Ideal for many emergency situations where a call isn't an option, AT&T is testing the text-to-911 service prior to a major network launch.
Detailed within a press release earlier today, AT&T and representatives within the state of Tennessee are joining forces to start testing emergency 911 texting before a nationwide launch of the useful feature. In order to enable the new text-to-911 service, all 911 text messages from AT&T customers will be routed through Tennessee’s Emergency Service IP Network (ESInet) and send to emergency call centers around the state. As the new feature undergoes significant testing, AT&T and the state will get a better understanding of how useful the text-to-911 service is for the public in addition to measuring how efficient call center operators will be at handling the flow and distribution of emergency messages. AT&T hopes to develop a set of rules and standards that will help guide emergency call centers within other states.
This new service will be particularly helpful for anyone that’s physically lost the ability to vocalize their emergency with a traditional voice call through 911 emergency services. In addition, the hearing impaired community will be able to communicate problems vastly quicker with a text message through the text-to-911 service.
Another scenario where a text-to-911 service would be vital would be a home invasion. A young child hiding within the home could easily text the emergency to 911 in order to avoid making any noise by speaking during a typical voice call. In addition, a text-to-911 service could be particularly helpful for customers that get poor voice reception in a remote area and have significant problems with dropped calls.
During August 2011, the Federal Communications Commission announced plans to push forward on the text-to-911 service and include the ability to send photos and videos to call center operators. A year prior to that, the FCC has started the initial planning on the project, namely because of the tragic shootings on the Virginia Tech campus. Apparently students were sending text messages to 911 during the shootings, but call centers weren’t equipped to receive the messages.
When asked about the trial run of the text-to-911 service, AT&T Business Solutions VP of Public Safety Solutions Mel Coker stated “AT&T is committed to working with standard bodies, national, state, and local public safety organizations to determine how best to integrate SMS text messages and other advanced communications into future 9-1-1 systems and wireless networks. This trial will be vital in evaluating Text to 9-1-1 solutions with the goal of providing reliable, universal access for our customers.”
Announced during May 2012, Verizon is also working toward providing a text-to-911 service to customers. Verizon customers will simply need a wireless phone capable of sending messages in addition to the wireless service plan that supports text messaging. Based off prior plans, Verizon representatives will launch the new feature within several major metropolitan areas during the first half of 2013 prior to launching the feature across the entire nation. A future planned addition to the text-to-911 service is the ability to automatically include a link to the user’s location. However, the phone would have to utilize a built-in GPS chip in order to relay that specific information to emergency services.
All of Amazon's new Kindle Fire tablets will feature ads on the lock screen, with no option to opt out. If you were interested in one of the new devices from the e-commerce giant, does this put you off?
So there we have it. Jeff Bezos has spoken. Amazon is coming at you with four new Kindle Fire tablets, with a refreshed version of its original 7-inch model selling for $159 and, at the other end of the price scale, an 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD 4G LTE, with a $499 price tag.
Prior to the event in Santa Monica on Thursday, there had been talk of Amazon launching two 7-inch Kindle Fires – a lower-priced one with ads and one without.
During his spiel, Bezos made no mention of the situation regarding ads – or as Amazon likes to call them, ‘Special Offers’ – though a look at information on its website about its new products reveals that in fact all of these new tablets will be coming with ads, with no option to opt out – for now at least.
The ads will appear on the lock screen of the tablets and will include “special offers and screensavers from brands like AT&T, Discover and Intel, such as a special offer of a $10 Amazon.com Gift Card when a customer uses their Discover card to purchase a digital product on Amazon,” the e-commerce giant explained on its website.
Of course, ads on the lock screen are hardly obtrusive, but there will be those who would rather not be confronted by a special offer or promotion every time they switch on their tablet, preferring instead to have the ability to customize all parts of their device. For Amazon, it’s a way to keep costs down, and let’s face it, for the specifications of these new tablets, they really are going for a song. In fact, if the new products are anything like the original Fire, they’re being sold at below cost price, with Amazon banking on making money from users buying content for their Fires from its well-stocked online store.
“People don’t want gadgets anymore, they want services,” Bezos told those gathered before him in Santa Monica on Thursday. They probably don’t particularly want ads on their lock screen either, but if it means they can get their hands on a Kindle Fire for a dirt cheap price, then plenty of them will quite happily live with this minor inconvenience.
Amazon's latest batch of e-readers and tablets signals its true intention: Crushing Apple's iTunes content ecosystem with a consumption device for every buyer and budget.
Amazon’s exclusive event in Los Angeles Thursday saw CEO Jeff Bezos unveil a number of new devices. He kicked off by talking about the fact that a lot of Android tablets have come out, but no one bought them. Why? Because, “People don’t want gadgets anymore, they want services.” Amazon spent last year proving that: The Kindle Fire has accounted for 22 percent of tablet sales in the US since it was released.
Bezos contends that the Kindle Fire is so great because it’s ultimately more of a service than a device. This is the key to Amazon’s offerings. It’s not just about producing great hardware – it’s about creating a whole ecosystem that serves the customer every step of the way. And because this Amazon we’re talking about, it can do so at incredibly competitive price points. So, while Samsung wants to take on Apple by trying (and mostly failing) to convince us that tablets should be productivity devices, Amazon is not only churning out pure consumption devices… it’s betting it can beat Apple at the consumption game. By getting affordable hardware into the hands of consumers in each price bracket, Amazon can focus on selling content. The proposition it is offering as a complete service is straightforward, easy to grasp, and very attractive.
Three devices to rule them all
Thursday’s presentation included the Kindle Paperwhite, an updated Kindle Fire, and the Kindle Fire HD in 7-inch and 8.9-inch form. Each one credibly takes on all comers in its respective market tier, beginning with the e-reader tier that Kindle essentially created way back when it seemed like Amazon was happy to cede the top end of the tablet market to Apple. The new Kindle Paperwhite is lighter and thinner than previous devices, with a patented light guide feature, which sheds an even LED light on the screen for reading in the dark. That helps Amazon to compete with the Nook GlowLight. This new Kindle also has amazing battery life and it looks like a great device for $119. There’s also a version with international 3G for $179, and that means the entry-level Kindle without the touchscreen will drop to just $69.
The original Kindle Fire has been upgraded with a faster processor, a bigger battery, and more RAM. It’s supposed to be 40 percent faster than its predecessor and it will cost just $159. That’s a clear shot over Google’s bow, as the Nexus 7 went on sale at $199.
The biggest news is the Kindle Fire HD, which comes in two sizes. There’s a 7-inch device and an 8.9-inch device. The larger tablet looks like competition for the iPad. The 7-inch 16GB version of the Kindle Fire HD goes head-to-head with the Nexus 7 at $199. The 16GB version of the 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD is an attractive $299. Then there’s the 32GB 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD with support for 4G LTE, which will cost $499.
These are extremely aggressive prices and Amazon knows it. “We want to make money when people use our devices, not when they buy our devices,” Bezos said.
Content is king
Amazon is a strong position when it comes to content. Amazon Prime has over 25,000 movies and TV shows. The Kindle store has 1.5 million e-books. The curated Amazon Android App Store boasts over 50,000 apps now and over 30,000 of them are compatible with the Kindle Fire. Meanwhile, iTunes has about 4,500 movies, 2,000 TV shows, and iBooks carried only 150,000 titles in March 2010 — Apple hasn’t released any figures since then. Apple’s App Store does notably outsize Amazon’s with more than 725,000 apps, and more than 100,000 specifically for the iPad.
When it comes to pricing, Amazon Prime looks like a real winner. Prime started off as simply a way to get free two-day shipping on anything Amazon sold, but the with Kindle it’s evolved into something far more impressive: instant access to streaming video with no ads, and access to thousands of books through the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library, all for a flat $79 per year fee. You can share that membership with your family, and there’s a free one-month trial.
That’s a lot of content and it’s seamlessly integrated through Amazon’s Android interface. It gives people access to movies, books, games, and apps from a brand they already know and trust. If Apple has always been about keeping things simple and having services “just work” across devices, then it could learn a thing or two from Amazon’s approach to content. To get the same content through iTunes would necessitate multiple purchases and be a lot more expensive.
And usability is queen
All this focus on service doesn’t overshadow the fact that the Kindles are evolving quickly in the features department. Front-facing HD cameras with pre-installed Skype, as well as improved email syncing and exchange integration on the Fire HDs provide the communication functions consumers expect from tablets. Whispersync is enhanced with audiobooks and can now sync your place between devices – a function that works for games as well. The X-Ray search feature now works not only with books, but also movies, and Amazon’s ownership of IMDB further enhances movies by integrating actor and actress information into pop ups that can display as you watch. Support for multiple profiles and a set of parental controls round off a thoughtful feature list that’s sure to be a hit with a wide audience. That mix of features and an enticing content deal hits a real sweet spot for families.
Setting the tablet market on fire
It’s a space that’s really been heating up in the last few months and with rumors of that Apple iPad mini still on the horizon there’s plenty of fighting left to be done. All of this competition is great for consumers. Amazon has released an impressive line-up here that represents real value for money. From the basic Kindle up to the Kindle Fire HD, Amazon has a device for every budget. It wants to make sure that there’s a device for every kind of buyer, that those devices are as affordable as possible, and that they are always connected to the content pipeline. Whether through higher speed Wi-Fi or the latest 4G LTE, Amazon is equipping customers with affordable windows to its content store.
As a complete ecosystem, a one-stop, all-you-can-eat, content buffet, Amazon’s offering is a very real threat to Apple. It doesn’t feel the same pressure to turn a profit on hardware because the hardware is just a vehicle for the content, and that’s where the battle for customer loyalty and the rolling profits kick in.
We go hands on with the Kindle Paperwhite and Kindle Fire HD to see how Amazon's latest armada of mobile devices really perform.
Amazon announced big upgrades to its Kindle family today in Santa Monica, and we were there to try these devices first-hand before they ship later this fall. While improvements to older models and dropped prices were great news to those looking to pinch a few pennies, the real superstar today were the Kindle Paperwhite e-reader and Kindle Fire HD — the latter of which is now complete with a 4G LTE wireless upgrade.
Kindle Paperwhite
With the Kindle Paperwhite, the latest from Amazon’s budget e-book is tiny but powerful. The added feature tools are available by tapping the top of the page, bringing down a menu with options like Home, Search, X-Ray, and Backlight. The graphics are soft, and with a 212 pixels per inch spec, the total visual experience is crisper and easier on the eyes. All this, for eight weeks of battery life per full charge. E-ink has honestly never looked better.
The most buzzed-about feature here is the X-Ray function, which allows you to search through the book for recurring terms or characters, highlighting in a timeline where in the book they appear. Clicking on the names of each character brings up blurbs of where they are mentioned, the pages that accompany that storyline, and tapping takes you to that specific paragraph. You can search either through the entire book, page, or just chapters if you need a reminder of what’s happening in the book.
The illuminated display, sharp text, high contrast and white background take legibility to another level here. You also have the option of several font faces and sizes to fit your reading preference. Like former versions of the Kindle, highlighting a word brings up the definition from the Oxford American Dictionary to help those who may be unfamiliar with particular vernaculars.
If you are wondering how long until a chapter or the book is over, a “Time To Read” feature also estimates how many minutes are left in the chapter or book, so you can decide whether to continue reading to the end of the chapter or take a rest for the moment. Like previous Kindles, it will also display a percentage of where you are in the book to track progress.
At 7.5 ounces, the Kindle Paperwhite is no paperweight; the device is tiny and lightweight, comparable to heaviness of a wallet or cardholder. You can also store books on the Amazon Cloud for backup purposes when switching devices and retrieving books from your library.
The Kindle Paperwhite is available for order today and ships October 1, starting at $120 for Wi-Fi and $180 for Wi-Fi and 3G.
Kindle Fire HD
The biggest waves from today’s announcement undoubtedly came from the new Kindle Fire HD, thanks to its amazing price structure. With the Fire reportedly accounting for 22 percent of tablet sales in the United States, the Fire HD is slated to be a huge competitor to the Google Nexus 7 and the rumored iPad Mini.
Compared to the original Kindle Fire, the Fire HD is slightly bigger — with visible stereo speakers wrapped across its back casing. The weight is unnoticeably different than the old Fire, while the Fire HD is just a tad thinner with more rounded corners and a matte body finish.
The Fire HD’s ultra-vivid graphics are truly impressive for a budget-price device. The 7-inch version has resolution of 1280 by 800 pixels, while the 8.9-inch version boasts a full 1920 by 1200 pixels, giving it density of 254 pixels per inch.
TI’s OMAP4 processor felt swift, quickly loading content without delay. Amazon’s anti-glare technology has definitely improved; I didn’t find myself having trouble angling the device for the photographs to not get awkward spotlight reflections.
Of course, X-Ray technology is also available in the Fire HD — this time for movies, textbooks, and e-books. In the movie setting, you can tap the movie as it’s streaming for a list of actors currently on the scene. Tapping again on a particular actor pauses the film and brings up an IMDb summary of the actor’s profile, including movies he or she is recognized for and recent appearances. I’m not sure how many people will actually use this feature, but it’s definitely neat especially for someone like me who likes to IMDb movies after I’ve seen them — if only to read goofs and trivia.
X-Ray for textbook works a bit more like a glossary. You can search recurring terms mentioned in your textbook, and the Fire HD can bring up instances of appearance as well as show relevant photos or links to YouTube videos.
Amazon has tried to drive home that the new Kindle devices are made to be a “service,” a gadget that you don’t just buy, but use for commerce. For example, you can play a video game and pause to see relevant products to the game, such as a toy of the main character. If you have your Amazon account set up, you can one-click buy the item as well as earn power-ups and special add-ons in the game thanks to that purchase. This is one way Amazon is integrating all aspects of what it offers into one remote application, making people more likely to buy — and buy from Amazon.
The Kindle Fire HD is available in 7-inch and 8.9-inch displays, both with 16GB of storage, priced at $200 and $300, respectively. The Kindle Fire HD with 4G LTE wireless and 32GB of internal storage is Amazon’s top-tier gadget, priced at $499. Customers have the option of purchasing a whopping 250MB of data per month, 20GB of cloud storage, and $10 credit to the Amazon’s Appstore for just $50 a year.
We put Amazon's new Kindle Fire HD 8.9-inch up against Apple's third-generation iPad with Retina Display in this spec showdown.
Amazon announced today two versions of its new 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD. The first is a $300 Wi-Fi only version that comes with either 16 GB or 32 GB of storage. The second version includes 4G LTE connectivity, and costs $500 plus $50 per year for 250MB/month of data usage, as well as 20GB of cloud storage. But the real selling point for the both versions of the 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD is its high-resolution display, which has nearly the pixel density as the third-generation iPad with Retina Display. Another perk is the Kindle Fire HD’s MIMO (multi-input/output) functionality, which Amazon claims will give the Kindle Fire HD 40 percent faster Wi-Fi than the iPad. Below, we’ve put all the specs of the Kindle Fire HD 8.9 and the third-generation iPad head-to-head. Which one do you think is the better deal?
Amazon Kindle Fire HD 8.9-inch vs Apple iPad (Retina)
Kindle Fire HD (8.9-inch)
iPad (Retina)
Price
$300/$500
$500-$830
Thickness
8.8 mm
9.4 mm
Weight
567g
652g
OS
Android 4.0.3 (heavily modified)
iOS 5
System Chip
TI OMAP 4470 (with 1.5GHz ARM Cortex-9 (dual-core) CPU)
HTC One ST is a dual-SIM smartphone intended for the China Mobile network. It packs a 4.3-inch WVGA display and runs on a 1GHz dual-core processor.
The rest of the known specs include a 9.25mm thin profile and 115g of weight. Beats Audio enhancement is also on board.
HTC One ST
The One ST is supposed to run on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich skinned with HTC Sense 4.0 UI.
There is an NY HTC event coming up on September 19, but we guess this fella will be a topic of another announcement. But looking at all these official pictures, it shouldn't take long for it to break cover.
The vanilla Kindle Fire will get more features and a lower price of just $159, while the 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD 4G LTE will go head to head with Apple's iPad.
The Kindle Paperwhite wasn’t the only big debut at today’s Amazon event. In addition to the all-new, supe-slim Paperwhite e-reader, Amazon also revealed a huge upgrade to the Kindle Fire, and unleashed a whole new lineup with the Kindle Fire HD.
The original Kindle Fire will see improved aesthetics, a more rounded body, a faster processor, twice the amount of RAM, and better battery life. It will ship September 14 for a dropped price of $159.
The newer and more notable Kindle Fire HD will include two sizes: 7 inches and 8.9 inches. The larger Kindle Fire HD sports an 8.9-inch screen, 1920 x 1200 resolution (254 PPI), and a polarizing filter that should cut down on any glare while improving contrast and sharpness. It’s a mere 8.8 mm and weighs in at 20 ounces.
It runs a TI OMAP 4470 processor, and with MIMO (multiple-input, multiple-output — this implementation is a first in tablet land), Wi-Fi use should be much snappier. According to Amazon, MIMO will offer Wi-Fi performance 41 percent faster than the iPad and 54 percent faster than the Nexus 7.
Also new to Kindle with the HD models is a front-facing camera, Whispersync for Voice (so you can pick up right where you left off in audio books), Immersion Reading for book narration, and X-Ray for movies – a very, very cool addition that lets you look up information about the actors you’re watching without having their names. There’s also a new feature called Kindle Free Time, so parents can monitor and limit kids time spent using the tablet.
The 7-inch, 16GB Kindle Fire HD will cost $199, while the 8.9-inch model will sell for $299. They both ship November 30.
Just to thoroughly round out the Kindle Fire family, Amazon is also revealing a 32GB, 4G LTE Kindle Fire HD, which only comes in the 8.9-inch size. The kicker: Amazon will offer 4G LTE data service for $50 a year, providing 250MB a month. It also comes with 20GB of cloud storage, and will cost you $499 – competing head to head with Apple’s iPad. It ships November 20.
We’ll be bringing you hands-on coverage with the new devices shortly.
Amazon's new Kindle Paperwhite line boasts an illuminated screen, sharper display and better touchscreen, while the ,ost basic Kindle will now sell for $69 and gets a host of improvements as well.
The new Kindle hardware inarguably stole plenty of attention at today’s event. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezo’s waxed lovingly about the lineup as well as users’ love for it before introducing us to the Kindle Paperwhite, the latest addition to the Kindle family.
“We love to invent. We love to pioneer,” he said. “We even like going down alleys that turn out to be blind alleys.” Bezos also explained that while Amazon is a risk-taker, it’s also perfectly happy when it strikes gold – and that it certainly has with the Kindle.
The Kindle Paperwhite is a significant upgrade, and features plenty of what we all thought it would: It’s a frontlit, E-Ink reader, with much higher resolution and contrast. The screen now boasts 212 pixels per inch, which is 62 percent more resolution than the last version, and contrast has been increased 25 percent from current Kindles. What else? The Paperwhite also gets rid of the Kindle’s infrared touch technology in favor of capacitive touch, and includes patented light guide technology (which Bezos called highly adjustable). It’s a slim 9.1 mm and 7.5 ounces, with eight weeks of battery life (even with the light left on).
And those are just the hard specs. Amazon has done a lot of work on font display, and the Kindle Paperwhite is able to analyze your reading speed and tell you how much time it will take you to finish a chapter or book. Other new features include author bios, and as you’d expect you can switch between content saved to your Kindle, connect to the cloud, and use X-Ray content analysis for tracking characters and story development.
The Kindle Paperwhite Wi-Fi model will cost $119, and the 3G-enabled version $179. You can order both now, and they will ship in October. In addition to the new devices, Amazon also has an upgraded its entry-level Kindle and cut cost from $79 to $69. The new version has better contrast and resolution, crisper fonts with more text, and faster page turning. It will ship September 14.
Of course, this is only a sampling of what Amazon is announcing today. We’ll be at the event and bringing you more news throughout the day.
Here's looking at you, case (credit: digi.163.com via AppleInsider)
A separate pair of part leaks out of China are showing off the back shell of the iPad Mini along with the apparent confirmation that the iPhone 5 will not have a near-field communication (NFC) chip as previously rumored.
Photos posted to Chinese website digi.163.com appear to reveal the rear casing for a seven-inch iPad, which we expect Apple to reveal in October.
The bottom of the shell resembles recent leaks for the iPhone 5, including a smaller dock connector, but also reveal a potential rear-facing camera.
Curiously, the headphone jack appears to remain on top of this smaller iPad, despite iPhone 5 leaks showing the same jack relocated to the bottom of the handset.
NFC no-show?
Recent photos showed an unidentified metal square which was initially presumed to be a near-field communication (NFC) chip, which could possibly enable wireless payments through apps such as Passbook, which will be included with the new iOS 6.
On Wednesday, those hopes were dashed with by a new report offering a closer look at the internal components of the sixth-generation iPhone.
The square is now believed to be a bracket used to hold the front-facing FaceTime camera in place, along with the proximity sensor and earpiece speaker.
A look at the supposed FaceTime camera (Credit: AppleInsider)
The same report claims Apple may have chosen to leave NFC out of the new iPhone over security concerns, although this hasn't stopped Android competitors from adding the feature to a number of high-profile devices.
Now that the social deal heard 'round the Internet has filed all the necessary papers, how will the partnership play out?
This past spring, we were thrown for a bit of a loop when Facebook scooped up app darling Instagram for $1 billion. Since then, the FTC has approved the deal and Facebook has integrated the photo-sharing platform exclusively into its network. And now, officially, the two are combining their efforts.
“As we said from the beginning, we are committed to building and growing Instagram independently,” VP of engineering with Facebook Mike Schroepfer wrote this morning. “Instagram will continue to service its community, and we will help Instagram continue to grow by using Facebook’s strong engineering team and infrastructure. We also can’t wait to work with the talented Instagram team to improve the mobile experience.”
Instagram had similarly glowing words to say about the partnership, also mentioning the app has just surpassed five billion photos shared. “What makes this even more exciting is that our deal with Facebook has closed, which means we can now work together to evolve and build a better Instagram for everyone. While our term is making the short move to the Facebook offices, Instagram isn’t going anywhere.”
Despite both companies’ positive outlooks, it’s more than fair for users to be skeptical in the wake of an acquisition likes this. Facebook has a made a name for itself as an acqui-hirer, scooping up companies and folding their teams into its own products, slowly extinguishing theirs in the process. But since the very beginning of this deal, and really since the startup’s origins, we’ve all known that Instagram is an exception to the rule. To say it’s user growth and content shared has passed all expectations is a huge understatement, and a significant part of Facebook’s need to acquire it.
The particulars of the deal saw Instagram net $735 million, and its worth will now depend on Facebook’s – which at the moment, is a bit in flux. News about Facebook shares has nearly become synonymous with “all-time low.” Last week, they dropped to $17.55 – you guessed it, another all-time low since peaking at $45 on day one of trading. CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced he doesn’t plan to sell his shares for the next year in order to promote some confidence in his eyebrow-raising company’s value.
Still, Instagram’s fate seems safe. While the deal has been in the process of being finalized, Instagram has continued to issue big iterations and grow its user base. There are a few questions worth asking – like how or even if Instagram will ever make its way to the Web and how that would look and integrate with Facebook. Other questions remain as well, like just what it’s roadmap for a Windows Phone app is, how will its own photo development line up with that of its new acquisition, and whether Facebook will try to take Instagram’s mobile success and introduce any sort of marketing or advertising structure?
For now, news of the deal’s official status will have to suffice. The rest remains to be seen.
Samsung announced the Galaxy S Duos and Galaxy Y Duos Lite for India. Both smartphones have already been announced on the international market as the Galaxy S Duos S7562 and Galaxy Pocket Duos S5302.
Samsung Galaxy S Duos • Samsung Galaxy Y Duos Lite
Galaxy S Duos
The Galaxy S Duos is Samsung’s best dual-SIM droid up to date. It runs on a 1GHz ARM Cortex-A5 processor with Adreno 200 graphics, and packs a 4-inch WVGA TFT touchscreen, 5MP camera with VGA video recording, 768MB RAM, 4GB storage and the usual connectivity options.
The Galaxy S Duos supports 3G with HSPA on both SIM cards, but you can’t have two data connections simultaneously.
The handset also features Smart Dual SIM function which allows you to take calls from one of the SIM cards while the other is active as well. Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich is in charge of the Galaxy S Duos.
Unfortunately, the dual-SIM handset doesn't come with the SuperAMOLED screen of its original and has a regular LCD screen instead.
Samsung Galaxy S Duos will hit India soon at Rs. 17900 or €256. We guess the European price should be about the same. Price-wise, it's about the same price segment as the HTC Desire V, its direct competitor.
Galaxy Y Duos Lite (Galaxy Pocket Duos)
The Galaxy Y Duos Lite is the Indian version of the Galaxy Pocket Duos. It is a less capable fella with a 2.8-inch QVGA capacitive touchscreen, an 832MHz processor, a 2MP snapper, 3GB internal storage and 3G support only on the primary SIM card. The Android OS ticking inside is 2.3 Gingerbread, but it also supports the Smart Dual SIM function we mentioned above.
The iPhone 5 launch next week could mean the end of the line for the iPhone 3GS.
Sources 'close to retailers' in the UK told the Daily Telegraph that the iPhone 3GS is set to be replaced by an 8GB iPhone 4 which will become free on contracts of £20 per month.
The chatty insiders also let slip that there will be three storage editions of the iPhone 5, with the still-unconfirmed handset's release date falling in the week of September 21.
All change
The new handset is expected to require a nano-SIM that's even smaller than the micro-SIM required by the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S.
Naturally, Apple's not saying anything and won't until the new iPhone 5 is unveiled on September 12 and, as usual, we prescribe a pinch of salt be taken with any rumours 'til then.
The carriers' internal documents have always been a good source for various leaks and so is today's case. Two interesting phones were found in the Verizon's device management system.
The first one is Nokia Lumia 822 (in Gray and White), which might be the Verizon's version of the newly announcedLumia 820. There is nothing really in the entry, just a 4G indications and the database insertion date.
It's the same case with the HTC 6435 – an LTE phone added recently into the carrier's database. HTC is holding a press conference in New York on September 19 and perhaps this would be company's new flagship. According to another leak today, it might be a 5-inch Galaxy Note II competitor.
In the face of app store bans by Facebook, Google, and Apple bans, Grooveshark has launched an HTML5 mobile browser-based application.
What do you do when you’re banned from the Facebook App Store, Apple’s App Store and Google Play? By launching an in-browser mobile player, of course! And that’s exactly what controversial music streaming service Grooveshark has done.
Long suspected of shady music practices that both music labels and musicians, Grooveshark has been in and out of lawsuits for suspected violations of copyright infringement and failure to pay royalties for years.
Grooveshark’s browser app has been built in HTML5, and leaves behind crash-prone Adobe Flash. According to the company, users can search, discover, and play more than 15 million songs from any mobile device, or listen to genre-based stations and listen to tracks shared by friends.
In one respect, the app stores bans are a blessing in disguise. Managing the app and implementing new features on the browser app doesn’t require the hard coding and different languages that would otherwise be necessary to maintain native apps for Android, iOS and, soon, Windows Phone 8 devices. Rather, the company will simply have to add additional code depending on the browsers supported.
When testing out the app ourselves, we noticed that the app sticks the user experience that we’re used to from a native app. We can sign into our profile and view our existing content, from saved playlists, to favorites, followers, and users that we’re following. All said, it functions much like it would like a Spotify app. But as a browser app, it has its limitations. Features like the ability to slide your fingers to move pages from left to right or visa-versa is lost, and there’s a slight but noticeable delay when interacting with the app.
If you like the convenience of a button that opens up the app, you can do so by adding the site to your Home Screen on your iPhone.
Unlike Spotify and Pandora, which negotiate and pay for the rights to stream libraries of music from music labels like Universal Music, EMI, Sony and Warner Music Group, Grooveshark enables its users to upload their own music onto its platform and share that content with other Grooveshark users. The company claims that this strategy allows it to bypass the need to pay royalties to musicians and music labels. Theoretically, Grooveshark imparts the accountability of uploading infringing music to its users. Of course in practice, the accountability may ultimately lie with Grooveshark, which claims to abide by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) — a belief backed by the courts on at least one occasion so far.
There hasn’t been an official explanation for why Grooveshark has been banned from app stores, but it’s evident that the very public copyright infringement claims mounting against the service, Apple, Google, and Facebook aren’t taking any chances with supporting Grooveshark. Still, Grooveshark hasn’t been deterred as its browser app first launched in the United States on Wednesday, with an international launch due in the coming months.
Microsoft has officially announced the first details of Windows Phone 8 (which you may know better as Apollo) and confirming many of the rumours about the new operating system at the Windows Phone Summit.
However, don't get too excited - this is a 'sneak peek' rather than the full details of the new version and there's still a lot of information that we don't know.
Windows Phone 8 release date
We're still waiting to get our ears on a proper Windows Phone 8 release date – we're currently being given the boring notion of 'autumn', which could be any time from October to Christmas for all we know. However, we expect it to be sooner rather than later as Microsoft won't want to miss the traditional holiday season gadget-buying rush.
If you like the sound of all this, then the good news is you won't have to wait until your mobile network gets around to testing and pushing out updates in the future either.
Microsoft is still agreeing details with the operators and handset makers for Windows Phone 7.8, but there's going to be a way to get updates directly from Microsoft (perhaps labelled as beta releases) as long as you assume responsibility for anything that goes wrong.
In summary, Microsoft is adding the features that Windows Phone needs to succeed and that need new hardware.
It's also finally doing something to address the problem of upgrades that would work on your handset but you're frustratingly unable to get – listen up, Google.
Where Windows Phone still needs to catch up with the other smartphone systems on features it's doing that much faster. Now it just needs to sell more devices.
There aren't too many manufacturers on board just yet, but we do know a few that will be launching Windows Phone 8 handsets.
Samsung, Huawei, HTC and Nokia are the only confirmed manufacturers at this time - although ZTE told TechRadar it will be launching WP8-powered handsets in 2013.
Update: It seems we've had confirmation that Samsung's next Windows Phone will support both Internet Explorer 10 (from Windows Phone 8) and have a WVGA screen, meaning it will likely be one of the budget range for the new OS.
Huawei will be bringing out a Windows Phone 8 handset by the end of the year too, with Shao Yang, chief marketing officer for Huawei, saying: "We are poised to end the year with a big bang – with the introduction of our first smartphone running on the Windows Phone platform."
Update: Nokia has unveiled its first two handsets to run Windows Phone 8 at a special event in New York.
The flagship Nokia Lumia 920 will head up the Finnish firm's range, sporting a 4.5-inch HD display, 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 8.7MP rear 'Pureview' camera, 32GB of internal memory and 1GB of RAM, helping it to run Microsoft's latest mobile platform.
Update: The HTC 8X could be the name of the Taiwanese firm's flagship Windows Phone 8 handset, a device which is apparently known as the Accord internally at the manufacturer.
The problem for Windows Phone is less the existing users – who tend to be enthusiastic as well as demanding – and more selling the phones.
The partnership with Nokia is certainly helping, as will the announcement that the Windows Phone Marketplace is now up to 100,000 apps with more coming - from the PayPal support for Wallet to iPhone must-haves like Words with Friends and Audible, plus Zynga's newly acquired Draw Something.
All Windows Phone 7 apps will run on Windows Phone 8 handsets; but in future developers will have to choose whether to make an app that only uses Windows Phone 7 features and works on both, or one that uses Windows Phone 8.
This means supporting features like Wallet, VOIP, native code or being able to run navigation in the background (which should mean we finally see some full-featured turn-by-turn navigation apps that go beyond what Nokia Drive offers).
There are other advantages, but with the interfaces to components like graphics, audio and sensors being far more similar to those in Windows 8, it's a lot easier to write Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 apps that share features.
Or, of course, they can make two versions, one for 7 and one for 8; how often that happens is going to depend both on how easy Microsoft makes it to share code between versions of apps in its developer tools and on sales of Windows Phone 8 handsets.
Windows Phone 8 interface
There is one feature of Windows Phone you will be able to get on current handsets (with an update that has the strikingly appropriate name of Windows Phone 7.8) and that's the new Start screen. This now uses the whole width of the screen, without the arrow to tell you to swipe sideways for more apps.
With the extra space you can fit in a lot more tiles, which can now be three different sizes. There's a new small size that you can pick for any app, so if you don't need the Office hub or the dialler to have a full size button because there's not that much useful information on them, you can shrink them down.
New start screen: With the extra space you can fit in a lot more tiles, which can now be three different sizes.
And as well as the current standard tile size, any app will be able to have an extra-large tile to fit more details onto the live tile. Along with some new colour schemes, that makes the Start screen look much more personal.
But the overall look of the platform hasn't changed dramatically – you're still offered a list of apps adjacent to the Start screen, and the panorama method of seeing more information by moving horizontally remains – after all, why change one of the best things about the old OS?
Windows Phone 8 – under the hood
Windows Phone 8 is a major new version, running the kernel from Windows rather than from Windows CE.
It isn't the same as Windows 8, or even Windows RT – even though that also runs on ARM processors – and it doesn't have the same look to the Start screen and Metro-style WinRT apps won't run on Windows Phone 8.
But under the hood it's a lot more similar to develop for and Windows Phone gets several key components from 'big' Windows as well as some significant new features and new hardware, which is good news for what developers can make apps do with the increased access they get to the phone system.
Don't expect the same do-anything, break-anything ethos of Android though; battery life and user experience are still priorities for Windows Phone and even native applications run in a sandbox.
Windows Phone 8 browser and security
Key features that Windows Phone 8 gets from Windows include Internet Explorer 10, complete with the phishing filter and SmartScreen application reputation service to make it harder for malicious websites to trick you into giving away personal information like credit card details or downloading malware.
Malware hasn't been a problem for Windows Phone so far, but any platform that becomes successful is going to get attacked.
Windows Phone gets other Windows security features like disk encryption and secure boot, so businesses will be happier to use it (especially as they can now manage devices and sideload their own business applications).
Windows Phone 8 media and gaming
Audio, graphics and media playback all work more like their Windows equivalents, which should make for more powerful games and entertainment apps.
However, this means that current games will need to be re-tooled to take advantage of the new platform – the likes of Rovio can leave their games as Windows Phone 7 versions, but they'll likely want to re-release a more powerful version of the game too.
But given the increased GPU support and power on offer, we'll at least start seeing some more 3D-rich gaming environments that start taxing the Windows Phone 8 handsets compared to their previous counterparts.
Video calling
There's one place where Windows Phone is jumping ahead of Windows; VOIP calls will look just like regular phone calls with all the same features and notifications. Obviously that's good for Skype but other VOIP apps like Tango will get the same support.
We're still waiting to see how deep Skype integration gets into the Windows Phone 8 OS, as given it's already available as an app on the Windows Phone Marketplace it should be shoved pretty deeply into the platform.
Will it lead to a surge in video calling? Probably not, but as there are strong rumours the Xbox platform will be getting a taste of video calling too it seems only fair that Windows Phone 8 devices, complete with their improved front-facing cameras, should be given priority.
Windows Phone 8 CPU
To make all this work well Windows Phone 8 will run on new hardware; still ARM processors, still the Snapdragon platform from Qualcomm but now with multicore processors, with a new generation of GPUs, and with NFC support.
Battery life is still priority for the platform, so we doubt Microsoft is going to allow any CPUs that get too amorous with the power pack – but more power is a big selling point in today's smartphone market, so this makes enormous sense.
Microsoft Wallet
The new Microsoft Wallet app will allow you to make payments by tapping your phone on a credit card reader the way Google Wallet does, and store credit card and membership details securely and tap your phone to send them the way iOS 6 will.
And you're not tied to using a Microsoft payment service; applications will be able to tap into the Wallet system to set up new payment services – which will include Paypal.
The app is a hub for digital coupons and debit or credit cards - plus you can add in loyalty cards and third party apps that will notify you when they become relevant.
NFC support
NFC is there for Microsoft's Wallet payment system, but has other options as well. The OS supports secure SIM, which means users' can swap from handset to handset and take their payment method with them physically.
There are other applications that Nokia is keen to utilise as well, such as being able to pair with its Bluetooth accessories with a simple tap of the phone – it's a trick we've seen on the old Symbian phones and one we expect to feature heavily here too.
Speech recognition
Microsoft has teamed up with Audible to bring speech recognition to Windows Phone 8, allowing users to shout a variety of commands at their handsets.
During the keynote presentation, we saw a demo of the speech platform – which allowed a user to play movies, browse audiobooks and perform searches.
It's also available for Mango devices, so pop over to the Marketplace today and search Audible if you fancy a go.
Windows Phone 8 upgrades
That's the reason that you won't be able to upgrade any existing Windows Phone handsets to 8, because they don't have the hardware to support the new features or deliver the multitasking performance that the Windows kernel and the improved VOIP support needs.
Only two of the rumoured new resolutions are being announced, both widescreen formats: 1280 by 768 and 1280 by 720 as well as the current 800 by 480, which should give phone makers more flexibility when it comes to choosing parts they can use in multiple devices.
And Windows Phone finally sorts out its SD card support; you'll be able to store media files on a micro SD card or install applications onto it.
Take a moment to check out our Windows Phone 8 round up video below.
Samsung's Galaxy S3 is still flying off the shelves, with 20 million units sold in its first 100 days.
The Galaxy S3 continues to sell at great speed, with Samsung announcing Thursday that 20 million devices have now been sold since it made its debut 100 days ago. The phone is the Korean tech company’s fastest-selling handset to date.
Samsung was confident from the start that the high-end S3 would do magical things for the electronics giant, with its head of mobile communications, JK Shin, claiming on launch day back in May that it would sell 10 million units before the end of July. It managed the feat with more than a week to spare.
This week it was reported that in August the S3 outsold Apple’s iPhone 4S for the first time since the 4S hit the market in October 2011 – though of course, this could be down to some Apple fans holding off buying a new iPhone until later this month, when the so-called iPhone 5 is widely expected to make its debut.
Sales of the S3 may be impressive, but if the expected iPhone 5 sells like the 4S did earlier this year – 35.1 million units in the first quarter – then it’ll soon slip back behind Apple as the smartphone of choice for the majority of users. Some analysts predict sales of the new iPhone could top 10 million within a week of going on sale.
Also, there’s a chance that sales of the S3 could drop to zero overnight – at least in the US – if Apple succeeds in its attempt to have the device banned from sale over the matter of patent infringement.
For the time being though, the Korean company will be more than happy with the way its Android-powered S3 is moving off the shelves. Consumers have been attracted by its sleek design, large 4.8-inch screen and array of features, including face-, gesture- and voice recognition functionality. A powerful 8-megapixel camera which, among other things, allows you to take photos while recording video, has also helped it to stand out from the crowd. Now, how long before it notches up its 30 millionth sale?
If it was not bad enough that Nokia faked the video stabilization portion of the Lumia 920 video (and later had to apologize for it), it seems they faked the part where they show still images as well.
If you get past the initial portion of video that focuses on video stabilization, you'll eventually get to some low light images shot on a street. It's here blogger Youssef Sarhan, resident of Helsinki, noticed that the lighting was off and nowhere on those streets would you actually find such strong lighting such as the one seen in the video.
The second thing he noticed was the diffraction pattern of the street lamps in the background. Sarhan mentions that in order to achieve such high number of spikes for the lamps, the lens aperture has to be really low, around f/22, which is not possible for the wide f/2.0 lens on the Lumia 920.
In other words, Nokia used a professional camera once again to shoot these images and tried to pass them off as Lumia 920 samples.
Sarhan concentrated on the video but while perusing Nokia's website we came across the following two images that caught out eye. Once again you can see how the Lumia 920 image (the second one) is not just brighter but the camera seemingly conjures up additional light sources from behind the tree, as can be seen from the strong shadow where the girl is facing.
Once again, we are not doubting the ability of the Lumia 920's camera. It probably takes fantastic pictures. We are just baffled by Nokia's insistence on using doctored images shot with professional equipment and lighting conditions, even though they seem to have a pretty good camera on their phone.
ARM believes the real explosion in the smartphone market will be at the lower-end of the spec spectrum.
The strength of sales of phones like the HTC Wildfire and Orange San Francisco have shown the desire for cheaper smartphones in the west, but emerging markets across the globe would benefit from even cheaper fully functioned handsets, according to ARM.
The British company is making sure that it covers all bases in terms of the chip designs that it licences, and it believes that there is a growing need for entry level smartphones for emerging markets.
"Superphone capability increasingly gets all the headlines for the right reasons," said ARM's Laurence Bryant.
"But that means that developing a mass market entry-level smartphone is often overlooked."
European cut-downs
"In the European environment, entry level phones are $200, have 4-inch displays and capacitive screens – they are basically cut-down versions of superphones.
"But when you go into the emerging markets, then there is a desire for low cost smartphones."
Obviously ARM's most high-profile wares end up in flagship superphones like the Samsung Galaxy S3, but the company has covered its bases in terms of what it offers.
"We are successful when our partners are successful," added Bryant. "The royalty business means that we are dependent on their success.
"We'll continue to evolve and engineer new and better processors to take advantage of the newer and better handsets, but remember that as this market gets bigger you end up with a bigger spectrum of price points.
"There is a greater opportunity with more processors for phones at different price points."
Nokia's new Lumia looks great, but you can't buy it yet
Here's a thing I didn't expect to type: I'd seriously consider ditching my iPhone for one of the new Nokias.
I thought the first Lumia was less interesting than the man introducing it, but the Lumia 920 tickles the tickly bit that makes me want to buy a shiny new gadget.
It's partly the hardware - the 920 is a really nice bit of kit - but it's also because I'm at the end of an iPhone era. My iPhone 4's out of contract, my TomTom iPhone car kit is broken, my Griffin case has gone all baggy and the introduction of a new dock connector in the iPhone 5 means I'll have to shell out on a whole bunch of dock adapters for my various bits and bobs.
Apple's grip on me is looser than it's ever been. Could Nokia tempt me away?
The answer's a great big yes, followed by a great big no.
Promises, promises
Maybe it's overfamiliarity, but I'm not hugely wowed by the supposed design of the iPhone 5: while the iPhone 4/4S is a lovely looking thing, the iPhone 5 appears to be the same thing stretched out a bit. The Lumia design's really grown on me, and in the right colour it's the sort of thing that puts a smile on your face every time you see it.
Compatibility isn't really an issue - the only must-have app on my iPhone is TomTom, and the Lumia looks like it'll be a really good sat-nav device; the phone cradle I bought to replace my TomTom one fits anything - and that camera's a really big draw. I'm a sucker for anything that promises better low-light shooting.
If the Lumia 920 actually existed, I might have bought one.
I know, I know, it exists, but it doesn't exist in my world: I can't order one online, I can't play with one in a shop, and I can't get one on a stupidly long and expensive contract.
I'll be able to do all of those things with the iPhone 5, possibly as early as next week, and of course once you're in the Apple Store they've got you.
This week, Nokia did half an Apple: it made me look at my current phone and think "hmm, it's getting on a bit. Time for a new one". But it didn't do the other half, which is to actually close the sale: where Apple goes "Boom! This date! This price!" Nokia said "Hmmm! Not sure! We'll get back to you!"
The Nokia Lumia 920 may be a work of art, but as Steve Jobs said: "real artists ship". I want a phone, not a promise.
Let’s start with the Kobo Arc tablet. This isn’t the first tablet that Kobo has released, as the Kobo Vox came out late last year, but was eclipsed by the better specced, more exciting Kindle Fire. Not being Google Certified didn’t help the Vox either, but it appears Kobo has learned from its mistakes with the Arc.
Powering the 7-inch, 1280 x 800 pixel display is a 1.5Ghz, dual-core Texas Instruments processor, along with 1GB of RAM, while the operating system is built around Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.
Kobo has included the Google Play store this time around too, but has also added its own user interface over the top of the Android OS, along with a new feature called Tapestries.
At first it sounds like a customizable homescreen really, as you can “pin” favorite books, pictures, videos and web links to your Tapestry, but it gets a little more interesting as the Arc will then offer content suggestions based on what you’ve pinned to the screen.
Kobo has also added features such as Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, a front-facing 1.3-megapixel camera, and a battery that should provide 10 hours of continuous reading. Two models will be made available, one with 8GB and the other with 16GB of internal memory, and they’ll be priced at $199/£169 and $249/£199 respectively when it’s released in November.
On to the Kobo Glo, then, which is a 6-inch e-reader. The E Ink touchscreen boasts an impressive 1024 x 768 resolution with 210 dots-per-inch, which at the moment, trumps the competition.
The clue as to what makes the Glo standout is in its name, as the screen has an adjustable front light, so it can be read in the dark. Naturally, this affects battery life, and with the light on you can expect 55 hours of reading time, but more than a month with both it and the built-in Wi-Fi switched off.
There’s 2GB of internal memory with a microSD card slot to boost this by 32GB, plus the Glo will accept .ePub books protected by Adobe DRM too. This is especially helpful, as unlike the Kindle, you won’t be restricted to a single store from which to buy your books. It’s set for release on October 1 for $129/£99.
Finally, we come to the Kobo Mini, the company’s basic e-reader. It features a stock 5-inch E Ink screen, 2GB of internal memory, Wi-Fi and a lightweight 134 gram chassis. It too will be out on October 1 at the bargain price of $79/£59.
Kobo’s new hardware range looks great, and is priced competitively, however it will still need to contend with whatever Amazon, Barnes & Noble and potentially even Apple have in store for us before the all-important Holiday season. Will these devices help put Kobo’s name on the map?
