CNET UK Podcast 254: Are smart phones taking over the world?
With the new version of Windows borrowing its look from Windows Phone, is the smart phone taking over the world?
Like a ravenous wildebeest rampaging through a sweet shop, smart phones are guzzling everything in sight. With the new version of Windows revealed to borrow its workings from Windows Phone, it seems the smart phone is the one gadget to rule them all.
In the week that a Qualcomm boss said "the smartphone is, no hype, the largest technology platform in history", Andy, Luke and Rich ponder the future of technology in the mobile age. Are TVs just really, really big phones you stick on the wall? If all your stuff is in the cloud and your phone is super-powerful, do you even need a computer?
We also tackle the week's news head-on, and take a look at the coolest gadgets of the week -- including a rather cool dispatch from the Frankfurt Motor Show.
News
- 6,000 HP TouchPads coming to UK -- but not for you
- Internet troll jailed for abusing families of dead teenagers
- Angry Birds tops 350m downloads, 1m toys a month
- iPhone 5 set to be a minor redesign, similar to iPhone 4
Crave
This week's arbiter of gadget goodness is Judgement Damon from Blur. Which technological marvel will make our mockney mucker - he thinks modern life is rubbish, but which gadget will light up his parklife?
- VW Up Azzura and Buggy Up super mini
- HTC Sensation XE
- Windows 8 tablet screenshots show off radical new look
Are smart phones eating all other technology?
The smart phone is on an inexorable rise. The look and feel of the phone is even taking over the computer with Mac OS X Lion and Windows 8 borrowing from the iPhone and Windows Phone. Are we heading for a world ruled by smart phones?
Feedback
Another batch of pertinent questions from the mail bag, including the future of theme parks, the return of the stylus and a debate over 1980s cartoons that could be a podcast all on its own. We like Sonic the Hedgehog, Johnny Bravo, and Pole Position. Which cartoons lit up your childhood, and were you, like Rich, ever banned from watching anything? Tell us your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook page. You could win a badge!