Samsung is ushering in the next generation of mobile memory with the mass production of the first-ever 2GB LPDDR3 RAM.
The new mobile chips run at a total of 12.8 gigabytes per second and 1600 Mbps per pin. That translates to the 2GB LPDDR3 being approximately 50 percent faster than a single LPDDR2 chip.
Practically, this higher data transfer rate allows the chip to support high-resolution 3D graphics and full HD video playback on screens larger than the standard 4 inches. Tablets and extra large smartphones are what Samsung is going after here.
The 30nm class 2GB LPDDR3 RAM is the first such chip available in one space-saving package, according to Samsung, which held its Mobile Solution Forum in Taiwan today.
Samsung doubles its LPDDR2 RAM in 10 months
Besting Moore's law, Samsung took just 10 months to double the speed of the LPDDR2, which went into mass production in October 2011.
In that time, Samsung was able to put its LPDDR2 RAM into several devices including the Motorola Droid 4 and iPad 3. Although Apple hasn't officially confirmed the RAM specs for the iPhone 5, the forthcoming phone is also expected to use 1GB of LPDDR2.
Devices packing next-generation LPDDR3 chips are expected to hit the market in 2013.
"[Samsung is] helping to accelerate growth of the mobile memory market," said Samsung Executive VP of Memory Sales & Marketing Wanhoon Hong. "With this rapid introduction of 2GB LPDDR3, we are moving very assertively to expand our global leadership on the premium side of our extensive memory portfolio."
This dominance is no doubt aided by the fact that Apple relied on Samsung for manufacturing so many iOS device components, from RAM, to displays to CPU chips. Considering the stellar iPhone 5 sales, that "global leadership" isn't about to stop, even in the face of the Samsung vs. Apple lawsuit outcome.
Delta Airlines has announced plans to improve facilities for its tech-savvy passengers, adding more recharging stations to its branded gates at a further 12 airports around the US.
With more and more airlines waking up to the realization that a connected passenger is more often than not a happy passenger, amenities at airports and on aircraft to help facilitate the requirement are on the increase.
Delta Airlines has announced plans to roll out more recharging stations at its branded airport gates around the US, as well as at its first international location at Narita airport in Tokyo, enabling passengers to use their laptop, smartphone – or whatever gadget they happen to own – prior to boarding the plane, without having to worry about draining the battery. It also means they can board the plane with a fully juiced up device.
The new recharging stations, featuring standard 110-volt outlets and USB ports, will be introduced before the end of the year at the following airports: Anchorage, Alaska; Austin, Texas; Denver; Dallas/Ft. Worth; Houston Intercontinental; Kansas City, Mo.; Milwaukee, Wis.; New Orleans; Ontario, Calif.; Philadelphia; Phoenix; and Syracuse, NY. Delta already has such stations installed at 20 other airports across the country.
Speaking about the new facilities, airline representative Wayne Aaron said in a statement, “Customers today are savvy travelers who bring their smartphones, computers and tablets with them. Providing a power source they can use before they get on a long flight helps them do what they need to do in the air, whether for work or pleasure.”
Connected
A couple of months ago, Delta announced plans to introduce in-flight Internet on its fleet of more than 150 international aircraft in early 2013. The airline claims to already operate the world’s largest Wi-Fi-equipped fleet of passenger planes with more than 3,000 flights daily, including its entire fleet of 550 domestic aircraft.
Like many others airlines, Delta has its own Facebook page, Twitter account and smartphone app that allows you to check in, change seats and track your luggage, among other things.
It’s also thought that Delta will support Passbook, a new app coming as part of Apple’s soon-to-launch iOS 6, which acts as a repository for tickets and coupons, and should help to make the sometimes stressful airport experience a little less aggravating.
Samsung is ushering in the next generation of mobile memory with the mass production of the first-ever 2GB LPDDR3 RAM.
The new mobile chips run at a total of 12.8 gigabytes per second and 1600 Mbps per pin. That translates to the 2GB LPDDR3 being approximately 50% faster than a single LPDDR2 chip.
Practically, this higher data transfer rate allows the chip to support high resolution 3D graphics and full HD video playback on screens larger than the standard four inches. Tablets and extra large smartphones are what Samsung is going after here.
The 30nm class 2GB LPDDR3 RAM is the first such chip available in one space-saving package, according to Samsung, which held its Mobile Solution Forum in Taiwan today.
Samsung doubles its LPDDR2 RAM in 10 months
Besting Moore's law, Samsung took just 10 months to double the speed of the LPDDR2, which went into mass production in October 2011.
In that time, Samsung was able to put its LPDDR2 RAM into several devices including the Motorola Droid 4 and iPad 3. Although Apple hasn't officially confirmed the RAM specs for the iPhone 5, the forthcoming phone is also expected to be utilizing 1GB of LPDDR2.
Devices packing next-generation LPDDR3 chips are expected to hit the market in 2013.
"[Samsung is] helping to accelerate growth of the mobile memory market," said Samsung Executive VP of Memory Sales & Marketing Wanhoon Hong. "With this rapid introduction of 2GB LPDDR3, we are moving very assertively to expand our global leadership on the premium side of our extensive memory portfolio."
This dominance is no doubt aided by the fact that Apple has relied on Samsung for manufacturing so many iOS device components, from RAM, to displays to CPU chips. Considering the stellar iPhone 5 sales, that "global leadership" isn't about to stop, even in the face of the Samsung vs. Apple lawsuit outcome.
A teardown of Apple's new EarPod headphones show them to be more durable than their predecessors, with greater resistance to water and sweat.
The new $29 (£25) buds, launched alongside and shipping with the iPhone 5 and new iPod touch, were unleashed last week promising a better fit and improved sound, by pumping tunes directly into the ear canal.
Apple promised that the EarPods, which feature two small speakers instead of one larger speaker, were like "nothing you've ever seen" but scored a disappointing 2.5 out of 5 in a TechRadar review.
Now the guys at iFixit have placed the new highfalutin earphones under the knife to see whether the innards are really that different beyond the new cone-shaped design.
Paper beats plastic
The site used a scalpel and a guitar pick to prise open the EarPods, which Apple says it spent three years perfecting.
The precise surgical procedure found Apple is now using a paper diaphram for the speakers rather than the plastic used in previous models, which makes it more resistant to tearing.
It also found that the remote is sealed better, making it less prone to water or sweat damage, but aside from those two items the innards are pretty similar, the site says.
To that end iFixit says that, if the headphones falter, then there's no point attempting to salvage them.
"Unfortunately, these products are still of the throw-away kind," the site concluded.
"Sourcing parts is next to impossible, and it would be a tough sell to convince someone to take apart their earbuds in stead of buying a new pair. They will never be the same once taken apart."
Best buds? Not quite
Our review, posted last weekend, cast doubt on Apple's assertions that the new EarPods offer as much of an improvement as it would have us believe, over the ghastly previous model.
With iFixit's teardown proving, significantly, that the innards are extremely similar, it appears that Apple has a bit of a cheek asking 25 bones for, essentially, an unrepairable pair of earphones.
Although, they'll come as standards with the new iPhone and iPod range, it seems you'd need to be an all-out Apple freak to spend your hard-earned on these buds, as a standalone purchase.
We are hours away from HTC "see what's next" event and the company, playing coy, posted an official teaser on its Facebook page Tuesday afternoon to whet our whistles.
Just the corner of a phone is visible, though what we can see what appears to be the clock of a Windows Phone, giving enough of a hint as to what we can expect Wednesday morning.
The picture is also accompanied by the caption: "When beautiful hardware meets stunning software."
Could HTC not only be playing up its new design but also what we'll find inside?
HTC Accord/HTC 8X?
A leaked image purportedly of the HTC Accord (also known as the HTC 8X), a Windows Phone 8 handset, also emerged Tuesday.
Whether this device, if authentic, and the Facebook teaser are one in the same, we won't know until Wednesday.
TechRadar will be at the New York City event live, bringing you all the latest from HTC as it happens.
Facebook CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg wasn't kidding when he reportedly said "mobile is everything" during the TechCrunch Disrupt conference last week.
The social network on Tuesday announced two new fronts to its mobile ad strategy: a new version of Pages Manager and the beginnings of an off-site ad network.
Pages Manager now allows administrators to promote their pages via an iPhone or iPad app.
For a fee, admins - ostensibly business owners - can choose which posts they'd like to promote directly from their iOS mobile devices.
Small businesses had reportedly been asking for the mobile ad-buying capability for some time.
Seeds of an off-site ad network
The company also announced Tuesday that it has entered a test period for an off-site ad network that puts Facebook ads on non-Facebook mobile apps and web pages.
The ads are similar to ones already found on Facebook, just optimized for other sites and the mobile web.
Zuck's team is reportedly currently working with a select number of ad exchanges with existing publisher relationships. The plan is for those publishers to turn around and sell the Facebook-styled ads to third-party applications and websites.
No word yet on a time from for the ad placement process.
Developers who place ads on third-party apps and sites that direct users to app download stores like Apple's App Store and Google Play are likely looking forward to the network, as are outsiders hoping to target their ads to an increasingly targeted audience.
Analysts believe Apple will introduce a new CPU in 2014
When Apple's iPhone 5 arrives in consumer hands, it will come complete with a 1.2GHz dual-core A6 CPU.
Unique to Apple, the custom designed chip was built from the ground-up completely in house utilizing architecture licensed from ARM.
Though the history of the A6 chip is pretty interesting in and of itself, it's the future of Apple's CPU development that has some analysts excited for 2014.
According to Linley Gwennap, head of the Linley Group, he predicts Apple will introduce a new CPU every two years, starting with the A7 in 2014.
New every two
Linley, who authored the report detailing the history of the A6, believes Apple will continue to develop their own chips in-house from now on.
In his report, Linley stated, "To keep pace with competitors using ARM's own cores, the company will have to crank out a new CPU design every couple of years."
"We believe Apple is already working on a next-generation CPU, which will likely implement the 64-bit ARMv8 instruction set."
Since he thinks 2014 is the target for the A7, Linley suggested, "for its 2013 products, Apple will have to rely on the same CPU design, perhaps in a quad-core configuration and with a higher-performance GPU."
Whether this slight upgrade to an A6X chip means there will be a slightly upgraded iPhone 5 in 2013 is unclear, but it wouldn't be outside the realm of possibility given Apple's previous release history.
$500 million investment
Linley's report estimates Apple has spent upwards of $500 million to create the A6 chip over the past four years.
This of course was in an effort to deliver their chip three months before rival Samsung, which gives Apple a pretty decent head start going into the holiday of 2012.
With the Linley Group estimating some $25 billion in profits generated by sales from the iPhone 5 this year alone, that investment could pay off nicely.
The same could be said about future endeavors, and is why Linley believes Apple will continue on their current CPU development path over the next few years.
The latest from Plantronics' Voyager Bluetooth headset line aims to be legendary -- but is it? Here's our hands-on with its newest device.
Bluetooth headset makers certainly have a market all their own: professionals who need to take constant calls on the go, working parents who need both hands to drive while on the phone, and gym rats who can’t be torn from their phone during workouts. While it might still be weird to see people looking like they’re talking to themselves when they’re really speaking into Bluetooth headsets, Plantronics will make things a bit less conspicuous. The very visible Voyer Legend earpiece is the latest from Plantronics’ Voyager line, with new features, functionalities to make it an overall better model compared to its predecessors.
Look and Feel
The Plantronics Voyager Legend is an upgrade on previous Plantronics Bluetooth headsets, with a slimmer, sleeker look than earlier models. It’s designed to accommodate glasses wearers, and while the item did feel comfortable but a bit heavy on top of my glasses, nothing is ever going to feel completely unnoticeable when you have a little computer sitting on your ear.
The device is made with a flexible silicone body to fit your ears without being too snug. And the extended microphone flips forward and backward depending on your dominant ear. Along the side is your main control panel where the power and volume buttons are located. Shortcut keys like the “Voice” button, which enables the Voyager Legend’s voice command functionality, are located on the actual stem of the microphone and on top of your ear piece.
The body of the Voyager Legend also has a rubberized finish, so you can wear the headset during your morning run and not worry about the sweat breaking your $100 gadget. Unfortunately, this rubber is also a bit of a dead skin cell magnet, and I get quite a bit of dusty bits on the black earpiece as it rubs against my head during wear. Gross, I know, but it had to be mentioned. Included in the box are also changeable ear tips to best fit the inside of your ears.
When you’re done with the headset for the day, the device charges using a USB cord to connect to the magnetized charging pins. The Voyager Legend snaps against its charger much like Apple’s MagSafe charger holds steady to your MacBook, so you can leave it hanging off the desk while you finish up emails or read the nightly news. A full charge takes just about 90 minutes.
Voice driven interface
What’s new about this refreshed model of Plantronics’ Bluetooth headset is the addition of a total voice command interface, which has become popularized by the likes of Siri, S Voice, and Google Now. You can hold the Voice button and say a command, such as Redial, Call [Name], or Answer to perform corresponding actions. You will also receive voice alerts when your battery is low or headset connection has been interrupted.
Another neat feature, if you will allow it, is for the Voyager Legend to access your phonebook and read you the name of your caller when you receive the call. Granted, it was easy for the Voyager Legend to say “Mom” was calling, but I haven’t experienced calls from friends with unique or hard-to-pronounced names to see how the device performs reading ethnic names. I could only hope it’s not as disastrous as Siri’s attempt. If you find that the Voyager Legend is butchering the pronunciation of your phonebook contacts, you can always turn off the feature and just gander at your phone when you receive a call — you know, the old school way.
Unfortunately, voice command didn’t work as smoothly as I had hoped. I asked the Voyager Legend to call “Home,” “Mom,” and “Voicemail” and they all led to the Bing business search hotline. Weird.
As far as usability, the Voyager Legend delivers crisp and clear sound even in a noisy city like New York. My voice being sent to the receiver did have some issues from time to time, particularly with wind noise, but communicating was not entirely impossible. The Bluetooth range was also reasonable at about 10 to 15 feet before static creeped into the call.
A professional’s gadget
When Plantronics representatives visited Digital Trends to speak about their new product, it was clear that the Voyager Legend is aimed at business professionals who would make the most out of Bluetooth headsets in their daily lives. This is apparent in the headset’s ability to sync with multiple devices, from your PC to smartphone. All you have to do is hang up a call on Skype to access the sync with your Galaxy S3, or the Bluetooth setup in your car on the drive home.
The Voyager Legend also boasts the talk time of seven hours — 11 days in standby mode — enough to get you through one work day if you’re constantly picking up and making calls. The earpiece can also sense when it’s being worn, so it “knows” whether to send the sound to your headset or leave it in your phone.
Perhaps my favorite feature out of this all is the new Find My Headset function on the accompanying Android app. It’s a bit like Foursquare for your call log, which records the location of your last call made or received, in case you misplace your Voyager Legend. The app allows you to see where you last used the headset so you can backtrack through the day. If someone else stole your earpiece and made calls through it, you might also be able to locate where the item is being used.
Bottom Line
Aside from some voice control issues, the Voyager Legend is a fine piece of Bluetooth technology that performs. Personally, I’m not a fan of voice commands, so I didn’t care that it didn’t work so well for me, but others may have better luck (or care more about its sub-par functionality). My primary issue is that the earpiece is still pretty bulky and gets dirty quite quickly — a potential inevitability with a device that gets so close to your ears and their canals.
The Voyager Legend comes packed with some cool tools for $100, but if you want the add-on carrying case that doubles as an extended battery pack, that’ll cost you an additional $30 for 14 hours extra life. Unless you plan to travel with limited charging time, these expenses are likely unnecessary. But if you are the type who will absolutely use the heck out of a Bluetooth headset, the Voyager Legend is a solid choice. The device is available today on Plantronics, Amazon, Best Buy and will be coming to AT&T and Verizon in October.
Microsoft has released a statement detailing the agreement they've made with Research in Motion (RIM) to license exFAT to the BlackBerry makers.
exFAT (Extended File Allocation Table) technology allows for devices which utilize flash memory to handle files fives times larger than the previous FAT system.
In addition to allowing for better interchange abilities between mobile devices and PCs, exFAT will also "[facilitate] large files for audiovisual media and enables seamless data portability."
The licensing agreement allows RIM to utilize exFAT in "certain BlackBerry devices."
Modern times call for modern tech
In regards to the deal between Microsoft and RIM, David Kaefer, general manager of Intellectual Property Licensing at Microsoft shared why this was a good deal for both companies.
"Today's smartphones and tablets require the capacity to display richer images and data than traditional cellular phones," Kaefer said.
"This agreement with RIM highlights how a modern file system, such as exFAT can help directly address the specific needs of customers in the mobile industry."
It's not quite the collaboration rumored to be happening between Microsoft and RIM, but it certainly shows RIM is serious about getting back on competitive track once again.
The terms of the deal were not disclosed, however Microsoft has entered into previous similar arrangements with companies like Panasonic, Sony, and Canon.
In order to stir interest up prior to its event tomorrow, HTC has released a teaser of the product it is about to announce tomorrow on its official Facebook page.
As you can see in the photo above, the teaser shot reveals one of the device's corners, as well as tomorrow's date. The text below the image says "when beautiful hardware meets stunning software."
Despite all the raging rumors about an upcoming 5" Android smartphone, don't be surprised if we see a Windows Phone 8 device break cover. After all, there have beenleaks in this direction as well.
We will be live from HTC's event in NYC tomorrow, so be sure to stick around to find out what all the buzz is about.
A new development in an ongoing patent quarrel between Apple and Motorola Mobility broke Tuesday, with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) deciding it will take a magnified look at some of Apple's signature products.
The investigation was prompted by a complaint filed by Motorola against Apple on Aug. 17, 2012.
"The complaint alleges violations of section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 in the importation into the United States and sale of certain wireless communication devices, portable music and data processing devices, computers, and components thereof that infringe patents asserted by the complainants," the release reads.
Motorola is requesting the ITC issue an exclusion order and a cease and desist order.
Step by step
Although an investigation has been launched, the ITC was quite to point out that it hasn't made a decision on the merits of the case.
A multi-step process must occur before any ban is instated.
The next move is for the organization's chief administrative law judge to assign the case to one of the ITC's six administrative law judges (ALJ). It falls on that judge to schedule and hold an evidentiary hearing.
Following the hearing, the ALJ will make an determination as to whether this is a violation of section 337. That ruling is then subject to review by the ITC.
Before any action is taken, the ITC will make a final determination as to whether Apple is guilty of patent infringement or not.
The ITC has 45 days from the institution of the investigation to set a target end date, according to the release.
Any remedial order issued in this case is effective "when issued and become final 60 days after issuance unless disapproved for policy reasons by the U.S. Trade Representative within that 60-day period."
Ongoing process
This is just the latest in a disagreement spanning international boundaries.
A German court ruled last week that Apple could pursue a ban of Motorola products that violate its patents in that country.
The ITC also issued a ruling Aug. 24 that Apple didn't violate three Motorola patents covering 3G wireless technology.
According to CNET, this latest contest could take over a year to complete, and even then the judgement will need to be reviewed by the ITC.
Meanwhile, Apple has a pending Dec. 6 court date with Samsung to wrap up loose ends in the firm's $1.05 billion win against the South Korean company.
Stay tuned to TechRadar for all the latest in this developing patent war.
ZTE has just announced the Grand Era U985 smartphone, which will debut on Chinese ground in a couple of days.
The Grand Era U985 is powered by a quad-core Tegra 3 processor, boasts a 4.5" 720p display and an 8 MP camera on the back. It will bring support for the local TD-SCDMA networks.
ZTE Grand Era U985 (click for larger image)
ZTE claims that the Grand Era U985 is the slimmest quad-core smartphone, which isn't exactly true. It measures an all-round 8.6 mm thickness across its body with the slimmest point being 7.9 mm. If we have to be pedantic we'd say that the LG Optimus G has that beat with its all-round thickness of just 8.45 mm, but it's not the first time companies have used the "slimmest smartphone" without doing proper research first.
Finally ZTE is en route to launch a few other devices soon - the Grand Era LTE and two lower-end offerings - the Grand V970 and Grand U930.
HTC says it'll be going all-in on Windows Phone 8 and the first of potentially three devices, expected to be announced Wednesday, has reportedly appeared online.
A snap of the long-rumoured device, alternately called the HTC Accord and HTC 8X, was acquired by PhoneArena, showcasing a handset boasting the logo of U.S. carrier Verizon Wireless.
The navy-blue styled handset looks a lot like the recently announced Nokia Lumia 920, which also features a square-edged candy bar form-factor.
Beats on board?
HTC's first venture into the new version of Microsoft's smartphone operating system is widely expected to include an 8-megapixel camera and a 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU.
According to the report, there's no room for a microSD card for expandable storage, but previous leaks have suggested both 16GB and 32GB models will hit the market.
Also rumoured to be laying within the Accord/8X is a 4.3-inch touchscreen, built-in Beats Audio technology, NFC connectivity, 1080p HD video recording, and 1GB of RAM.
Stiff competition
HTC is holding a media event in New York Wednesday, which kicks off at 4pm UK time (11am EDT), where it is expected to unleash a trio of Windows Phone 8 devices.
Keep it locked to TechRadar for full coverage of the launch, which HTC hopes will reinvigorate its smartphone challenge following an underwhelming couple of years.
HTC is likely be going head-to-head with Nokia - Microsoft's preferred partner - as both companies look to put a dent in the gargantuan lead held by iOS and Android.
Samsung also has a fleet of WP8 devices on the way, while LG says it is starting to look at developing for the platform once again, after swearing off the OS earlier this year.
HTC is expected to begin its Windows Phone push on Wednesday
HTC says it will be going all-in on Windows Phone 8 and the first of three devices, expected to be announced tomorrow, has appeared online.
A snap of the long-rumoured device, also known as the HTC 8X, was acquired by the Phones Arena website, showcasing a handset boasting the logo of US carrier Verizon Wireless.
The navy-blue styled handset looks a lot like the recently announced Nokia Lumia 920, which also boasts a square-edged candy bar form-factor.
Beats on board?
HTC's first venture into the new version of Microsoft's smartphone operating system is widely expected to include an 8-megapixel camera and a 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU.
According to the report there's no room for a microSD card for expandable storage, but previous leaks have suggested 16GB and 32GB models.
Also rumoured to be laying within the Accord/8X is a 4.3-inch touchscreen, Beats Audio technology built in, NFC connectivity, 1080p HD video recording and 1GB of RAM.
Stiff competition
HTC is holding a media event in New York tomorrow, which kicks off at 4pm UK time (11am EST), where it is expected to unleash a trio of Windows Phone 8 devices.
Keep it locked to TechRadar.com for full coverage of the launch, which HTC hopes will reinvigorate its smartphone challenge following an underwhelming couple of years.
HTC is likely be going head-to-head with Nokia - Microsoft's preferred partner - as both companies look to put a dent in the gargantuan lead held by iOS and Android.
Samsung also has a fleet of WP8 devices on the way, while LG says it is starting to look at developing for the platform once again, after swearing off the OS earlier this year.
Web development education platform Treehouse stretches its mobile reach with new iOS and Android classes.
Just last week, Treehouse unveiled its plans to contribute $3 million in scholarships to future developers, and today the Web-based learning platform is announcing its new iOS and Android curriculum.
“Treehouse is now offering courses on both iOS and Android development,” the startup says. “Students will take a project-based approach that will demonstrate every step of building real iPhone and Android apps.” The two new courses, take students through the process of making a “Crystal Ball” app, or an animated, shake-responsive app.
Teaching through small, bite-sized projects sticks with the Treehouse method, a method which CEO and founder Ryan Carson says helps them get anyone from zero development knowledge to an advanced stage — and most importantly, land them a job. And in case you haven’t noticed, mobile development is something of an exploding industry at the moment, and any developer worth his or her salt would be wise to flex some muscle here.
“Mobile has always been in the works,” Carson tells me. “Everything is going mobile and there’s tons of money to be made in making apps. Site and Web development is still important, but most things have a mobile component now too.”
While everything about online learning is fresh and new (and undeniably trendy; the last year has been filled with a rash of online development education platforms), Treehouse still relies on real teachers, not crowdsourcing, for its curriculum. The company has a full time teaching staff, and they aren’t remote workers: Part of the job description is packing your bags and moving to the Orlando office, where Treehouse films its video lesson.
“Teaching technology is kind of the Wild West,” says Carson. “People aren’t sure how to accredit it yet, and a university degree isn’t indicative of whether you’re good at computer science or not. I have a computer science degree and no one should hire me as a developer. What we’re doing is disrupting the trade school and university system.”
Treehouse has made significant efforts not only to essentially provide a development school at an affordable rate ($25 or $49 a month) but to focus on job placement as well. The service now includes a job placement team, something that Carson says they’ll be focusing on more and more. “We’re just starting out formally placing people in jobs, and we’re heard good things.” He says the team will have more concrete numbers on its effectiveness in the near future.
The renewed mobile focus certainly can’t hurt Treehouse students’ job prospects, though, in a world increasingly turning to smartphones. The lessons are available today and videos can be watched for free. But in order to participate you’ll need to sign up for a monthly Treehouse plan.
The LG Optimus G has arrived, and comes complete with a whole new level of smartphone technology.
It's another evolution for the Korean brand, with the new handset the second quad core option the firm has released. However, it's the first to use Qualcomm's S4 Pro chip, which will bring an LTE-ready quad core handset to the masses for the first time.
When you pick up the Optimus G, you can tell it's a handset that's worthy of being dubbed a flagship by LG. There's a real weight to it (well, only 145g, but it's much heavier than the Samsung Galaxy S3) but that adds to the premium feel rather than feeling overly heavy.
The design language is impressive, if a little bland. The plastic casing feels a little slippery in the hand, and while the white casing with silver inlets looks impressive, the front of the phone is still the faceless black slab we've come to expect from most handsets these days.
It's not LG's fault, as there's only so much you can do to innovate on the design front, but with the Optimus G its definitely decided that minimalism is best, with a silhouette that mimics the iPhone 4S.
The layout of the buttons is familiar too, as it mirrors the Galaxy S3 almost perfectly in terms of button placement. LG has moved the power button to the top right-hand side, to make it easier to hit with the thumb, and the volume keys, headphone jack and microUSB port are all in the same place.
In fairness, there are only so many places you can put these elements, and placing the phones side by side you'd definitely not think much in the way of copying had gone on.
There is one big difference though: the 13MP camera sensor (which may only arrive on Korean models, according to hints dropped by LG) juts out slightly at the rear, which led us to worry it may get slightly scratched. There's an extra lip to help protect the lens though, so it may survive a fight with the desk every day.
There's no removable battery, no expandable memory through a MicroSD slot – although at least there's 32GB of internal storage to help out on the media front, which should be more than enough for most people.
To summarise: it's a well-designed phone with plenty to be proud of from an aesthetic standpoint. However, while it doesn't come under the same 'cheap-feeling' category as the Galaxy S3, it doesn't have the premium feel of the HTC One S or the iPhone 5 in our opinion.
Add to that it's pretty anonymous when viewed straight on, and you have to wonder how LG plans to make this leap of the shelves when placed next to the competition.
However, if you do pick up the phone from the melee, you'll be in for a nice surprise, as it's one of the fastest we've encountered so far. That's not surprising when you consider it's got one of Qualcomm's most advanced CPUs inside, which has been teamed with 2GB of RAM.
This meant that no matter what we threw at it, the LG Optimus G was able to open and flick between apps with aplomb. This is down to Cross Tasking, as LG calls it, which means each core is able to operate at different speeds to enable more efficient multi-tasking.
We know it's been said before with phones like this that speeds are mind-blowing, but it seems the LG Optimus G was able to beat all the benchmarks out there too, so there's more than a little hope that this is one of the world's quickest handsets.
LG has been hard at work refining its UX overlay as it, like so many, works to create differentiation in a saturated market. We'll state our case now: we're definitely not fans of LG's Android overlay, as it's still similar (especially in layout and font) to the less-than-successful earlier smartphones and the irritating S-Class handsets.
But beyond the iconography and general feel of the system, with its overly colourful widgets and geometric design, there are so many little tweaks that make it a joy to use.
These same tweaks will probably annoy those that love simplicity, but then again, they're generally happy with a six year-old iOS platform.
Opening the lock screen is the early winner, with a little dew bubble revealing what lies below as you unlock. There are four icons along the bottom of the phone which allow you to activate quick apps too, which makes it handy when loading the camera.
From there, it's pretty standard Android 4.0, which is a good thing for those that are upgrading from another Google-powered phone.
There's no word on when we'll be seeing Android Jelly Bean for the Optimus G, although LG has hinted it may drop by the end of the year (read: some point in 2013).
But there are several other neat touches on top that we really like, and will help differentiate the LG Optimus G if people actually give it a decent play in the shop.
For instance, being able to pinch outwards on the home screen to just look at your wallpaper will please those looking to show off their cat, and a new feature called Q-Slide really takes Samsung's Pop Up Play to the next level.
Q-Slide allows you to be watching a video or using the internet (as LG puts it: any app it can control) and place any other on top. This may sound slightly pointless as it's nigh-on impossible to concentrate on more than one task on a smartphone, but it stops the video getting in the way as it does on Samsung's option.
The other, more useful, trick is the ability to resize or personalise icons. This means that if you drag an icon around the home screen, if it has a widget attached it will grow larger to offer things like bookmarks or media. And if it doesn't have a larger option, you can place any picture you like as the app instead, making it a really personal experience.
The rest of the phone is mostly impressive, so we can almost whip through it. The browser is pretty much stock Android Ice Cream Sandwich, but is pretty fast over 4G – although not as quick as some out there, it's important to note this isn't final software and such things often get optimised for launch.
The keyboard is still pretty poor though – while the lag we saw on the Optimus 4X HD has disappeared, it's still pretty inaccurate at predicting what words were trying to tap out.
We often try to see how long we can last before installing something like Swiftkey in these scenarios, but it was only a couple of hours with the Optimus G.
The final thing we'll look at is the screen (well, it's the first thing you'll probably look at) as LG is touting both its clarity and power efficiency.
We saw tests that compared it to Samsung's Super AMOLED HD screen, which showed that it was able to use less power at higher brightness, as well as offering more natural colours thanks to a full matrix of RGB colouring.
In truth, it's a screen that looks great and is as sharp as a pin, but doesn't have the same 'wow' factor as the AMOLED, which offers better contrast ratio and brightness. There are many display snobs out there that don't believe Samsung's favourite screen type offers 'true' images, but in our eyes its still the more impressive.
That's not to say LG's is poor by any means – but we do prefer watching movies on the S3, and not just because we can pop them over on a microSD card.
Early verdict
Is the LG Optimus G the phone of the year? It's too early to say, for a number of reasons: the first being that we won't see it in the US until later in 2012 and may never see it on European shores at all.
Then there's the issue of price, or lack of one. While LG usually undercuts its competitors, it will need to do so pretty strongly here to make sure it stands out of the throng of top-end smartphones available today.
It's a well-designed handset with plenty of interesting features we can't wait to get our teeth into, as well as more grunt than most other phones out there. We're not sure it will be the phone to propel LG back to the front (there needs to be a phone that takes the user by surprise with a new UI or fantastic design to achieve that) but it's one of the best the Lucky Group have come up with in a long while.
Sen. Chuck Schumer will unveil a new immigration bill today that seeks to fill the talent gap in the U.S. technology industry.
U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) plans to unveil an immigration bill later today that would make it easier for high-skilled immigrants to work in the United States. The “BRAINS Act” — which, sadly, has nothing to do with the impending zombie apocalypse — would boost the number of green cards available to students born outside the U.S. who receive advanced degrees in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields from U.S. universities.
According to Schumer’s office, the BRAINS Act (a.k.a the Benefits to Research and American Innovation through Nationality Statutes Act) is needed to plug the gap in talent vital to the booming U.S. technology industry. While the bill would operate at the federal level, Schumer touts the benefits for New York City, a popular destination for immigrants, which is now home to hundreds of tech startups, including companies like Foursquare, Tumblr, Etsy, and Kickstarter, among many others.
Schumer’s office cites a study by the Center for an Urban Future (pdf), which highlights the “lack of top-tier engineers” as the “biggest barrier” to growth for New York City’s technology sector. The study recommends lawmakers “streamline the visa process and dramatically raise the federal cap on highly qualified immigrants” — precisely the goal of the BRAINS Act.
Schumer’s bill would would provide 55,000 new green cards each year for foreign-born people who receive a master’s degree or higher in a STEM field from an U.S. university. Graduates must also have a job offer from a U.S. company in a STEM field to receive a green card under the bill. The BRAINS Act would also make it easier for students planning to study in a STEM discipline in the U.S. to obtain a student visa.
“It makes no sense that America is educating the world’s smartest and most talented students and then, once they are at their full potential and mastered their craft, kicking them out the door,” said Schumer in a statement. “We should be encouraging every brilliant and well-educated immigrant to stay here, build a business here, create wealth here, employ people here, and grow our economy. Fixing our broken green card system will help ensure that the next eBay, the next Google, the next Intel will be started in New York City, not in Shanghai or Bangalore or London.”
The BRAINS Act will compete in Congress with a similar bill expected soon in the House from Texas Republican Rep. Lamar Smith (of SOPA infamy). Smith’s bill would a provide up to the same 55,000 green cards as Schumer’s legislation, but foreign-born students who earn a doctorate degree in a STEM discipline will have first dibs. Student’s who receive master’s degrees in eligible fields will have access to the remaining green cards.
While few lawmakers oppose the allocation of green cards for high-skilled immigrants, Smith’s bill has come under fire from Congressional Democrats because it would eliminate the diversity visa program, which makes visas available to people from countries with low immigration rates to the U.S., according to The Hill. The House is expected to vote on Smith’s bill next week.
Schumer will officially unveil the BRAINS Act at 3 p.m. ET today at the New York General Assembly in Manhattan.
Lead image via Center for an Urban Future; Schumer image via stocklight/Shutterstock
LG has confirmed that it's still keeping an eye on Microsoft's platform, but still doesn't want to launch a WP8 yet.
Jong-Seok Park, CEO of LG Mobile Communications, said during a press conference that the company was still intending to keep things strictly Android for the time being:
"With regards to our relationship with Google: we'll continue to collaborate with them. With regards to adoption of other operating systems, we don't have any specific platform which we will launch."
Not all over
However, TechRadar was told separately that the R&D team within LG continues to work on Windows Phone 8, as well as other options such as HTML 5, but while Microsoft's platform is under 'consideration' there are no plans to launch any more phones using it.
This makes a huge amount of sense given both HTC and Samsung are set to join Nokia on Microsoft's Windows Phone 8 platform, and with an improvement in the design language used there's a strong chance the OS could grow significantly in market share.
However, given LG encountered less than stellar sales with its Optimus 7 handset the first time round, coupled with the company's ailing fortunes in the worldwide smartphone market, it makes sense to keep working on the platform and then pull the trigger when the OS reaches maturity.
The new iPhone 5 has been launched, but that's only half the story - you want to know when and where you can get your iPaws all over the handset.
Well, the iPhone 5 launch date has been set for September 21, and pre-ordering begins on September 14.
We've spoken to all the networks to find out which will be stocking the new iPhone, and if it will feature any fancy new features we may not have seen.
Update: The networks have announced their first wave of iPhone 5 tariffs now pre-orders are up an running - which one takes your fancy?
EE, Orange and T-Mobile
EE happily announced: "EE will launch an exclusive 4G LTE version of the new iPhone when the EE customer brand launches in the coming weeks, giving customers five times faster network speeds than on 3G.
"Our Orange and T-Mobile customers will also be able to get hold of the iPhone 5 with the biggest and best network and the fastest possible 3G network speeds."
Update: Orange and T-Mobile have announced their tariffs for the iPhone 5, but we're yet to see any information regarding the 4G EE plans - expected to be announced closer to the time the network goes online.
If you fancy getting in on the 4G action, EE will make it easy for you to upgrade your iPhone 5 plan from Orange or T-Mobile without an additional charge - as long as you pick a tariff at an equivalent or higher price.
The T-Mobile and Orange tariffs both start at £36 per month (on a 24 month contract), both offering unlimited texts, with T-Mobile's "Full Monty" giving you 2000 minutes and unlimited data, while Orange's "The Works" flips is around with unlimited calls and 1GB of data - T-Mobile wins this battle in our eyes.
Of course you will have to shell out for the handset as well at this price: £109 for 16GB, 219 for 32GB or £269 at 64GB.
If you're a little more flush then both networks offer £41, £46 and £51/£61 per month tariffs, which reduces the cost of the handset upfront and gives you more allowances.
Surprise, surprise Vodafone will be stocking the iPhone 5 in all its capacity (16GB, 32GB, 64GB) and colour (black and white) options - shocker we know - and interestingly the big red has it available on 12 and 24 month pay monthly plans.
In terms of 24 month contracts, its "flagship" (and most expensive) tariff is the £47 per month Red Data plan, giving you a free 16GB iPhone 5, unlimited calls and texts, plus 2GB of internet, which Vodafone has confirmed will cover you for Facetime over 3G.
You can pay as little as £33 per month over two years, but that will only get you 600 minutes, unlimited texts and a paltry 500MB of data, plus you'll need to shell out £149 for the 16GB iPhone 5.
There's also a 24 month plan for £25 per month, but this doesn't include Facetime over 3G in the 100MB of internet you get, plus you will need to fork out big money for the handset.
Opt for a 12 month plan and you'll be paying an eye-wateringly high price for your shorter contract, with Vodafone demanding as much as £349 if you plump for the 16GB iPhone at £36 per month.
O2 seems to have been a little slow of the mark with its iPhone 5 pre-order page, showing off the tariffs it has available, all of which offer unlimited texts and calls plus 1GB of data, but at varying prices.
As the allowance is the same at each price band, which starts at £26 per month and raises all the way to £63, we expect some heavily subsidised iPhones to go with them, however O2 is yet to release its handset prices.
Update: O2 has finally got its act together and put it's pre-order page up on its website - about time too.
If you fancy the 16GB iPhone 5, then you'll need to fork out £249.99 on a £26 per month contract, £99 at £36 per month and if you're prepared to pay £46 each month, you'll get it for free.
O2 will also be offering the new iPhone 5 on its Pay & Go Go Go plan with 75 minutes, 500 texts and 100MB of data: £10 a month, then every 3 months your tariff gets better and better. After 3 months everything doubles, except the price. And after 9 months you get unlimited texts.
Once again O2 has failed to provide us with handset prices for its PAYG deal – so watch this space.
"We're celebrating the fifth year of working with Apple in style," said Ronan Dunne, Chief Executive of O2 in the UK. "We're looking forward to bringing the new iPhone 5 to everyone very soon, whether they're already on O2 or not."
Three took to Facebook to make its announcement - as you might expect it's got a lovely fresh tone:
"Heard the rumours about a brand new iPhone? They're only bloomin' true! We're excited to confirm that the new iPhone 5 will be available for pre-order on Three from Friday 14th September. Register here for updates http://bit.ly/QQw0it."
Three is keeping things simple, just two 24 month contracts to choose from, the unlimited internet 500 tariff which gives you 500 minutes, 5,000 texts and unlimited data, and The One Plan offering up 2,000 minutes plus 5,000 Three to Three minutes, 5,000 texts and all-you-can-eat data for any extra £2 per month.
Excitingly Three is charging a relative pittance for the handset upfront, asking for just £79 for the 16GB iPhone 5 – the 32GB will set you back £89, while you'll need £109 the 64GB.
It will also be available as PAYG, according to Apple's store.
The Branson-powered network doesn't always have the best track record at bringing its customers the new iPhone, so we'll wait with bated breath to see if it will buck that trend in 2012.
Tesco Mobile
Yep, you read that right, super-mega-food-store-giant Tesco is getting in on the iPhone 5 game, offering up Apple's latest blower on a range of contracts.
The iPhone 5 will only be available on Pay monthly initially, but Tesco plans to release Pay as you go deals at a later date.
There's a range of 12 and 24 month contracts to choose from, starting from £25 per month, all the way up to £45 - however there's no option to get a free handset, and all contracts come with a standard 1GB of data.
Taking a look at the 16GB iPhone 5, the £25 per month contract will need you to stump up £300 for the handset and will give you 1,500 minutes and 5,000 texts - plus the 1GB of data - over two years.
A word of warning though, Tesco Mobile isn't offering a pre-order option, just a stock availability sign up - so you'll need to keep an eye out for a text saying units have arrived.
We've not heard a peep from TCW, but Phones 4U has confirmed to TechRadar that it will be stocking the iPhone 5 (shocker), but cannot give any further details at this stage. Keep one eye fixed to its 'Coming Soon' page if you want to find out more.
Update: Carphone Warehouse now has its iPhone 5 pre-order page live on its website, where you can get the sixth generation of Apple smartphone SIM-free or on contract, with O2, Orange, T-Mobile and Vodafone tariffs available to pick.
Update: Phones4U also has its iPhone 5 pre-order page up, but it looks like you can only pick it up on contract here, with the same four networks available to choose from.
iPhone 5 pre-orders TechRadar has joined forces with uSwitch to bring all the latest iPhone 5 pre-order deals from all the UK networks right to your inbox. Sign up here.
The Intel Atom-powered Motorola RAZR i was announced just a few hours ago, but it’s already gone on pre-order in the UK – one of the very few countries to get the phone in early October. The rest of the lucky regions are France, Germany, Brazil, Argentina and Mexico.
The SIM free version (without any contract) goes around £345 (incl. VAT) in the UK. Clove and Expansys are already taking pre-orders, various other retailers should also join any moment now.
So, the new Motorola RAZR i XT890 is almost ready to take its chances in the UK market. The price seems reasonable too and even though the initial benchmark scores failed to impress us, the user experience is pretty smooth, so it might just stand a chance.
The Motorola Razr i is the latest smartphone from the now Google-owned firm, and this mid-range handset promises edge-to-edge action in the palm of your hand.
While things have been pretty quite on the Motorola front since the launch of the Razr last year – with just a smattering of mediocre handsets since - the Razr i is the most important European phone of the year for the company, so expect to see it filling TV ad space and adorning the side of buses soon.
The Motorola Razr i release date is currently pegged for October, but prices are yet to be confirmed, although as this is a mid-range handset we'd expect it to arrive at around the £300 mark SIM-free, comparable with the likes of the HTC One S and Sony Xperia S.
As with the Droid Razr M which was announced earlier this month, the Razr i shares the same industrial design as its American twin, with the sturdy, wedge-shaped aluminium frame and Kevlar back providing a solid handset which feels like it can withstand multiple knocks and bumps.
There are three rivets down each side of the Razr i, adding to that industrial feel, and while it may not be to everyone's taste, it isn't a bad looking phone and it sat nicely in our hand, with an even weight distribution welcome after the rather top-heavy Razr.
The 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Advance display is crisp and clear, although it's not a pin-sharp as the iPhone 4S or Xperia S, thanks to the 540x960 resolution – but the trump card for the Razr i is the lack of bezel, as Motorola has offered up an edge-to-edge screen, with only minimal padding above and below.
Thanks to the sleek and slender 122.5 x 60.9 x 8.3 mm dimensions of the Motorola Razr i, it feels like you're holding a huge screen, and one that's, as Motorola happily pointed out in its press conference, 15 percent larger than the iPhone 5.
It's the first Motorola handset to sport Intel inside, with the Razr i packing a 2GHz single-core processor – the first time a phone has packed such a powerful single-core chip.
This is backed up by 1GB of RAM, which power Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich. We're informed that Motorola will be upgrading the Razr i to Jelly Bean soon, although no date has been confirmed.
Motorola and Intel made a big deal about the quality of the processor inside the Razr i and to be fair, they're certainly entitled to, as the handset takes the Android operating system in its stride, allowing you to zip through homescreens and the app tray without any hint of slow down.
Head over to the internet and the Motorola Razr i really starts to show off, allowing you to load up mobile web pages in just a couple of seconds. TechRadar.com, for instance, took just four seconds to load in a usable form, and then just another couple of seconds to finish off the moving banners.
Pinch to zoom is pretty smooth and while perhaps not quite a slick as the Galaxy S3 - but remember that's a quad-core handset - it's an impressive showing with the Razr i able to keep up with rendering text and images.
Unfortunately there's no text-reflow, which is frustrating when you zoom in to read text, as you need to scroll sideways as well as down, something which the majority of handsets offer so we wonder why it's not on the Razr i.
Another impressive feature is the 8MP rear camera, and thanks to the Intel chip the app opens up in under a second. Seriously, press the icon or click the physical shutter button on the right of the Razr i and pow, you're into the camera and ready to shoot.
Auto and tap-to-focus are both present, and the Razr i takes just a second or two to snap an image and return you to shooting mode, ready for the next.
If that's not quick enough for you, Motorola has also included a burst mode which takes 10 images in under a second, allowing you to capture the perfect star jump.
There's a few options to play with in the camera app, but it's not as well tooled as some of its rivals, with basic exposure, scenes and effects controls, plus an option to use the LED flash on the back and switch between single, burst and HDR modes.
Interestingly the Razr i seems to lack a panorama mode, something which was built into Ice Cream Sandwich, but Motorola has omitted from the handset.
The rear camera is capable of capturing 1080p, full HD video, while a front facing, 0.3MP VGA quality snapper can record at 720p.
Something else we found pleasing was the relatively pure Ice Cream Sandwich software which had been installed on the phone, with Motorola shunning its previously over-the-top and clunkly skin in favour of a simpler, and in our opinion better, Android experience.
That's not so say Motorola has delivered the vanilla version of the OS, with it's own "Circles" widget adorning the homescreen, showing you the clock, weather and battery life in three handy spheres – receive a message or email and a notification will be displayed in the largest circle, allowing you to easily see who's trying to contact you.
Of course you can easily ditch this widget it if doesn't take your fancy, but we enjoyed playing with the intuitive system and the way you can flip the circles over with a flick of the finger is a sure-fire time waster in our book.
Drag down the notification bar from the top of the screen and some of you may be disappointed to see that there's no quick settings for the likes of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, but fear not as Motorola has addressed this in a slightly different way.
Head back to the homescreen, slide from left to right and instead of cycling to the last homescreen in the run (you can have up to sever on the Razr i), or even not going anywhere, you're greeted with the aforementioned quick settings.
While all the big hitters such as Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth and Mobile Data all feature, it's a tad annoying that a NFC toggle hasn't made the list, especially as the Motorola Razr i sports the wireless technology, including Android Beam - allowing you to touch two Android, NFC-enabled handsets to share content easily.
The Razr i ships with the stock Android keyboard, which while perfectly functional as a day to day input device, for those of you who will be churning out the words it still feels a little cramped, even on the 4.3-inch display.
We may well have been spoiled by phones with bigger screens, and those of you who pick up the Razr i after using an iPhone may find it suitably big, but we'd still opt for a third party option from Google Play.
For those of you who love gorging yourselves with media on your smartphone then you may be a little disappointed to learn the Razr i only comes with 8GB of internal storage, however there is a microSD card port on the left side of the handset, under a flap alongside the microSIM slot, allowing you to expand your options.
Video playback on the Motorola Razr I was impressive in the demo clips we watched at the launch event, and while the screen might not be a bright as some if its rivals, playback is smooth and colours strong making for a pleasant viewing experience.
As well as the touted performance, Intel also claims its processor manages power more efficiently than its dual-cored rivals, meaning the 2,000mAh battery housed inside the Motorola Razr i should easily see you through a day of relatively heavy usage – although we'll put that to the test during our in-depth review process.
Motorola has confirmed that the Razr i will be stocked by T-Mobile, Orange, Virgin Media, Tesco Mobile and Phones4U in the UK, and it is currently in talks with other carriers – so we wouldn't be surprised if it showed up at O2, Three and Vodafone too.
Early verdict
The Motorola Razr i is looking like a quality mid-range phone with impressive performance, intuitive user interface, a handful nice additional features and a hardy design - this is a phone we can get excited about.
If Intel's claim that its processor can provide decent battery life as well as top-notch performance rings true, and networks agree a suitably competitive price with Motorola, the Razr i could well be on to a winner.
We've already got a unit in for review, so make sure you keep an eye out for our in-depth Motorola Razr i review, which will be on the site soon.
