Last year, many people were not interested about buying up an Android-based smartphone but that scenario has changed. In its recent study on Android-based phones and iPhone, independent research firm, Change Wave, revealed that more and more people are now becoming interested to buy Android-based smartphone.
The firm interviewed 4,000 people and tried to gain an understanding of the mindset of the smartphone buyers who are going to purchase a new device in the next 90 days.
The above chart shows 37 percent prospect phone buyers are going to buy an Android based smartphone. Compared to the firms June study this shows a 7 percent increase.
On the other hand, 38 percent of prospective smartphone buyers are going to buy an iPhone which shows a 12 percent decrease compared to the firm’s June study.
According to Paul Carton, VP Research, Change Wave, compared to its last year data, this showed a six-fold increase in consumer preference for the Google OS.
The major reason behind this surge is Android phones comes with lots of choices which the iPhone do not have. If you are looking for a neat user experience then you should head for the iPhone but if you do not like the idea of being bound to a carrier then there is the Android phone.
Currently, all major U.S carriers have their own Android based smartphone which is absent in for the iPhone.
Apple iPhone will have a dedicated group of consumers for a long time but Android phone would continue to grow and attract more users due to its divers.
Gmail has come up with a new feature that allows its user to change conversation view. Earlier, Gmail used to present email conversations in threads. A particular thread of messages show emails based on the same subject.
The advantage of threaded message is that you would not have to spend your precious time and energy to organize messages. The messages are automatically organized for you and each message in the thread displays name of the sender and first line of the message.
However, many people do not like this thread message system. Now, there is a good news for these users. If they want they can turn the thread system off. To turn off your message threading, go to Gmail setting and turn off your conversation. Regarding the new conversation feature, Wiltse Carpenter, Technical Head, Gmail said,
The way Gmail organizes mail into conversations is like cilantro. You either love it ... or you hate it. ...
Just as an outspoken minority has banded together in unison to declare their distaste of one of nature's most delicious herbs, some of you have been very vocal about your dislike of conversation threading. So just like you can order your baja fish tacos without cilantro, you can now get Gmail served up sans Conversation View.
You can return to the thread message just by turning on the conversation.
Message threading is one of the prominent features of Gmail since its launch in 2007. However, many people did not like the feature and remained vocal about it since 2007. A petition started in Gmail help forum which eventually had 1896 responses. Many people who use old Microsoft Outlook Express mailing do not like threading.
Gmail, over the years added many new features. Earlier, it introduced a new feature called “Priority Inbox.” It scans important email messages and places the most important ones at the top of the inbox using its own algorithms and user input.
Rumor is out that Apple iPad 2 is going to hit the stores in the second quarter of 2011. Apple is very secretive about its products but tech-industry experts never stop predicting about new products despite making wrong predictions most of the time.
This time, it is Goldman Sachs, two Goldman Sachs analysts- Henry King and Kevi Lu said that Hon Hai will remain the sole manufacturer of iPad and produce the new 9.7 inch model.
The reputed financial firm said that the new iPad will have mini USB connection port and front facing camera to support FaceTime, a video calling feature that is also available in iPod Touch and the iPhone 4. Sachs analysts also predicted that the new iPad will be thinner and lighter.
Earlier, rumor of a 7-inch iPad came out and the analysts said that the project has not been finalized yet and there is no possibility of the smaller tablet being launched ahead of the new 9.7 inch model.
Many are still apprehensive about the mini-USB port because they think that Apple would not give up their proprietary 30-pin dock connection system which can be found in the current iPad models.
The above picture shows an Apple iPad with dual doc-connectors. On September 25, 2010, Patently Apple came up with this new patent. It appeared in China’s patent database which showed that there users would be able to connect with doc connetors both in the landscape and portrait mode. It is believed that this patent shows old Apple iPad design but nothing has been verified.
Rumor is out that Facebook and Skype are planning to get into a partnership. The two are planning to integrate SMS, voice and video chat and Facebook Connect. The two would also integrate their contact list. This would enable Facebook users to call their friends on Facebook via Skype.
The new features would become available on Skype 5.0 beta which would come out in next few weeks.
This is a great strategic advantage for both the companies. On Facebook’s side, the popular social networking website has limited messaging services. It does not have IM like Google talk that is integrated with Gmail and offers voice and video chat. Through Skype, it would be able to offer better communication options to its subscribers.
On the other hand, Skype would be able to access Facebook’s more than half a billion users and extend its user base. The Luxembourg-based VoIP company has 560 million registered users while 124 million users use it at least once a month. The company is also getting ready to make public offering.
Now, the big question that is in everybody’s mind is whether Facebook would also integrate Skype into its web interface or mobile application.
On September 28, 2010, AOL Inc. announced that it bought three Internet start ups to regain its market position including TechCrunch Inc., Thing Labs Inc., and 5min Media. Tech Crunch Inc. is the famous technology blog of Silicon Valley. Thing Labs Inc. makes web-based social-networking software while 5min Media is a Web video-syndication company.
On Tuesday, at a tech industry conference in San Francisco, hosted by TechCrunch Inc. AOL CEO, Tim Armstrong, appeared on the stage and made the announcement. According to two people, who are knowledgeable about the deal, said that AOL paid about $25 million for TechCrunch.
AOL Inc. was acquired by Time Warner in 2001 and since then, the web-based media company saw a continuous decline in both its stock prices and number of subscribers. On May 28, 2009, Time Warner announced that it would spin off AOL as a separate company after Google’s share would at the end of the fiscal year. After it was spun off as a separate company on December 9, 2009, Tim Armstrong took as the CEO of the company.
Since his take over, Armstrong went on a major corporate overhaul. Along with making new acquisitions, the company sold off many of its businesses. It sold off its social network website, Bebo, and instant-messaging service, ICQ. At the conference, Mr. Armstrong announced that his company would shut down its news aggregating site, Propeller.com.
On September 29, 2010, Japanese gaming company, Nintendo, announced that it will launch its 3-D handheld videogame system in February. Satoru Iwata, President, Nintendo, at a press conference in Chiba near Tokyo, announced the release date but he did not give out any specific reasons behind the launch date. This means, Nintendo would miss the holiday season of 2010. Nintendo earlier said that it planned to launch 3D in March 2011.
The Nintendo 3DS is the successor of Nintendo’s popular handheld gaming device Nintendo DS. The prominent feature of 3DS is that it would enable users to play 3D games and would not require any special 3D glasses. The Nintendo 3DS would go on sale in Japan on February 26, 2011 and would be priced at 25,000 yen or about $300.
The 3DS will be shipped in the U.S and Europe and Australia in March 2011 but it did not give out the device’s price in those two markets.
3D is the next big trend in the consumer electronics industry. Major consumer electronics makers are rolling out devices such as TV, gaming consoles that support 3D technology. Game developers and hardware makers are now going for 3D and motion-sensing gaming and top game makers and console makers are rolling out new products to lure customers in the upcoming holiday season.
Sony released its PlayStation Move System in Europe and the U.S. which enables players to play 3D games wearing special glasses. The PlayStation Move System uses highly responsive wand shaped motion controllers. Microsoft’s Kinect motion-sensing system for the Xbox 360 will be released in Japan on November 20, 2010.
On September 27, 2010, RIM finally took the curtain of its tablet PC which is not called BlackPad but PlayBook.
The PlayBook is a 7-inch tablet PC and RIM just do not want to be another tablet PC maker. PlayBook means serious business. The small tablet PC packs some powerful components and comes with great features many of which were missing in Apple iPad. Like BlackBerry, with the PlayBook, RIM mainly targeted corporate people.
The PlayBook measures 130mm x 193mm x 10mm and weigh 0.9 lb. The PlayBook sports a 7 inch display with a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels.
The PlayBook is packed with a dual-core, 1GHz ARM Cortext-A9 processor and packs 1GHz memory more than the iPad. The PlayBook is run by a new OS, QNX’s mobile OS which is based on QNX Neutrino. RIM acquired QNX Software Systems in April.
The PlayBook has two-cameras with the capability of recording full HD (1080p) videoplayback capability.
Another good news is interested third party app developers for Play Book can use a wide range of software including Java, Flash, Adobe Air, OpenGL, and RIM's "WebWorks" HTML widget platform. Here is a TV commercial of BlackBerry PlayBook:
The PlayBook does not have a modem and users are required to use BlackBerry phones for tethering. This could be a serious problem for the device because many people who do not own a BlackBerry would not be able to use it. It is not a good strategy on RIM’s part. Sascha Segan of PC Mag.comsays:
This is a very dangerous trick. Smartphone "companions" tend not to sell well to consumers. People get confused by "one thing that requires another thing." Even Apple has trouble getting some iPhone owners to sync with their PCs. If the right enterprise apps are available, though, businesses may take to this easily managed, secure solution. And if it connects to Wi-Fi without a BlackBerry, the PlayBook could actually be the first RIM device someone owns - and they might then follow up with a phone.
Price of the PlayBook has not bee revealed yet and many believe that the device would be a pricey one. The tablet PC will be shipped in early 2011.
T-Mobile G2 is coming to the stores in October 2010. After two-years, we are going to see the successor of the first Android based handset. The phone is getting good reviews every where. Though it is not a high-end phone but experts believe that it would be able to successfully compete with other high-end smartphones in the market. Here is a comparative review between Motorola Droid X, T-Mobile G2 and Apple iPhone 4.
About the three phones:
T-Mobile was the first network to launch Android based phone, T-Mobile G1 aka HTC Dream, back in 2008. After two years, T-Mobile came up with its successor, T-Mobile G2 aka HTC Vision. Taiwanese company, HTC produced the phone.
Motorola Droid was the first Android-based phone launched by Verizon on November 6, 2009 and it went on to become one of the top phones of 2009. On June 23, 2010, Verizon unveiled Motorola Droid X or Droid 2 and the phone was launched on July 15, 2010.
The Apple iPhone 4 is the fourth generation iPhone unveiled by Steve Jobs on June 7, 2010 at the Apple World Wide Developers’ Conference (WWDC) and launched the phone on June 24, 2010.
Dimension:
The Droid X measures 65.5mm x 127.5mm x 9.9 mm and weighs 155 grams, the iPhone 4 measures 115.2 mm x 58.6 mm x 9.3 mm and weighs 137 grams and the T-Mobile G2 measures 118 mm x 60mm x 14 mm and weighs 184 grams. Due to their metal frames, the iPhone 4 and Droid feels much heavier than the G2 but in reality, G2 is heavier than the two for its QWERTY keyboard. In terms of size, Droid X is the biggest followed by the G2 and iPhone 4.
Processor, memory and storage:
The iPhone 4 is powered by Apple’s proprietary A4 CPU while G2 is the first phone to come up with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon MSM7230 processor with a clockspeed of 800 MHz and the Droid X is powered by 1GHz ARMv7 processor. So we see that both Motorola Droid X and iPhone 4 has powerful chip but that does not mean the T-Mobile G2 is a slow phone.
A benchmark test using the Quadrant application was conducted on September 23, 2010. It revealed that the T-Mobile G2 came up at the top spot with a score of 1499 followed my Nexus One and Droid X. Here is a video clip of the benchmark test:
Though the G2 is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon MSM7230 processor with 800 MHz clockspeed and it can be overclocked to 1GHz but that would affect the phone’s stability. This test has been conducted without overclocking the device and the result shows that the phone can perform like other high-end Android devices that are currently available on the market such as Samsung Galaxy S and Verizon Droid X.
Another graphics benchmark test performed by GLBenchmark.com revealed that despite lacking hefty specs, the T-Mobile G2 can perform like other high-end Android devices. Here is the result:
In the result, we see that the Droid X holds the first spot and T-Mobile G2 aka Vision trails behind it with a small difference and is far ahead of Samsung Galaxy S aka AT&T Captivate. The reason behind such high performance is the Aderno 205 dedicated GPU and its performance is on par with the PowerVR GPUs found in Samsung and Texas Instrument’s SoCs.Intomobile says:
Thanks to the Qualcomm MSM7230 CPU, which includes a dedicated GPU, the Adreno 205, the G2′s performance should be comparable to that of the Samsung Galaxy S and the Droid X. According to Qualcomm, the Adreno 205 can increase the GPU performance four times over the previous Adreno 200, which was used in the first batch of Snapdragon handsets. The graph above shows just this, as we can see the device (HTC Vision) beat out the Samsung Captivate (Galaxy S), and barely trailing behind the Droid X and Droid 2. The MyTouch Slide is also pretty high up there, only because the display is HVGA.
So we, see that when it comes to Android-based phones, the T-Mobile G2 can easily be considered to be one of the best Android based phones in the market.
All three mobile phones have 512 MB memory. The iPhone 4 comes in 16GB/32GB storage capacity while the T-Mobile G2 has 4GB integrated memory and comes with a pre-installed 8GB memory card and it can be further expanded up to 32GB via microSD. The Droid X comes with 8GB storage and pre-installed 16GB microSD.
Display and keyboard:
Though Apple has the smallest display of the three phones it has the best quality Retina display. However, of the three phones, only the T-Mobile G2 comes with a physical QWERTY keyboard along with Swype’s virtual keyboard and after release it will be the most powerful QWERTY keyboard in T-Mobile’s product line. The QWERTY keyboard lacks a dedicated number row, but has a large space bar and a dedicated "www/com" key to type web addresses.
Camera:
Only the iPhone 4 has a front facing camera that allows video chatting. Both T-Mobile G2 and iPhone 4 has back-mounted 5megapixel cameras while the Droid X has an 8 mega pixel camera. Droid X also has an HDMI port which is absent in the other two. With the addition of iOS 4.1 on the iPhone 4, it would feature High Dynamic Range technology in its photos. All three phones can record video at 720p up 30fps. In the T-Mobile G2 and Motorola Droid X, Geo-tagging is integrated in photo editing tools while in the iPhone you are required to download apps to do so.
OS and other apps:
T-Mobile G2 is the second mobile device that comes with pre-loaded Android 2.2 aka Froyo after Droid X. On June 21, 2010 the iPhone 4 received iOS 4.0 update followed by 4.0.1 and 4.0.2. The fourth gen iOS adds multitasking capability to the iPhone 4. The iOS 4.1 had been unveiled by Steve Jobs at the Apple September Music Event and with it the iPhone 4 would get HDR technology. Obviously, the iOS offers the best user experience and you would have access to more than 200,000 apps via Apple App store.
The official web-browser of T-Mobile G2 supports Adobe Flash 10.1 which is a big minus for the iOS. It comes with pre-loaded apps such as Voice search, Google voice (you can transfer your current mobile number to the Google Voice system), Google talk, You Tube, Google Goggles, Google Maps, and Gmail. Aside from these apps you can download their necessary apps from the Android App market.
The Google voice is a great application. It enables you to perform various functions on T-Mobile G2 just by speaking including making calls, sending messages, browsing the web and searching for specific business organizations by name, listening to music and many more.
Like the G2, the Droid also comes with pre-loaded Google Apps such as Google calendar, contact sync, maps street view, maps, maps navigation beta, quick search box, talk, search by voice. It also has access to Android Market place.
Network and wireless communication:
iPhone 4
2G NetworkGSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
3G NetworkHSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP
A-GPS
T-Mobile G2
2G NetworkGSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
3G NetworkHSDPA 1700 / 2100
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth v2.1 with A2DP
A-GPS
Droid X
2G NetworkCDMA 800 / 1900
3G NetworkCDMA2000 1xEV-DO
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, DLNA
Bluetooth v2.1 with A2DP
A-GPS
T-Mobile G2 is the first phone in the market to run on HSPA+ network that offers more Internet speeds. PC Mag.com says:
As the first HSPA+ phone, the G2 can download at speeds of up to 14.4 megabits per sec on T-Mobile's network. That's double the speed of T-Mobile's and AT&T's fastest previous phones, which operated at 7.2 Mbps - but it still doesn't reach the maximum speed of T-Mobile's network, which runs at theoretical speeds of up to 21 Mbps.
In real-life circumstances, we've gotten speeds more like 5 Mbps with USB modems on T-Mobile's HSPA+ system. That's the fastest 3G system where it's available, and it often matches Sprint's 4G WiMAX on speed. T-Mobile says the new network reaches 100 million people in 55 cities, and it plans to cover 200 million people this year.
PC World also conducted a on T-Mobile’s network in New York City and came up with a top speed of 10Mbps.
In the second 3G network test conducted by PC World in 2010 AT&T came up at the top spot. PC World conducted the test in 13 cities. However, iPhone users are not happy with AT&T’s coverage. They often experience dropped calls.
In the first 3G network test conducted by PC World in 2009 Verizon came up at the top spot and they maintained an all around good performance.
AT&T and Apple have an exclusive deal. Starting from 2007, all iPhone models have been launched on AT&T and Apple iPhone has been criticized for being only available on AT&T. The exclusive deal is going to end on 2011 and rumor of an iPhone on Verizon Wireless has become strong but neither Apple nor Verizon confirmed any tie ups.
A recent survey conducted by Credit Suisse revealed that 23 percent of iPhone owners are ready to switch to Verizon if the iPhone is launched on Verizon while 3 percent would switch to Sprint and just 2 percent would switch to T-Mobile. 63 percent would stick to AT&T. This came as a big relief for AT&T and surged its share prices as well. 34 percent iPhone owners said that they are waiting for Verizon to release the next iPhone before they update their existing handsets. This means AT&T would lose approximately 1.4 million customers to Verizon.
And let’s not forget iPhone 4’s notorious antennagate issue. If you are one of those unlucky iPhone 4 owners then you will get a bumper with your iPhone 4. Apple announced that it would provide free cases with every iPhone 4 purchase till September 30, 2010. After that you would have to pay for the case.
Price:
T-Mobile is going to release its G2 Android phone on October 6, 2010 but T-Mobile subscribers can pre-order from now. Pre-order period starts from September 25, 2010 and would finish on October 4, 2010. The phone will be available for $200 after a $50 rebate from T-Mobile with a two-year contract and the unlocked version would cost $500.
The Motorola Droid X launched by Verizon costs $200 with a two-year contract and a $100 mail-in rebate while the unlocked version would cost $600.
The 16GB iPhone 4 would cost $199 and the 32GB $299 with a two-year service contract from AT&T. The unlocked 16GB would cost $599 and 32GB $699.
From the title, it is perhaps clear to you that Wall Street financial firms are not yet that much excited about the concept of cloud computing despite the fact that going cloud may decrease expense and increase efficiency. After all, financial firms are for profit and they care for earning money just like any company. Still, according to Lucas, there are two problems.
The first problem is the fear of data security. After all, in Wall Street, information is very crucial and profits are earned and lost depending on what kind of information you have. Thus, top executives are still hesitant about the privacy of their data. They are not fully confident whether their data would really be 100% safe in the cloud. This is surely a valid concern and it is upto the cloud service providers to assure these financial companies in this regard.
The second problem is that the regulators are not showing their full approval about cloud computing. This is another big challenge for the service providers.
Of course, sooner or later, most of the companies would wish to move to the cloud when they will notice that this shift in technology can not only save a lot of money for them but also save a lot of hassle too.
It is believed that Microsoft is going to unveil Windows Phone 7 at a press conference in London on October 11, 2010. Though on that same day Microsoft is having “Open House” in New York, it will not show off its Windows Phone 7 in that event.
The press conference would start at 2PM London Time (9 AM ET in the U.S.) and would continue till 5:30 PM. The event will be covered by many tech-websites.
Different websites gave out different launch dates of Windows 7. According to some, the OS will be launched on October 21, 2010 while some are saying that it would be November 2, 2010.
Microsoft is going to unveil Windows Phone 7 in Europe, AT&T is going to launch it first. Here is a TV commercial of Windows Phone 7:
Microsoft confirmed of holding an event on October 11, 2010 but did not say anything about introducing or launching Windows Phone 7.
Windows Phone7 received positive reviews from critics. One of the prominent features of the Windows Phone 7 is that it will be integrated with Microsoft’s Xbox Live gaming platform.
Windows Mobile Phone like Nokia’s Symbian failed to gain popularity in the smartphone industry. Currently, iOS and Google Android are dominating the smartphone industry. Let’s see how Windows Phone 7 does against these two.
September 27th is a big day for it is the 12th Birthday of Google. On this day, the company was incorporated. In November 1997, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, two Computer Science graduates of Stanford University, published an academic paper titled, “Large-Scale Hypertextual Web Search Engine,” where they talked about Google. Then in 1998 the company set up its first office in a garage and from there it went on to become one of the top Internet companies in the world.
Obviously, Google came up with a Doodle to celebrate the day. Here is the Doodle:
The tradition of Google Doodle started back in 1999. The first Doodle, a simple design, was created by Larry and Sergey after they visited the Burning Man Festival. The second Doodle appeared a year later on Bastille Day and this time logo of Google was designed by webmaster Dennis Hwang.
It is not only Doodle but Google started so many great things that changed lives of many people. For example, I can say that Blogger and Adsense changed the lives of me and my mentor and teacher, Razib Ahmed. Prior to landing on Internet, Razib Ahmed tried his hands on different things like publishing magazine, web-magazine, writing guide books for students and I worked with him as well but it was Internet that finally brought stability in our lives and Google helped us to become full-time bloggers. So, we wish Google a very very Happy Birthday.
It’s confirmed now, starting from October 3, 2010, Apple iPad will become available at Target retail stores. Another popular electronic retailer, Best Buy, will also sell iPads in the coming holiday season. This shows Apple is now trying to hold on to the top position in tablet PC market by making its popular iPad tablet PC available to more customers via various retail outlets.
On September 12, 2010, Engadget reported that it received tips from a reliable source that Target will be selling Apple iPads. The popular tech blog also published a picture from a Target PDA which showed product item and price tag that matched to the price of the iPad. Engadget also said that iPad would be found at the Digital Audio section.
Of all the six models of iPad, Target will offer four. These include all three Wi-Fi only iPad models and one 3G iPad model. The base price of iPad starts from $500 and do not expect any kind of discount.
On the other hand, Best Buy would offer all six iPad models and plans to promote them heavily during the holiday shopping season. It also plans to expand distribution of the device to all its 1,093 stores in the U.S.
China Unicom reported that the iPhone 4 is selling quicker than its predecessor, the iPhone 3G S, launched last year, and demand for the iPhone 4 is much more than supply. The carrier will increase its supply as soon as possible. China Unicom launched the iPhone 4 in China on September 25, 2010.
The carrier received more than 200,000 iPhone 4 preorders by September 25, 2010 and when the sales started, more than 40,000 buyers bought the device along with a mobile service contract.
In late October 2009, China Unicom sold 100,000 units within the first six weeks of the iPhone 3G S’ launch in the region.
It was not just in China that saw such frenzy regarding the iPhone 4. The iPhone 4 was introduced by Steve Jobs on June 7, 2010 at the Apple World Wide Developers’ Conference. The phone was launched on June 24, 2010. Within the first three days of its launch, more than 1.7 million units had been sold. Pre-order of the phone started from June 15, 2010. So many people came to place pre-orders that websites of Apple and AT&T crushed. In just one day, Apple received 600,000 pre-orders.
China Unicom hopes to lure more subscribers from its rivals- China Mobile Ltd. and China Telecom Corp. Ltd. to its 3G network.
A recent patent filing of Apple revealed that the company is developing a new digital camera technology that would be integrated in all its products and there might be a possibility of Apple camera brand.
The new patent application showed that Apple is working on flash re-directors and improved imaging sensors. The flash re-directors would selectively illuminate certain areas of a scene instead of providing light all over the image.
The above picture shows how the new flash technology of Apple would work. There will be an array of flash lights pointed to different directions and the camera will detect where the subject is and turn on the nearest flash.
Apple has been working on improving the photography capabilities on its devices. At the September Music Event, Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, unveiled the iOS 4.1 software that features High Dynamic Range photography technology.
The HDR technology takes different versions of the same picture and automatically modifies the exposure of light for each one and then combines them into a single image with almost perfect color tone and balance. The iOS 4.1 which has already been released has been liked by Apple device users.
This should not come as a surprise. When Apple released the iPhone 4, of all the features of the upgraded iPhone, the feature which Apple pitched was the Face Time video chat. The new iPhone 4 is the first phone that came up with dual camera. The earlier versions had only one camera. No wonder, the company will be toying with a new technology that would further improve the image taking capability of its devices.
Apple also branches out new devices based on its core systems. So, you should not be surprised if Apple comes up with a camera that would be compatible with all its existing product lines.
Handset maker, Sony Ericsson, announced that it will discontinue making Symbian-based handsets. The struggling handset maker said that it would remain a member of Symbian foundation but would make more Android-based phones. The announcement came after the release of its latest Symbian based smartphone, Vivaz, on AT&T earlier this month. Sony Ericsson’s Xperia series handsets, that are based on Android OS, have been well received by customers.
Sony Ericsson was one of the first third-party licensees of Symbian OS. In 2002, in collaboration with Motorola, it launched P800 which ran on a quasi-compatible of variant of UIQ, a Symbian-based software platform. Motorola and Sony Ericsson continued developing the OS till 2008. The last UIQ based phones- P1i and RIZR Z10 were also released that year. Sony Ericsson continued making Symbian based phones such as Satio and Vivaz in 2009 but the company also released its first handsets based on Windows Mobile and three Android based handsets- X1/X2 and X10 series that year.
Aldo Liguori, Sony Ericsson spokesman said, "We have no plans for the time being to develop any new products to the Symbian Foundation standard or operating system.” Sony Ericsson’s, Chief Creation officer Rikko Sakaguchi said that his company made a significant shift to support Android.
With the rising popularity of iPhone and Google Android OS, Symbian is losing market. Symbian is the official OS of Finnish mobile phone maker, Nokia. The company still continues to make Symbian based phones but it is losing support as handset makers are moving towards Google Android. Symbian’s market share dropped to 42 percent last quarter which was 51 percent at the same time last year.
Nokia recently introduced Symbian 4, a revamped version of the OS and still trying to push it among handset makers.
The days of unlimited data plans will not be anymore as major U.S. carriers are planning to stop rolling out unlimited data plans and introduce service plans with fixed data usage.
AT&T was the first carrier to do so. In June, the official carrier of the iPhone announced to stop rolling out unlimited data plans as small number of iPhone users consumed large amount of 3G data.
Now, Verizon is following AT&T’s step and is planning to stop selling unlimited data plans to its new customers. However, it will not follow AT&T’s style. Sprint CEO, Dan Hesse, said that his company would also reconsider unlimited data for its 4G network if data usage increases significantly.
This change is not unexpected. As more and more people are using smartphones, their mobile Internet usage also changed. According to a research by Nielsen Mobile, in 2009, average data consumption increased from 90MB per month by approximately 230 percent 298 MB in the first quarter of 2010.
People just do not check emails or send messages with their mobile phones. More and more people access social networking websites like Facebook, Twitter with their smartphones. They also watch videos, upload videos, play games and do many other things with mobile phones and all these are causing massive usage of Internet data.
Unlimited data plans makes customers more unhappy and they feel being cheated. On the contrary, Nielsen research opined that usage-based pricing is fair.
Tiered may be the best solution but it would cause airwaves congestion. For the time being, the ideal solution for networks is charging users based on when the data is used.
After releasing its 5-inch tablet PC, Streak, Dell is gearing up to launch another one and this time it will be a bigger one named Dell Looking Glass.
At the Oracle Open World, Dell founder and CEO, Michael Dell, showed off the tablet a little bit but he did not divulge too many details. He was holding the tablet in his hands and in the beginning, no one could notice what the object was but Oracle people got a glimpse of it. Here is a video clip of Michael Dell playing with the tablet:
The video reveals that the Dell Looking Glass will have a volume rocker located on the top of the device and headphone jack located on the left side.
In April 2010, specs of Dell Looking Glass first came up which said that the tablet PC would sport a 7-inch display with a resolution of 800X400 pixels. It will be powered by a Tegra 2 processor and would have 4GB memory and 4GB flash storage that can be further expanded up to 32 GB via an SDHC. The device will run on Android 2.1 OS. Other features include a 1.3 megapixel camera and AT&T U-verse browser. There will be an optional TV tuner module for users to watch ATSC or DVB-T programming.
Dell launched its 5-inch Dell Streak tablet PC in the U.K. in June and in the U.S. in August. In the U.S. it is sold by AT&T for $299 with a two-year contract and $599 without a contract. On September 22, 2010, Dell said that Streak would become also available through Best Buy.
April news reports said that the Dell Looking Glass is scheduled to hit the stores in November but Dell did not confirm it.
Internet Explorer 9, the upcoming version of Internet browser from Microsoft, would require Windows 7 Service Pack 1. Microsoft made the announcement on September 23, 2010.
In answer to an FAQ on Microsoft’s official website, the company said that Windows 7 users are required to install SP1 before they install Internet Explorer 9 while Windows Vista users are required to install SP2. However, the IE9 would not run on Windows XP and older version.
Microsoft unveiled the beta version of IE 9 on September 15, 2010. It has not yet revealed when it would launch IE9 but news reports said that both SP1 and IE9 would become available in the first half of 2011. Many experts think that the IE9 will be launched in April at the time of the annual MIX conference.
On the other hand, the beta version of IE9 still requires four updates of Windows 7 that have been already released. Two of the updates had been released in June while the other two released in August.
This is not an entirely unexpected move from Microsoft because many companies have not yet upgraded their machines and after the news of IE9 came out many IT managers wanted to wait for some time for they do not want to install software twice because the whole process is very complicated.
So, Microsoft pushed the released dates of its Windows 7 SP1 and IE9 so that companies upgrade their machines first.
On September 23, 2010, Amazon released upgrades for its Kindle Android e-reader. The new Version 1.1 comes with a host of new features like in-text search via typing or voice.
According to Amazon, the Kindle Android App is the only application that allows its users to make annotations, highlight texts, and sync books and bookmarks across devices automatically.
Like Ping, the music-centered social networking website of Apple, the Kindle gives access to readers to Shelfari, an e-book centric social networking site, where readers can get information about various books, characters, etc.
In the previous version, there was no screen lock option. In the previous version, users had to disable automatic screen orientation for all applications on the phone. In version 1.1, the orientation lock option appears when the user rotates his phone. Touch the option would lock the screen in orientation.
Another great feature is the new app allows readers to look up words and phrases in Wikipedia by selecting text. All this can be done without leaving the app.
A major problem of the Amazon Kindle Android app is that it would not be able to tell which book you have in you collection. This means, you would end up buying the same book twice if you are not very careful.
Amazon first released the Kindle Android app in June 2010. The upgraded version is now available in Google’s Android Marketplace and users who already installed the app would get the update automatically.
Dell on September 23, 2010, released two new PC products under its Inspiron line- Dell Inspiron One 2305 All in One desktop PC and Dell Inspiron Zino HD. Both the products have been created for home entertainment.
The new Dell Inspiron One 2305 has a full HD 23-inch WLED-backlit LCD display with 192X1080 pixels that supports 1080 HD video. It features Dell’s new “Stage” touchscreen user interface that offers one-touch access to music, photos, and videos.
Users can upgrade storage up to 1TB hard drive. Graphics card can be upgraded to ATI Radeon HD 5450 and processor to AMD Athlon II X4 quad-core processor. You can choose between DVD burner and Blu-ray drive. The device can support up to 8GB memory.
You can get touch apps from Unlimited Realities, such as Notes program, touch musical instruments, and several casual touch games including Dodge, Bug Garden, and Drum Zone.
Other features include HDMI, VGA ports,a wireless keyboard and mouse. Users can also have a remote control. The Inspiron One 2305 will be available this weekend and the base price starts from $799.
The Dell Inspiron Zino HD is a mini desktop measuring 8" x 8" x 3.5". Dell introduced Inspiron Zino last year and Zino HD is upgrade version. Processor options include 2.3 GHz AMD Athlon II V140, 2.2 GHz AMD Athlon II X2 P340 Dual Core, 2.4GHz AMD Turion II X2 P540 Dual Core,1.9 GHz AMD Phenom II X3 P840 Triple Core, and 1.7GHz AMD Phenom II X4 P940 Quad Core.
For graphics card, there are two options- ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4250 Integrated and ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5450 MXM Discrete. Sound card options include 2.1 high definition analog audio, and 2.1 high definition audio and up to THX 7.1 audio.
I/O ports include 4 USB 2.0 ports (2 in front and 2 in back), 1 headphone port, 1 4-in-1 memory card reader, 1 microphone, 1 line-out, 1 VGA connector, 1 RJ45 connector (10/100/1000), 2 eSATA connectors, 1 HDMI port and 1 SPDIF port. Users can chose between DVD burner and Blu-ray disc player.
You can use wireless keyboard and mouse and connect to HDTV as well. The base price of Dell Inspiron Zino HD starts from $299.
Both the products will be launched this weekend. The Inspiron Zino HD is now available to order online.
We have been hearing about the HP tablet PC for a long time but have not seen one. It was first unveiled by Microsoft CEO, Steve Ballmar, at the CES 2010. Now, video clip of a prototype HP Slate tablet PC has been posted on Youtube by a user who goes by the name “x313xkillazx.” The clip attracted 300 comments and some of them had doubts about the authenticity of the product but HP officials did not comment on the matter.
He made the video with his iPhone. In the clip he said, "I have one here in my hands,…It's not actually out yet … but I have my hands on one early." On the back of the slate a sticker that says "Property of HP – Prototype – Not for Sale." The back of the slate includes a sticker that says "Property of HP – Prototype – Not for Sale."
He claims that the tablet is lighter than the iPad. The back of the tablet has a cover with rubbery plastic texture and sports the HP logo and a 3-mega pixel camera. There is a front-facing camera. On the right, there is microSD card slot, keyboard switch and microphone. On the left, there is a power and lock button, headphone jack, and Windows 7 and Intel logo. The top side houses a volume button, a USB port, a “control-al-delete” key and a home key. The bottom side has two speakers and a power button in the middle.Here is the clip
Many liked the “ctrl-alt-delete” key for this is very useful for enterprise users. They can use it to log on to their networks.
He then turns on the tablet and does a little bit of browsing. The tablet is quite responsive the browser is a bit slow. The virtual keyboard is big enough for you to type comfortably. He did not say how he procured the device or when it would come out. News reports said that it would come out in 2011.
In April 2010, specifics of the HP tablet leaked out on Internet. The device runs on 1.6 GHz Intel Atom Menlow Z530 processor. It will have Intel UMA graphics cards for 1080 playback and 1GB DDR2 RAM. It comes with two different storage capabilities- 32GB and 64GB flash memory. Storage can be further expanded via microSD.
It will have an 8.9 inch WSVGA screen with a resolution of 1024x600 pixels. It also has wide viewing angle capacitive multi-touch panel, flush display, accelerometer (ST Micro), ambient light sensor. There is also the Pen/digitizer support.
The Chinese brothers- Pan Lei and Pan Yong, creators of the Apple Peel 520, defended their device saying that they are innovators not copycats.
Unveiled in July 2010, Apple Peel 520 is a slip on case that turns the iPod Touch into a phone. The case comes with space for extended battery and SIM card tray. In China Apple Peel sells for $78 on Taobao.com, the largest online shopping website of China. Yosion agreed to offer the device in China along with Go Solar USA Inc., a website that teaches users how to jailbreak their iPod Touches to run the Apple Peel software.
Pan Lei said, “We’re capable of coming up with something original.” He worked as an interior designer and the left his job and founded Yosion Technology Co. with his 23 year old brother, Pan Yong, who is a software engineer.
About the product, Jonathan Hudis, Chairman, American Bar Associations’s Trademarks and Unfair Competition Division, said, “The brothers who invented this Apple Peel probably ran down a list of how many ways could they annoy Steve Jobs,……I could not see Apple standing by to let this continue, especially if it results in product shipping into the United States.”
No doubt, it is a great device would save you from the pain of dragging two devices at the same time but there is a catch. First you would have to jailbreak your iPhone which means, you will lose your contract with Apple. Second, you can make calls but it will not be so good. You will not be able to adjust the volume and it has poor SMS delivery system.
However, Apple will not sit still. It definitely would take some steps against the device as it would eat away its profit from iPhone.
Microsoft Windows 7 is a success but many companies are still not updating to Windows 7. So what is keeping them from adopting Windows 7? The answer is, Internet Explorer 9.
Microsoft did a little bit of mistake by going big with the beta release of Internet Explorer 9. Now, the IT managers are waiting for the IE9 upgrade because they do not want to get into the hassle of installing the OS and then the upgrade. The upgrading process itself is very complex.
Microsoft has become desperate with Internet Explorer because it is losing market to Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome and Opera. The company this time gave a serious effort in Internet Explorer 9. It released the first beta version September 15, 2010 at an event in San Francisco. Microsoft invited 70 partner websites to show what they have done with their new browser.
Unfortunately, the big event announcement is affecting the company. Still, it is not a serious loss. Windows 7, which had been released on October 22, 2010 already sold 175 million units.
In June 2010, Tami Reller, CFO, Microsoft Windows and Windows Live division told investors that the corporate “refresh cycle” has already started. It refers to companies replacing old PC with new ones pre-loaded with Windows 7.
Facebook CEO and founder, Mark Zuckerberg, is going to donate $100 million for the improvement of public schools in Newark. The plan will be announced at the Oprah Winfrey Show on September 23, 2010.
26-year old Zuckerberg, whose wealth had been estimated at $2-billion by Forbes magazine in 2009, is not related to Newark. He grew up in Westchester County and now lives in California.
This gift is actually the first step of Zuckerberg’s plan to start a foundation for education. What is interesting about this whole thing is that this is by far the largest publicly known gift by Mark Zuckerberg and also the largest received by any government agency and there is no specific plan on how the money will be spent.
Newark’s Mayor, Cory A. Booker has a big role in this matter. Mr.Booker and Zuckerberg met in July at a conference and started a conversation about the mayor’s plan for the city.
Mr.Booker has been traveling around the country and meeting business people and celebrities to raise money for Newark. Mr. Oprah Winfrey is also one of his biggest supporters and donated millions of dollars to schools and other organizations of Newark over the last few years.
17-year old Australian schoolboy, Pearce Delphin, whose Twitter ID is @zzap, admitted to have started the hack attack on Twitter. Delphin lives with his parents in Melbourne and he got the idea from another user who used similar codes to make his profile and tweets rainbow colored.
Delphin said that he wrote a “mouseover” JavaScript code. It is a loop hole in the Twitter input system. Upon executed, it brings up a pop-up window. Soon the idea was picked up by hackers who tweaked the code which redirected users to porn website. The worm Tweet is replicated every time it is read.
The hack attack started on Twitter early morning on September 21, 2010 and devastated Twitter for the next five hours. Many users were affected by the Tweet warm.
In Britain, Lord Sugar and Sarah Brown, Britain’s former Prime Minister, Gordon Brown’s wife, and Robert Gibbs, Press Secretary, White House became victims of the attack.
Twitter quickly took steps and patched up the fault. A Japanese hacker named Masato Kinugawa, first reported about the fault in August and Twitter took necessary steps. Last week, the company released its newly designed web interface but it also had the same problem.
A security website named “Netcraft” traced to the code back to Delphin.He said "I did it merely to see if it could be done … that JavaScript really could be executed within a tweet,……At the time of posting the tweet, I had no idea it was going to take off how it did. I just hadn't even considered it."
Delphin further said that hackers could even write code that would remain within Twitter’s 140 word limit and steal user ID and password but no such incident had been reported.
It is believed that Research In Motion would unveil its new tablet PC next week at a developers’ conference in San Francisco. However, RIM did not comment on the matter.
The tablet PC is believed to be named BlackPad will be released in the fourth quarter of 2010. It is being manufactured by Quanta Computer Inc. of Taiwan and the processor is produced by Marvell Technology Group Inc., a company based in Santa Clara California.
The device will have a seven-inch touchscreen, one or two built-in camera, Bluetooth and broadband connections. However, the device can only be connected to the Internet via a Blackberry smartphone.
The tablet PC will run on a newly built OS called QNX Software system instead of running on BlackBerry’s revamped BlackBerry 6 OS. RIM bought QNX earlier this year. The company builds operating systems for a wide range of products starting from cars to nuclear reactors. BlackBerry acquired QNX in order to replace its proprietary OS that has been criticized as “slow and buggy.” RIM will also gradually adopt QNX software on its BlackBerry phones.
Carrier and other details about the tablet have not been revealed yet but it is pretty obvious that the success of BlackPad would help the companya lot as BlackBerry is losing market to Android based smartphones and iPhone.
Apple filed lawsuit against Sanho Corp. maker of HyperMac brand. Apple said that the accessories maker infringed patents related to Apple’s MagSafe charger and cables that use 30-pin doc connector used in the iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad.
Apple filed the lawsuit in a U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California. It said that it sent notice to Sanho Corp. on April 26, May 19 and June September 22, 2010.
Apple said that Sanho Corp. infringed six MagSafe and iPod related patents. The patents are:
U.S. Patent No. 7,517,222 - "Magnetic Connector for Electronic Device"
U.S. Patent No. D618,189 - "Connector"
U.S. Patent No. 7,627,343 - "Media Player System"
U.S. Patent No. 7,751,853 - "Female Receptacle Data Pin Connector"
U.S. Patent No. 7,783,070 - "Cable Adapter for a Media Player System"
U.S. Patent No. D588,545 - "Connectors"
In its filings, Apple said, “Defendants manufacture, distribute, and/or sell products that infringe patents related to Apple's proprietary MagSafe connectors used to connect power adapters and other products to Apple portable computers, such as the MacBook,……Defendants also manufacture, distribute and/or sell products that infringe patents related to Apple's 30-pin connectors and receptacles , used to connect cables to Apple iPod, iPhone and/or iPad products."
Sanho, which is based in Sunnyvale, California, used recycled official MagSafe products made by Apple. But the company said that its charging cables use original Apple MagSafe connectors for maximum compatibility.
Popular social networking website, Twitter, had been hit by hackers on September 21, 2010. Using the java code in Tweets, hackers redirected users to various porn websites and malware sites.
This loop, known as “onemouseever” uses the JavaScript element in Twitter input. The hackers, uses JavaScript code into a URL in a Tweet. When a user places his cursor on that Tweet, a pop-up message appears and it does not go away. In many cases, the user is redirected to a porn site or malware site.
The loopwhole even exists at the latest Twitter Web Interface that had been launched last week.
Bob Lord from Twitter’s security team said, "The security exploit that caused problems this morning Pacific time was caused by cross-site scripting (XSS),……Cross-site scripting is the practice of placing code from an untrusted Web site into another one. In this case, users submitted JavaScript code as plain text into a Tweet that could be executed in the browser of another user."
Twitter was notified about the problem at 2:45am Pacific time and the solved the problem within 12:15pm. Users who accessed Twitter via third party apps had not been affected by this problem.
The loophole was first discovered by a Japanese hacker, Masato Kinugawa. He first Tweeted about the problem on August 14, 2010. Kinugawa found that the new Twitter Web Interface has the same loop. He then created a test account called “Rainbw Twtr” and used Javacode to create blocks of color and then other hackers started to notice problem.
