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Weekly Rewind: Adobe kills Flash for mobile, B&N fights Fire with Nook, Apple finally fixes iOS 5 battery life

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Didn’t have time to keep up with every ripple in the technology pond this week? We’ve got you covered. Here are some of the most noteworthy stories from the last week.

Broken Adobe FlashAdobe kills Flash for mobile

We first reported on this bombshell announcement on Wednesday, when we heard that Adobe would no longer be developing Flash for mobile devices, instead focusing its efforts on HTML5. Our own Geoff Duncan took a hard look at the decision, how the company came to it, and what it means for Apple, other mobile companies, and the future of Adobe. The announcement could also mean potential problems for connected TVs like Google TVs, which rely heavily on Flash to deliver video content.

Apple releases iOS 5 update with fix for battery life issues

In a response to “batterygate” — the stream of iPhone owners complaining about rapidly draining battery life with the new iOS 5 update, Apple started testing out a iOS 5.0.1 update among a small group of users earlier this week. The update worked, so as of yesterday, iOS 5.0.1. was made available for all iPhone users and included the battery fix, bug repairs for some iCloud issues, and improved Siri voice recognition for Australian users. 

Twitter unleashes new “Activity Stream” 

This week, Twitter started rolling out a new “Activity Stream” feature that looks a whole lot like the Facebook news ticker. The new element aims to connect users with other people they might want to follow, and give them a peek at what their friends are doing and who they are following. We examined the new Twitter addition to see whether it fits into where we think the company should be going or if it’s just a useless copycat of nemesis Facebook.

Barnes & Noble releases new Nook tablet

On Monday, the big box store came out swinging against Amazon and the Kindle Fire with a new 7-inch Nook tablet. The brand new tablet offering has a 1GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, and a 7-inch, laminated IPS “Vivid View” LG display for $249. We were on-hand at the event to give our first impressions of the new tablet and give you the inside scoop with a hands-on video. We’ve also got a spec showdown to give you the details on the new Nook and its competitor, the Kindle Fire.

Facebook reveals winners and losers of new Open Graph

It’s been over a month now since Facebook introduced its new Open Graph feature, which allows outside applications to be much more integrated into the Facebook interface and profile pages. This week we got to see some of the effects of the new feature, including which companies have benefitted the most from the increased app integration.

Kelly Montgomery
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Kelly Montgomery is a magazine journalism graduate from the University of Oregon's School of Journalism and Communications…
AT&T just made it a lot easier to upgrade your phone
AT&T Storefront with logo.

Do you want to upgrade your phone more than once a year? What about three times a year? Are you on AT&T? If you answered yes to those questions, then AT&T’s new “Next Up Anytime” early upgrade program is made for you. With this add-on, you’ll be able to upgrade your phone three times a year for just $10 extra every month. It will be available starting July 16.

Currently, AT&T has its “Next Up” add-on, which has been available for the past several years. This program costs $6 extra per month and lets you upgrade by trading in your existing phone after at least half of it is paid off. But the new Next Up Anytime option gives you some more flexibility.

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Motorola is selling unlocked smartphones for just $150 today
Someone holding the Moto G Stylus 5G (2024).

Have you been looking for phone deals but don’t want to spend a ton of money on flagship devices from Apple and Samsung? Have you ever considered investing in an unlocked Motorola? For a limited time, the company is offering a $100 markdown on the Motorola Moto G 5G. It can be yours for just $150, and your days and nights of phone-shopping will finally be over!

Why you should buy the Motorola Moto G 5G
Powered by the Snapdragon 480+ 5G CPU and 4GB of RAM, the Moto G delivers exceptional performance across the board. From UI navigation to apps, games, and camera functions, you can expect fast load times, next to no buffering, and smooth animations. You’ll also get up to 128GB of internal storage that you’ll be able to use for photos, videos, music, and any other mobile content you can store locally. 

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The Nokia 3210 is the worst phone I’ve used in 2024
A person holding the Nokia 3210, showing the screen.

Where do I even start with the Nokia 3210? Not the original, which was one of the coolest phones to own back in a time when Star Wars: Episode 1 -- The Phantom Menace wasn’t even a thing, but the latest 2024 reissue that has come along to save us all from digital overload, the horror of social media, and the endless distraction that is the modern smartphone.

Except behind this facade of marketing-friendly do-goodery hides a weapon of torture, a device so foul that I’d rather sit through multiple showings of Jar Jar Binks and the gang hopelessly trying to bring back the magic of A New Hope than use it.
The Nokia 3210 really is that bad

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