Harry Potter author JK Rowling
A look at gadget happenings, as online Harry Potter reading site Pottermore launches to the public, the Samsung Galaxy S III could see a 3 May unveiling and Instagram gains 10m new members in 10 days.
Harry Potter online reading site Pottermore opens to the public
The interactive Harry Potter online reading site Pottermore finally opened to the public this weekend after long delays.
According to the Pottermore blog, due to the expected demand for the site, new users’ accounts will be activated in ‘a steady stream,’ meaning they may not get access to the site immediately after they sign up.
Harry Potter author JK Rowling launched Pottermore, which is managed by Sony. The site lets readers take part in the Harry Potter story, which includes getting a wand and being placed in one of the four Hogwarts houses.
The site allowed a limited number of users to register for the beta on 31 July 2011. It gave them access to Pottermore between mid-August and late September, aiming to open the site to the public during October to let users navigate through the first book Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
However, Pottermore struggled with the demand from beta users and suffered frequent downtime, causing the beta period to be extended until April.
Samsung Galaxy S III to be unveiled 3 May?
Samsung has sent out a press invite which suggests it could reveal its next flagship Android smartphone on 3 May.
Sammy Hub reports that the event says it will reveal the ‘next galaxy’ at an event in London on this date. This is in line with previous suggestions that the next Samsung Galaxy S device will be unveiled in April or May.
Samsung has seen a lot of success with its Galaxy S range of Android smartphones. The Samsung Galaxy S II sold 20m models worldwide in 10 months.
The next Samsung Galaxy S smartphone is rumoured to have a 4.8-inch 1080p resolution display and may run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.
Instagram gains 10m new users in 10 days
Photo-sharing app Instagram managed to gain 10m new users in 10 days, seeing its userbase grow to 40m in total.
TechCrunch reports that the figure was found within Instagram’s API and represents a growth of 1m users per day.
Instagram has gained a lot of attention from the media and the public in recent weeks. The app, which was once exclusively an iOS app, launched on the Android platform 10 days ago. Facebook then acquired Instagram for US$1bn.
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