life to the platform, even I find myself branching out to other areas of tech until I find something I truly love. For example, my favorite tablet to this day is still probably the Blackberry Playbook. Had that sucker actually had an app ecosystem, I probably still be using it. On a computer level, brace yourself, I use an iMac and a Macbook Pro. I’ve been through every version of Windows since the early 90s and in the last year made the switch to OSX. So far, it has been a breath of fresh air.

So I’m just curious, since I know that many of you own iPads and other non-Android products, what your mix of technology is. Windows or Mac? iPad or Android tablet? Anything else?

According to new research presented by NPD Group, Apple’s record setting last two quarters were not enough to help it fight off Android in the battle for top smartphone OS. Their numbers show that after Q1, Android has grabbed a hold of 61% of the U.S. smartphone market share, with Apple dropping from 41% to 29% in the same time period.

I’m not sure anyone would have predicted numbers like these, but then again, this is OS market share we are talking about and not phone sales by one manufacturer, a category that Apple still clearly dominates.

Together, Android and iOS make up for 90% of the U.S. smartphone market. That’s, nuts.

Via:  CNET

Cheers Pops and duke69111!

Lately Business Insider (BI) has been announcing the imminent death of Android based on iPhone and iPad sales, reported disinterest in the platform by developers, and upset manufacturers. According to a handful of their writers, Android is poised to lose market share to both iOS and Windows Phone. Is the end near for Android?

Making the rounds this morning, we have a video from an Android user who after hearing time and time again that iOS and the iPhone “just work” and are “more polished” than any other device, decided to spend 30 days with one to see for himself. He purchased an iPhone 4S, but mind you, this was not his first iOS device. In fact, he owns the new iPad and other Apple products and is familiar with the ecosystem, however, his goal was to take his experience with the 4S and compare it to using Google’s latest mobile OS, Ice Cream Sandwich. 

Motorola won a pretty significant patent battle with Apple today in German courts. The initial “permanent injunction” forced the Cupertino giant to remove most of its products from its German-based online store including the iPhone 3G, the iPhone 3GS, and the iPhone 4 as well as any 3G-enabled iPads. The patent in question had to do with a “multiple pager status synchronization system and method” which Apple uses in its iCloud product. As you can see, that’s a big deal.

After all that went down early this morning and products were pulled, news is starting to spread that Apple has apparently put up a big enough chunk of change to license the patent from Motorola. Well, has potentially. The ban has been lifted and that’s the only guess that anyone has as to why it would be removed so quickly. It’s not clear what that amount was, especially after an Apple spokesperson took a shot at Moto for refusing “to license this patent to Apple on reasonable terms.”

This is a developing story, indeed.

Via:  FOSS Patents, (2), BBC, Engadget

Cheers Mclovin, Brian and Ben!

As Android fans, I know that most of us don’t want to hear it, but if NFC (Near Field Communications) is ever going to take off and be widely adopted, we need the iPhone 5 to support it.

When the Nexus S was released on December 16, 2010 as the first NFC-enabled phone, Google made an early push to get both businesses and consumers into accepting the idea that their phones could share information by simply touching it to objects. The thought of paying for your morning coffee or cab fare without having to dig into your purse or back pocket seemed so game-changing. Since we all make our phones the most readily available item on our bodies at all times, what a brilliant idea this was. 

According to a recent study performed by Match.com, Android users are kings and queens of the one-night stand in the dating world. Roughly 62% of Android users who participated in the study said that they have gone all-in on a first date. In comparison, iPhone users get dirty on day 1 at a rate of 57% while Blackberry users never get laid failed to crack 50%. The study also found that Android users then take 2-3 days to reach out after a date (potentially after that first big loose one), while iPhone users sext call the next day. Blackberry users drink more often than everyone and Android users lead the way in smartphone owners who visit dating sites, with 72% of those polled said that they have visited one.

I feel like we are a pretty well-rounded group. Not only do we “multi-task” from the bathroom, but we also have the best set of pickup lines.

“Are you an Android phone? Because I only handle things that are unlocked.”

Via:  VentureBeat

Cheers Matthew!