"Named General Distribution Release 2 (GDR2), the latest update enables Data Sense, a way to track how data is being used, alongside FM radio, and the ability to set other applications as the default camera. GDR2 also includes support for Gmail's CalrdDAV and CalDAV implementation, allowing Windows Phone users to continue syncing calendar and contacts after Google announced its intention to pull its Exchange ActiveSync service earlier this year." There's something wrong with your operating system's update/improvement rate when such a minute, insignificant release is news.

"The biggest mobile developer study in history with 6,000 respondents from 115 countries says that while iOS developers make an average of $5,200 per month in app revenue and Android developers pull in $4,700, more developers plan to start developing for Windows Phone than any other platform. That's aided, of course, by the fact that 71 percent of mobile developers are already developing for Android, and 56 percent are already developing for iOS." I'm surprised there's so little difference between income for iOS and Android developers. Reading the web, it often seems as if all iOS developers are millionaires and Android developers are poor unwashed peasants. Reality is, clearly, different.

"The worst thing about Android phones isn't the crapware, though. It's the 'skins' - the modifications that phone companies make to Android's most basic features, including the dialing app, contacts, email, the calendar, the notification system, and the layout of the home screen. If you get the Play edition of these phones, you'll see Google's version of each of these apps, and you'll come away impressed by Google's tasteful, restrained, utilitarian design sense. But if, like most people, you get your phone for $199 from a carrier, you'll find everything in it is a frightful mess." Android's biggest problem (lack of updates is part of this). I got my Oppo Find 5 yesterday, and after only a few hours with the official, skinned firmware, I ran crying to the officially supported CyanogenMod 10.1 (Android 4.2.2). Stock (CM is mostly stock) is such a beautiful and elegant operating system - OEM skins are like screaming kids eating popcicles in front of you on a line to a theme park ride. Whenever someone hands me a stock Samsung or HTC, I die a little inside. Those guys simply have zero clue about software.

The decline continues for Nokia. While Lumia sales volume increased by 32% to 7.2 million during Q2, this was well short of the 8.1 million analysts expected would be sold. Meanwhile, smartphone sales are down 10.2 million units from Q2 2012, based solely on the death of Symbian. Did Nokia jump from a burning platform to a sinking ship? Or will the next Windows Phone update finally bring feature parity with Symbian? Note from Thom: Loads of new models, yet still not the turning point we are promised every time Nokia releases quarterly figures. I'm sure the next quarter, with the next new flagship, will turn it all around.

"All three major Russian cellcos have stopped selling the iPhone, the most dramatic instance so far in a rising tide of operator backlash against Apple's tough contractual requirements. VimpelCom has severed its ties with the handset provider, following in the footsteps of MTS and MegaFon. VimpelCom says it has put Samsung at the top of its list of smartphones to promote under its BeeLine brand. According to PhoneArena, VimpelCom blamed 'draconian contracts' and 'harsh conditions especially in the marketing department' for its decision to dump the iPhone and sign a new deal with Samsung." Apple's treatment of carriers has long been a sore point, however, carriers didn't have much choice. Now that the iPhone is by far no longer the only big money maker, carriers have more leverage.

Serdar Yegalulp offers a long view of the current evolution of Linux, one that sees the open source OS firmly entrenched as a cornerstone of IT, evolving in almost every direction at once - including most demonstrably toward the mobile and embedded markets. "If Linux acceptance and development are peaking, where does Linux go from up? Because Linux is such a mutable phenomenon and appears in so many incarnations, there may not be any single answer to that question. More important, perhaps, is how Linux - the perennial upstart - will embrace the challenges of being a mature and, in many areas, market-leading project. Here's a look at the future of Linux: as raw material, as the product of community and corporate contributions, and as the target of any number of challenges to its ethos, technical prowess, and growth."

"In its desire for authenticity, the Modern design movement curbed the ornamental excess of the 19th century, making design fit the age of mass production. Today, we're seeing the same desire for authenticity manifest itself in the 'flat' trend, which rejects skeuomorphism and excessive visuals for simpler, cleaner, content-focused design." Fascinating perspective on the whole digital vs. analog design debate by Dmitry Fadeyev.

"Microsoft's Surface RT is getting price cuts across the world this week as the company looks to boost sales of its first ever tablet hardware." Great vote of confidence on a platform barely out the door.

"Substantially improved support for the power management features of modern Radeon graphics cores is among the major new additions of the now available first release candidate of Linux 3.11. For this release, Linus Torvalds changed the code name from 'Unicycling Gorilla' to 'Linux for Workgroups' and modified the logo that some systems display when booting: it now depicts a Tux holding a flag with a symbol that is reminiscent of the logo of Windows for Workgroups 3.11, which was released in 1993." Just awesome. Nothing else.

"The Moto X is apparently always listening for commands, the initiating command appears to be 'Ok Google Now' without having to load Google Now or select voice operation, after hearing this command the phone instantly responds with the information you require or performs the function you want, like providing directions or setting reminders or other Google Now functions." Google always listening in? Sure, that's not creepy at all or anything.

The general gist? A minor update somewhere this year, but the real update won't come until 2014. In the meantime, we'll have to... "Resuming..." ...settle for CardDAV/CalDAV support, some additional HTML5 support, and fixes for Xbox Music metadata. We were promised regular updates and an early access program for enthusiasts - but Microsoft failed to deliver, once more. For all intents and purposes, thanks... "Resuming..." ...to the switch to the Windows NT kernel, the Windows Phone we're using today has very little additional functionality to offer over what we were using on WP7 release day. I've been a Windows Phone user since WP7 release day, but Microsoft has lost me.

I was in the running for a new Android phone, and I was quite dead set on getting a Nexus 4 - however, there was another phone in the running: the OPPO Find 5, a smrtphone with lots of positive reviews, but from a small manufacturer. The point that made me choose the Find 5 over the Nexus 4? OPPO actively supports the ROM community by giving away free phones, and boasts support for CyanogenMod, Paranoid Android, and an AOSP ROM, and obviously, rooting is easy. OPPO also updates its own firmware/ROM twice per month with new features, which is a far cry from the big boys. If you're looking for a new Android phone, you might want to consider looking beyond the established players as well, and support a company who works closely with the community - something the big player still need to learn properly. Once the device arrives on my doorstep, I'll be sure to tell you all about it, and if it lives up to the hype. It is, after all, from a relatively unknown company, so I am taking a risk here. I am a little bit nervous. But hey, if none of us takes the risk, we'll be stuck with the big players forever.

"Mir, Ubuntu's in-progress replacement for the X Window System, is being used internally at Ubuntu developer Canonical and will be available to all users in the next version of the operating system. Mir was announced in March, with Canonical saying that a new display server is needed to power the Unity interface across desktops, phones, and tablets." Anyone here experience with Mir? Is it any good? any downsides?

In its struggle to find willing customers, Nokia just announced yet another flagship phone - the Nokia Lumia 1020. It's essentially a Lumia 920/925, but with the Nokia 808's PureView camera bolted on. Also, it's exclusive to AT&T in the US, for $299 with a two year contract, which is a steep price. So, who gets the honour to be the first to claim that this, yes this Lumia will turn Nokia around?