Google makes improvements to Chrome browser on iOS

Google today announced that it is making some critical updates to its Chrome browser in iOS which will result in faster and more stable performance.

"The latest Chrome for iOS is significantly faster and more stable, so you can pick up where you left off browsing (on any device) without worrying about Chrome crashing on misbehaving webpages. In fact, tests show that the latest version reduces Chrome’s crash rate by 70 percent and speeds up JavaScript execution significantly," Google said in a blog post.

This new update comes just as news of Apple's Safari browser on iOS and Mac is experiencing various crashes due to a search suggestion feature issue. 

Source: Google

Olympus brings new PEN-F camera that mixes high-tech features with retro-cool styling

Olympus has released a digital update to the venerable PEN-F  film camera. The new version features a 20 megapixel sensor with Olympus’ 5-Axis Image Stabilization, a built-in 2.36 million-dot OLED electronic viewfinder, and a new Creative Dial on the front of the camera that accesses a host of controls. Coming to market in March, the PEN-F will have an SRT of $1,499.99 in Canada.

While this is definitely a compact camera, it is also a standard setting release as one of the fastest and quietest cameras in the market. The PEN-F will feature shortest shutter-release time lag of any compact system camera at 0.044 seconds.

The 1/8000-second, high-speed mechanical shutter provides superior performance for capturing fast action, and shutter functions can be customized according to the scene. Silent Mode is useful for shooting in situations that require complete silence, and Anti-Shock Mode allows users to prevent shutter shake. 

Source: Olympus

Apple reports record earnings despite softening economy and weakened currencies

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

This is Apple’s biggest revenue and profit ever and likely the most revenue reported by any company, yet it is still dampened by falling short of expectations plus the first ever sales decline for iPhone in Q2, which will be the first downturn for Apple’s marquee product since its launch back in 2007.

Apple held its holiday quarter earnings call yesterday and reported $75.9 billion in revenue, $18.4 billion in profits which breaks previous records for the company despite the global ‘softening’ of the economy and devaled currencies.  Apple’s success is bolstered by iPhone sales, the company sold 74.8 million units for the quarter. iPad sales continued to fall at 16.1 million units sold despite the addition of the iPad Pro, and Mac unit sales were at 5.3 million units in what is traditionally considered Apple’s strongest quarter.

For the same quarter a year ago, Apple reported the following for comparison. $74.6b in revenue, $18 billion in profit, 74.4m iPhones, 21.4m iPads, and 5.5m Macs. Analysts were predicting around $76.6b in revenue, 75m iPhones, 17.3m iPads, and 5.8m Macs this quarter. 

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Microsoft’s News Pro app focuses on your work

A new Microsoft Garage app for iOS and the web puts the focus on your career. The News Pro app is a delivery service with “hyper-relevant news for your work.” What it does is it pools together stories based on your work-related interests on Facebook or LinkedIn. According to 9to5Mac’s Greg Barbosa, the iOS app delivers stories on topics you may already be interested in. The example he gave was the news items he was able to get based on his interest in computer software. The Highlights section of the app gave him different stories on various software companies. The app’s Explore section takes categorizations to a granular level as it has subcategories you can explore based on more general topics, making it easier to find stories that you are interested in reading. The app comes with a Speedy View that mimics the Reader View of Safari. It’s available for free download if you want to try it out on iOS.

Source: Microsoft News | Via: 9to5Mac | Download: Apple App Store (Free)