If you have an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch with iOS 6 you probably already know Siri and interesting features it offers. Talking to this virtual assistant have the option to create notes, send emails or messages to the contacts you want, make calls, schedule tasks, check sports scores, weather and movie listings, post on social media … In short, endless possibilities that make the simplest of everyday activities.

If you want to know all the features of Siri, ask “What can i help you with?” and a guide will show you the options and examples of voice commands you can use. You can talk in the same tone in which you would speak to a person and the voice recognition is pretty accurate. Also remember conversations and interprets the global sense so that interaction is fluid and do not have to repeat instructions.

The Android phones and tablets also have several virtual assistants that allow you to use your device through voice commands. One of the most interesting is Sherpa, a free app with features very similar to the Siri: find information, search for restaurants, shops and other establishments, create appointments and tasks, open applications, set alarms, post on social networks or have you put a song, among others already described.

Another interesting alternative is Speaktoit, available for iOS, Android and Windows Phone. It is a voice assistant that has Siri and Sherpa functionality but with a special feature: it comes with a virtual assistant, an avatar that you can customize to your liking and that is responsible for managing and implementing your orders. Speech recognition is not as accurate as Siri, but it has global recognition of the conversation.

Windows Phone devices also have their own voice recognition system: TellMe, which can be accessed via the home button or to conduct searches on Bing. Microsoft is preparing an update of this wizard in order to improve both the speed and the quality of speech recognition in noisy environments. Additionally, this update will include streaming mode, a feature that remains active voice assistant to consult in the middle of a conversation, and while the user continues talking about the application runs in the background.

After the breakdown of the agreement between Google and Apple, which the Internet giant’s services were default on iOS devices, users eagerly await all of them are available as third-party application on the App Store.

This is what happened with Google Maps or the implementation of the Google browser, Chrome, and the voice wizard Google now. In late March, the president of Google, Eric Schmidt claimed that Google Now was ready for iOS devices, missing only the approval of Apple. For its part, Apple said that they could not approve anything if Google did not presented the application.

Accusations aside, this voice assistant is now available for iOS devices but with some limitations. As confirmed by Google itself, Google Now is now available for iOS devices via the App Store, however, is not a standalone application but is integrated into the Google Search app for iOS. Thanks to an update, iPhone users, iPad and iPod touch can now ask any thing to the wizard of Google.

Since this is an update of search application and as such, Google Now is not integrated with notifications or alerts on iOS devices, so it is necessary that users open Google Search to enter the application and update application list of cards.

In addition to Google Now cards, the Google Search application includes immediate answers to questions, such as questions about the weather, traffic conditions or the latest current news.

This change in the way of sending text messages via mobile terminals has its greatest impact on mobile operators who, according to Pamela Clark-Dickson, and were “seeing a decrease in messaging revenues”.

So much so, that the investigations conducted by Ovum have decreased from 15,000 million euros on revenue of SMS over 2012 due to the number of users who have replaced this service for free chat applications.

Despite the growing trend of these applications that are currently in its peak as WhatsApp or Line, experts expect that some features of the SMS they do maintain the user avoiding a rapid decline. According to the same experts, by 2014, the messaging applications are sent free near 50,000 millions of messages per day compared with more than 21,000 million traditional SMS, which would be a rise in both services.

However, traditional service will continue to drive the sector strong and that “there is plenty of life still in the SMS” as declared Clark-Dickson of Informa. The majority of chat applications are used by users of smart phones although there are a large number of consumers, especially in the less developed economies, that use this type of service with another type of terminals and depend on the SMS messaging tool as preferred. “They do not have mobile data plans, so it is a very large base of mobile phone users are still in the SMS, the best messaging experience for them”, he added.

Following plans to maximize their range of “smartphones” and “tablets”, Samsung has introduced the next generation of its seven-inch device. After rumors of new devices from the company for this year, including a mini version of its brand new Galaxy S4, the South Korean has presented the Galaxy Tab 3.

In terms of design, the new Galaxy Tab 3 is a “tablet” more compact which allows handling with one hand and thinner than the previous generation. In terms of performance, these are similar to its predecessor, the Galaxy Tab 2. It has seven-inch LCD TFT screen, a 1.2GHz dual-core processor (0.2 GHz more power than Galaxy Tab 2), 1GB RAM and 8 or 16GB internal memory, expandable to 64 GB via microSD card. All this, with the version Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.

As for camera, it has a 3-megapixel rear camera and a 1.3 megapixel front and a 4,000mAh battery. In addition, Samsung will release two models of the “tablet”: first WiFi version and on the other hand, the 3G version which like the Galaxy Note 8 to make calls and send messages through applications like ChatOn, installed in the device or WhatsApp.

In relation to the software of the device, Samsung incorporates Samsung Hub, Samsung Kies and Google services like Gmail, Maps, Google+ or YouTube by default. The Galaxy Tab 3 WiFi version will be available worldwide beginning in May and the 3G version will come in June. According to Samsung, the availability of products varies by market and will be gradually extended.

As you know Apple is having serious problems with its manufacturing of components and does nothing has rejected a good order of iPhone by the lack of quality of their components or Assembly faults. So it seems that deviate the chances of seeing an iPad Mini with Retina Display in 2013.

The truth is that we feel that things are not looking too good for that new tablet, because if the iPad mini is working so well in the market it is also because of its low price, which can actually compete while, Apple. Incorporate new retina display would increase the quality of the tablet, but it is also true that would mean a price increase that as it is on the market with the crisis, might not be suitable for all budgets.

So it seems that Cupertino has clearly decided to send the iPad Mini with Retina display for later, and stay this time with an iPad Mini renewed in a second generation that would be some improvements, but it would not be a real change of generation. Let the iPad Mini 2 would be like the iPhone 5s for the iPhone 5, improved thanks to the market, but that does not entail a change really important. We’ll see…

BBM Music is presented as a social music discovery service, which allowed to have a small collection on the device and in turn interact with the contacts via BBM.

The four major record companies had been climbed this bet (Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group and EMI) that promised to exploit the advantages of BBM successful among users and create a gallery of music getting bigger, taking note that each user chose 50 songs that were part of their own, and the goal was to help social effect will help discover new songs and artists.

However, with the loss of strength of BlackBerry, and switching to BlackBerry 10, the service never got off the ground in the countries where it was available, so now the former RIM has decided to close it.

BBM Music will close on June 2, according to emails sent to subscribers, and third party applications seek to replace this space.

But the Z10 is a full touch phone, aimed to compete in a segment where Samsung, Apple, Sony and Nokia currently offered different terminals, although many users still remaining in BlackBerry resist.

That’s why BlackBerry is preparing to launch the Q10; a phone that was announced in late January by the Z10 and that takes the highly successful format gave the Canadian, including a physical QWERTY keyboard and this time adding a touch screen.

The first target market for the launch of the Q10 is its country of origin, and Canada will receive the first phones on 1st May, and then begin to expand to the rest of the world with estimated date for the United States at the end of next month.

Surprisingly according to Bloomberg, the Q10 will sell more expensive in the U.S. than the Z10, the iPhone, the Nokia Lumia 920 or the Galaxy S4, although the price has not been confirmed.

Companies like Samsung, HTC and Nokia, were presenting their flagship phones more and more inches on its screen, as part of the renovation, increased performance and improved technical features, making the larger equipment, the greater has market value, and thus more aspirational.

But now, manufacturers began to change its strategy, observing what happens especially in emerging markets, where Premium phones have a much smaller share, and seeking to offer aspirational products at lower cost.

The Samsung Galaxy Grand is a clear example, with 5 inches (the same as the flamboyant Galaxy S4) provides benefits much lower, the screen has a resolution of just 480 x 800, compared to S4 1080 x 1920, memory is 8GB and 8 megapixel camera. With these much smaller specifications, Samsung gets midrange phone look high-end equipment.

But Samsung has not been alone with that, and they just announced new equipment along these lines. The Galaxy Mega is 5.8 inches and a screen resolution falls short of HD. The rest of the specs are typical of an average smartphone.

Galaxy Win is another example, with 4.7-inch WVGA resolution, offers 5 megapixel camera and a processor of 1.2 GHz, reaffirming this new trend of great size, but middle-range specifications.

Nokia is also making changes, and since the launch of the Lumia line, the larger, better specs, something that changed with the recently announced Lumia 520, the cheapest phone of Lumia history raising its 4-inch screen, taking larger than the 620, a smartphone that offers more features.

From now on, we will see more and more phones of large size and specifications not so premium, and this strategy could expand to more manufacturers, if its success is proven.

It is not the first time that the Korean flirts with the phablet world and for many the Samsung Galaxy Note is the most prominent within the segment.

However, in this case the Samsung Galaxy Mega is another leaf returned to the phablets, since the same terminal will also have two versions, both with different screen size. What do you think? We take a look ahead to what will be the new Samsung Galaxy Mega:

The Samsung Galaxy Mega will actually be two terminals. One of a 6.3 inch screen, and the other 5.8-inch model. In addition there will be major changes in the processor, since the largest carry a 1.7GHz dual-core, while the small settle for a speed of 1.4GHz.

The screen resolution is also different for the two Samsung Galaxy Mega. On the one hand we have a 720p HD screen for 6.3 inch and qHD display model in a smaller size. Both phones will find Bluetooth, GPS and microSD support, although the larger by default also include support for NFC.

With Windows 8 operating system, the new Dell Latitude 10 has a 10.1-inch screen with resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels, light sensor for strength and protection.

In hardware specifications highlights a Intel Atom dual core processor to 1.8GHz with graphics processor, 2GB RAM and storage capacity up to 64GB.

In addition offering one 8 megapixel camera, the tablet Dell Latitude 10 has Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, USB 2.0 and support for both HDMI Mini as for NFC, prices are in the range of 650 to 850 dollars.