Thursday, January 24, 2013

Samsung reportedly sets ridiculously ambitious sales goal for Galaxy S4

Samsung reportedly sets ridiculously ambitious sales goal for Galaxy S4
Galaxy S4 would have to achieve about 1.5x the Galaxy S3 sales

Samsung Galaxy S4rumors are at a fever pitch, and so are the company's sales expectations for the soon-to-be-announced smartphone each month, according to South Korean media.

Korean language news site Money Today reports that Samsung has already ordered 10 million Galaxy S4 components per month.

This figures indicates that Samsung is capable of selling 10 million units per month, following the expected Galaxy S4 release date in April.

The translated text from the Korean site doesn't express how long its industry sources expect Samsung to be able to keep this 10-million unit level going.

Galaxy S4 vs. Galaxy S3 vs. Galaxy S2 sales

The dominating sales of the Galaxy S3 and and the Galaxy S2 smartphones before it indicate that the Galaxy S4 should be a gigantic success.

However, if Samsung does indeed have a lofty goal of 10 million units per month, as rumored, it would have to sell about one-and-a-half times as many Galaxy S4 smartphones at launch.

The Galaxy S3 took 50 days to achieve that 10 million sold figure, and the S2 took 5 months.

May come down to Galaxy S4 specs, price

Samsung's ability to sell that many Galaxy S4 smartphones may come down to the technology inside of the handset and the price on the outside of its box.

There have been Galaxy S4 leaks aplenty, leading us to speculate that the smartphone will have a 4.99-inch screen and a Full HD 440PPI resolution.

The Galaxy S4 processor, meanwhile, is rumored to set a new benchmark with a Exynos Octa 5 eight-core 1.8GHz chip.

It's been speculated that the phone will run Android 4.2.1, have at least a 10-megapixel camera, and support wireless charging to boot.

While there have been many tech spec rumors, leakers haven't been as vocal about a Galaxy S4 price, a key determinant to the success of any smartphone these days.

Whether or not Samsung is able to move 10 million Galaxy S4s per month, the company is likely to achieve its 500 million smartphone sales goal in 2013 in large part due to this highly anticipated phone.


Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/samsung-reportedly-sets-ridiculously-ambitious-sales-goal-for-galaxy-s4-1127440

Report: Samsung Galaxy S4 could sell 10 million every month

Report: Samsung Galaxy S4 could sell 10 million every month
Galaxy S4 would have to achieve about 1.5x the Galaxy S3 sales

Samsung Galaxy S4rumors are at a fever pitch, and so are the company's sales expectations for the soon-to-be-announced smartphone each month, according to South Korean media.

According to Korean language news site Money Trade, Samsung has already ordered 10 million Galaxy S4 components per month.

This figures indicates that Samsung is capable of selling 10 million units per month, following the expected Galaxy S4 release date in April.

The translated text from the Korean site doesn't express how long its industry sources expect Samsung to be able to keep this 10 million unit level going.

Galaxy S4 vs. Galaxy S3 vs. Galaxy S2 sales

The dominating sales of the Galaxy S3 and and the Galaxy S2 smartphones before it indicate that the Galaxy S4 will be a gigantic success.

However, if Samsung does indeed have a lofty goal of 10 million units per month, as rumored, it would have to sell about one-and-a-half times as many Galaxy S4 smartphones at launch.

The Galaxy S3 took 50 days to achieve that 10 million sold figure, and the S2 took five months.

May come down to Galaxy S4 specs, price

Samsung's ability to sell that many Galaxy S4 smartphones may come down to the technology inside of the handset and the price on the outside of its box.

There have been Galaxy S4 leaks aplenty, leading us to speculate that the smartphone will have a 4.99-inch screen and a Full HD 440PPI resolution.

The Galaxy S4 processor, meanwhile, is rumored to set a new benchmark with a Exynos Octa 5 eight-core 1.8GHz chip.

It's been speculated that the phone will run Android 4.2.1 and support wireless charging to boot.

While there have been many tech spec rumors, leakers haven't been as vocal about a Galaxy S4 price, a key determinant to the success of any smartphone these days.

Whether or not Samsung is able to move 10 million Galaxy S4s per month, the company is likely to achieve its 500 million smartphone sales goal in 2013 in large part due to this highly anticipated phone.


Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/report-samsung-galaxy-s4-could-sell-10-million-every-month-1127440

Google sends FCC request to build “experimental radio network”

Google has requested FCC permission to build an “experimental radio network,” but is it worth getting hyped about?

Google has sent a to request to the FCC to build an “experimental radio network.” While this may seem like Google’s jump into the wireless space with the likes of AT&T and Verizon, don’t get your hopes up just yet.

The Wall Street Journal reports that an FCC application made by Google specifically requests permission to create a “experimental radio network” in a 2-mile radius surrounding its HQ in Mountain View, CA. The test network will run somewhere in the 2524MHz and 2625MHz spectrum, and is not only experimental in nature, but far from consumer-oriented. The spectrum being tested is inaccessible by almost all current consumer electronics, including iPhones and Android devices, meaning it will be years before you see gadgets use this.

However, what’s special about this band of spectrum is that it’s very effective with high-density locations, which makes it very efficient for rolling out wireless access in big cities, and potentially even a successor to current wireless standards. But Google actually doesn’t own the spectrum – Clearwire does, so the future of the technology is far from being in Google’s hands.

Google has been big on sharing internet with the world for some time. The company has offered free Wi-Fi not only in the area around its Mountain View HQ, but also around its New York office in Chelsea. It’s also worth mentioning that Google Fiber, another one of its “experiments,” is in the process of expanding all over the Kansas City area, and perhaps into more future cities. 

But don’t get your hopes up. Google experiments  a lot, and many of these experiments don’t make the cut – so many in fact there’s a Pinterest board dedicated to them. It may very well grow into something bigger, but for now it’s merely one of Google’s many experiments.


Source : http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/google-wireless-network/

Mobile Web browsing on the rise: Opera user base grows to nearly 230 million in 2012

facebook meets opera

Web browsing software company Opera has just released some noteworthy statistics from the end of 2012, namely that its mobile presence has grown immensely.

It’s no secret that mobile devices are beginning to play a larger role in the way people surf the Web and communicate. But this past year, however, has shown a record-breaking increase in mobile Web browser usage, at least for Opera Software.

According to the Norway-based Web browser company, usage via mobile phones has shown the largest recorded increase in the number of users month over month since 2006. In fact, during December alone Opera mobile users climbed to 229 million. This number accounts for a mix of Opera Mini and Opera Mobile users, which are two different variants of Opera Web browsers made primarily for mobile use.

Overall, this jump represents an increase of more than 13 million users from November 2012, Opera revealed in a State of the Mobile Web report published on Thursday. The study also examined the history of the Opera Mini user base to understand how its network has grown, finding that the Asia Pacific region was one of the areas to adopt the browser early on. Other parts of the world, such as Europe, the Americas, the Middle East, and Africa, caught on later.

Since the Norwegian developer launched its services back in the 1990s, it has struggled in the shadow of larger household names such as Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and in more recent years Google Chrome. However, today’s report proves two things: Opera is a significant force to be reckoned with in the mobile space, and secondary browsers can gain prominence on smartphones.

This is largely due to the rise of Internet activity on mobile devices in general. A survey from the Pew Internet Project that was published in June further fuels this notion, reporting that more than half of adult cell phone users now use their mobile devices to go online. This is a drastic change from just five years ago, when smartphones were typically used as just phones.

As smartphones begin to replace laptops and desktops in fulfilling Internet needs, it’s not surprising that a secondary browser would see significant mobile growth. Web browser brands are even beginning to announce their own self-branded mobile operating systems. Just this week Mozilla unveiled its Firefox OS and earlier this month Ubuntu showcased its very own mobile software as well.


Source : http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/opera-user-base-grows/

Huawei Ascend P2 flies the coop in leaked press shot

Huawei Ascend P2 flies the coop in leaked press shot
Shutter bug (credit: Unwired View)

Just last week, the first mention of specifications for Huawei's rumored Ascend P2 smartphone were released.

According to that report, the Ascend P2 will boast a quad-core 1.8GHz Hisilicon K3V2 processor, a 5-inch screen with 1280 x 720 resolution, and run Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.

This was of course after Huawei neglected to mention such a phone during CES 2013, where it also happened to bring a small cadre of more than capable phones for display.

Despite all the focus the Ascend W1 and Ascend Mate earned just a short while ago, attention has quickly shifted to the mysterious P2.

Further fanning of the flames came on Thursday, when frequent phone photo leaker @evleaks posted the first supposed image of the Ascend P2.

The real deal?

The image posted is reportedly an official press shot of the Ascend P2, which Huawei was apparently hoping to keep under wraps until Mobile World Congress next month.

Though the smartphone does look rather sharp, if not a little boring with the standard white rear plate, there's no telling just how accurate this image could be.

Huawei hasn't even hinted at the fact that the P2 exists, let alone announced that it may be in the pipeline, so seeing it peak out more than a month before its supposed release makes us a bit wary.

That said, @evleaks does have a history of spoiling Huawei's fun, and could have done so here again with this leaked shot.

With one month to go until MWC, we certainly won't have long to wait to find out whether or not this early look at the Ascend P2 was accurate.


Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/huawei-ascend-p2-flies-the-coop-in-leaked-press-shot-1127409

Lenovo eyeing RIM for possible mobile partnership

Lenovo eyeing RIM for possible mobile partnership
BlackBerry, brought to you by Lenovo

Lenovo is looking into ways to boost its mobile business, and according to the firm a partnership with Research in Motion may just be the way to go about it.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Lenovo Chief Financial Officer Wong Wai Ming told Bloomberg, "We are looking at all opportunities -- RIM and many others."

"We'll have no hesitation if the right opportunity comes along that could benefit us and shareholders," Wong added.

The comment immediately set off a flurry of excitement, including a three percent rise in RIM stock at the thought of a Lenovo bid.

How likely is it, really?

Over the last year RIM has been changing its tune when it comes to hardware partnerships, shifting from a firm no-sell policy to a more open consideration of selling its hardware production side after the BlackBerry 10 launch.

Meanwhile Lenovo, despite rhetoric of leading a PC plus era in the tech industry, is looking for ways to make a splash in the ever-increasing mobile marketplace.

On paper a Lenovo/RIM deal seems like a match made in tech heaven.

But there are significant hurdles that could easily break down Lenovo and RIM's partnership possibilities, chiefly from government regulations.

An acquisition of RIM's size could require approval from the Canadian government to pass. Earlier this week Canadian Industry Minister Christian Paradis responded to the possibility of a RIM sale telling Reuters that, "We hope to see RIM remain a global leader and player, and make sure it can grow organically."

Any deal or partnership would also of course hinge on how the first crop of BlackBerry 10 handsets fare after their Jan. 30 launch. RIM may be more open to a deal these days, but it isn't in any hurry to sell if BB10 is a success.


Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/lenovo-eyeing-rim-for-possible-mobile-partnership-1127389

Twitter enters a brave new – GIF friendly – world with Vine release

vine app

As expected, Twitter has released Vine, a cross between video and animated GIFs that allows you to create looped six second content – that you can directly embed in tweets as well.

The wrestling match for mobile app dominance just got a little more interesting. Just as we suspected, Twitter launched video looping service Vine today, giving users a video-meets-GIF creation tool. The results of which are able to be embedded directly into Twitter posts.  

David Bowie says HULLO VINE #davidbowie vine.co/v/b5HxmWlj5ph

— KateKnibbs (@KateKnibbs) January 24, 2013

Vine lets you create six-second videos to share. Basically, you can make little movies that look like high-quality GIFs and post them on Twitter, Facebook, or straight to the Vine app. It might take a while for people to get the hang of it, but the possibility for hilarious and interesting videos is enormous.

Twitter bought Vine back in October, a decision indicating the micro-blogging site wants to bulk up on its media capabilities and get an in-house video service.

Instagram’s expanding popularity threatens Twitter since it gives people an image-focused alternative platform for sharing information – and takes eyeballs away from Twitter. It makes sense Twitter is bent on acquiring services like Vine that provide novel ways to create media.

And Vine is undeniably fun to use. If you’re confused about what to do, there are super-clear step-by-step instructions to help you create your first video: You hold your finger on the screen to record, and lift it off to stop recording. By tapping and removing your finger you can create a funny, short videos, and you can also add sound.

Like Instagram and Twitter itself, you can use hashtags on Vine to hunt down interesting clips.

When you download Vine, you can find friends from Twitter, Facebook, or your address book, which will make it easy to get a good roster of videos. And the commenting and ‘liking’ options are quite similar to Instagram – the only real difference is you hit a smiley face instead of a heart to show your approval.

Right now, Vine is only available as a mobile app for iOS, but we suspect expansion is also imminent. Twitter won’t want to leave Android users hanging.

Vine is surprisingly hard to find in the App Store — it didn’t show up when we searched it — so if you want to download it, you might want to click here.


Source : http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/twitter-releases-vine/

Acer officially unveils the stylish Liquid E1 mid-ranger

Today Acer announced a new member of its lineup of mid-range Android smartphones. The smartphone is called Liquid E1 and is basically a trimmed down version of the CloudMobile S500.

Powered by a 1GHz dual-core processor with 1GB of RAM and 4GB of internal storage, the Acer Liquid E1 runs with Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean out of box. It's sporting a 4.5-inch display of qHD resolution (960 x 540 pixels) and boasts an 5MP auto-focus primary camera with LED flash at the back and a 0.3MP video-chat camera at the front.

The Liquid E1 dimensions are spot on for a midranger at 132 x 68.5 x 9.9 mm with a weight of 130 grams. Popping the stylishly designed back cover open reveals a somewhat underwhelming battery with a capacity of 1760mAh. Acer says that it should be good for up to 8 hours of talk time and around 400 hours of waiting patiently in standby.

The Liquid E1 also features an FM receiver, microSD card slot and the usual array of sensors. Judging from those official shots, we really like the Liquid E1 design, particularly on the dark grey version with red accents.

Annoyingly, pricing and availability are still only known to Acer.

Via


Source : http://www.gsmarena.com/acer_officially_unveils_the_stylish_midrange_liquid_e1-news-5404.php

Could Samsung's next display push beyond 440ppi?

Could Samsung's next display push beyond 440ppi?
Taking pixels to the stratosphere

With a pixel density of 326ppi, Apple's 4-inch iPhone 5 is certainly home to one of the more high-res screens on the market, but Samsung is racing to one-up Cupertino for its next generation of smartphones.

The sometimes-reliable DigiTimes reported Tuesday that Samsung Display is rumored to be working on "new pixel layouts" for AMOLED panels intended for its upcoming smartphones.

According to unnamed industry sources, the technology implements "hexagon and diamond-shaped pixel layouts" to push pixel density above 440ppi, a significant boost over rival Apple.

The report noted that the side-by-side layout currently in use for AMOLED display panels makes it "difficult to achieve" 440ppi or higher, which is why Samsung had to attack the problem a different way.

Galaxy plans unfold

While the current Samsung Galaxy S3 features an impressive Super AMOLED display with a pixel density of 306ppi, DigiTimes sources are already referring to the next-generation panel as "one of the highest resolution displays" available.

Sources claim Samsung will use a laser-based LITI production method to manufacture the higher-resolution display panel, which is might make its debut in the upcoming Galaxy S4 handset.

While Apple claims to have the best screen out there, rivals like HTC's Droid DNA already house displays marked at 440ppi. If Samsung pushes it above 440ppi, it will set the stage for a pixel war of epic proportions.

As noted, DigiTimes can be hit or miss, but with manufacturers continually pushing the envelope to develop tech that's the "most advanced" on the market, we wouldn't be surprised if this rumor bears some high-res fruit.


Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/could-samsungs-next-display-push-beyond-440ppi-1127348

Samsung outs Galaxy Grand for South Korea with quad-core CPU

Samsung already announced the international version of the Galaxy Grand, but today it showed its home market som love by unveiling a special quad-core version of the phone for it.

The quad-core Galaxy Grand has its CPU clocked at 1.4GHz and supports VoLTE. Other than that and the DMB-T support, the South Korean smartphone is identical to its international version.

Samsung hasn't revealed just yet how much the additional horse power under the hood is going to add to the price of the device.

As we said in our Samsung Galaxy Grand hands-on, the Koreans arrived a bit late to the affordable 5" smartphone party, but the evidence is showing they are eager to quickly catch up.

Via


Source : http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_outs_galaxy_grand_for_south_korea_with_quadcore_cpu-news-5403.php

Nokia reports a profitable Q4, smartphone sales pick up

Nokia has swung its way back into profits with its Q4 report showing healthy €439 million ($585 million) in profit. Nokia managed to generate revenues of €8.04 billion ($10.73 billion).

Nokia's good performance was largely thanks to its Siemens Network division while Devices and Services is still some way from returning to profitability even though its performance is improving. Apparently, the holiday quarter is the best one Nokia has had for quite some time now, but even with that the company lost about $3 billion in the full fiscal year.



With the rise of its Lumia brand, the company successfully sold about 4.4 million Nokia Lumia smartphone, with about 700,000 of those sales taking place in North America.

Nokia's latest smartphones Lumia 920 along with PureView Phase 2 camera pushed its smartphones average selling price up to €186 from the €155 in the previous quarter. If you subtract the 2.2 million Symbian handsets sold, the ASP of the Lumia line-up alone is reported at €192 this quarter.

Nokia was also able to use its rich patent portfolio to fill up its coffers and it got another $250 million payment from Microsoft in the quarter for using Windows Phone.

Nokia, for the first time in over 20 years will not be paying its dividend, which allows the company to improve its liquidity position.

Undoubtedly, Nokia is a long way behind its smartphone rivals, but with the stronger sales of its latest Lumia smartphones, the company seems to have put the worst behind it. We are yet to see if it manages to keep the momentum going in Q1, when the demand for all smartphones is way lower compared to the holiday quarter.

1Source


Source : http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_reports_a_profitable_q4_smartphone_sales_pick_up__-news-5402.php

Graphene: the miracle material explained

Graphene: the miracle material explained
Graphene: is there anything it can't do? (Hint: no.) (credit: Nokia)

We could be on the brink of a new industrial revolution, and it's all down to a single layer of carbon atoms called Graphene.

Graphene is the thinnest, strongest, lightest, stiffest material ever made, and if it lives up to its potential it could change pretty much everything.

Why graphene is exciting

Graphene can do almost anything bar making you a better dancer or more skilful in bed. Fancy a superconductor that works at room temperature? Graphene can do that. Want to make bendy OLED touchscreens, or print solar cells, or make something harder than diamond? Or make thin, light structures that are 200 times stronger than ones made from steel? Graphene's good for all that too.

Speaking to Nature magazine, graphene expert and Nobel laureate Andre Geim explained: "It's the thinnest possible material you can imagine. It also has the largest surface-to-weight ratio: with one gram of graphene you can cover several football pitches... it's also the strongest material ever measured; it's the stiffest material we know; it's the most stretchable crystal. That's not the full list of superlatives, but it's pretty impressive."

Conspiracy theorists believe that graphene is a material left on Earth by - or rather, stolen from - space aliens. The theory reckons it's no coincidence that the theory behind graphene was first published in 1947, just when the US was dismantling UFOs in Roswell.

There's a bit of a graphene gold rush

According to figures from Cambridge Intellectual Property, in 2012 there were an extraordinary 7,351 graphene patents and patent applications, with the majority - 2,200 - filed by Chinese institutions and corporations.

The US is next with 1,754 patents, but while the UK kicked off the whole frenzy by publishing the first significant research back in 2004, it's far behind in the patent stakes: it only filed 54. That might explain why chancellor George Osborne has actually decided to spend some money for once: the UK government is supporting graphene research to the tune of £60 million.

Here's an interesting nugget spotted by the Cambridge IP: the biggest single corporate patent holder is Samsung, with 407 patents to IBM's 134.

Uses for graphene are starting to snowball

Graphene will make some people very rich, and we're already seeing practical uses of the technology: University of Manchester researchers have developed a graphene transistor that could enable much faster computing, while other research is helping us understand the substance's electrical and magnetic behaviour.

Graphene is being used to make "extremely efficient" flexible OLEDs for displays, highly conductive nanomaterials for the electronics industry and exceptionally powerful tennis rackets, and some people want to use it to make lightning-powered skyscrapers or to replace carbon fibre in cars and other vehicles.

We're not finished yet. It's also being used to make better batteries, and some people reckon it might even stop the next Lance Armstrong from getting away with doping: researchers are working on a system that incorporates graphene "to detect a single molecule of a drug in a few minutes".

It could be great for the environment

Today's vehicles, even electric ones, still face the same old problem: cars, trucks and trains are heavy, and pushing something heavy around the place at high speed uses enormous amounts of energy. Cutting weight is a priority, and today's vehicles are increasingly using aluminium and carbon fibre to achieve that.

Graphene would make those vehicles' weight savings look insignificant, ushering in an era of super-light transport that uses considerably less energy to start, steer and stop.

It has other environmental uses too: scientists at Moscow State University and Rice University have found that graphene is very good at extracting radioactive materials from water. They believe that it could be used to clean up nuclear accidents, for more efficient mining of rare metals, or for oil extraction.

Graphene is coming sooner rather than later

Firms such as Samsung and Nokia are getting into graphene in a big way, with the first commercial products based on the material due in 2013 or 2014.

As Geim told Nature, when he was in South Korea he was "shown a graphene roadmap, compiled by Samsung. On this roadmap were approximately 50 dots, corresponding to particular applications. One of the closest applications with a reasonable market value was a flexible touchscreen. Samsung expects something within two to three years." That was three years ago.

Is Graphine being overhyped?

Writing in The Guardian, Philip Ball urges caution. While so-called miracle materials "can still grab headlines and conjure up utopian visions", they don't always deliver.

"High-temperature superconductors, which nabbed a Nobel in 1987, would give us Maglev trains and loss-free power lines. Carbon nanotubes... would anchor a space elevator and transform microelectronics. These things haven't materialised", he points out.

Graphene is banging around your head to the tune of Dolly Parton's 'Jolene'

And if it wasn't, it probably is now. Sorry about that.


Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/world-of-tech/graphene-the-miracle-material-explained-968797

Symbian is officially dead, 808 PureView is the last of its kind

We all knew this was eventually coming, but it's now official. Symbian on Nokia is dead.

Nokia managed to send off the once might platform in style. The 808 PureView will go down in history as the last Symbian device by the Finnish manufacturer.

Nokia announced the news alongside its great Q4 results today, which showed $585 million profit and $10.83 billion in revenue.

During our transition to Windows Phone through 2012, we continued to ship devices based on Symbian. The Nokia 808 PureView, a device which showcases our imaging capabilities and which came to market in mid-2012, was the last Symbian device from Nokia.

Symbian OS on Nokia devices has played a key part in the smartphone game over the past ten years, but its significance was severely reduced once the touchscreen revolution started. Some of the most notable phones to come out of Nokia were powered by Symbian - beginning with the 9210 Communicator. The Nokia E61 started a messenger phone hype that peaked with the E71, making Symbian OS the only viable competitor to the then-strong BlackBerry portfolio of messengers.

Then came the cameraphone era, which gave birth to devices like the Nokia N95, which was widely regarded as the king of the smartphone hill in its day. The Nokia N8 came at a time when Symbian was rapidly sliding into irrelevancy but still made a huge splash among camera-lovers with its large sensor and superb image quality. Heck we loved snapping photos with it and it's still the most popular smartphone in our database with over 25 million hits.

Nokia began a shift towards Windows Phone in the beginning of 2011 and starting now Redmond's mobile OS is Nokia's only smartphone platform.

Source (PDF) | Via


Source : http://www.gsmarena.com/the_808_pureview_is_the_last_symbian_by_nokia_an_end_of_an_era-news-5400.php

Nokia Lumia 505 to land in Peru, Chile and Colombia

When Nokia officially announced the budget-minded Lumia 505, it was widely believed to be an exclusive to the launch exclusively at carrier Telcel in Mexico. However, those rumors have now been refuted as the Lumia 505 went available in a number of other South American countries.

The Windows Phone 7.8-running smartphone will hit the shelves in Colombia, Chile and Peru in the near future. In all of these countries the Nokia Lumia 505 will be offered by the carrier Claro.

Exact launch dates for the new countries hasn't been specified, but they shouldn't be too far away. Pricing is still not confirmed either, but the MXN 3,499 Mexican cost should be a pretty reference.



Source | Via


Source : http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_lumia_505_to_land_in_peru_chile_and_colombia-news-5401.php

Temple Run 2 lands in Google Play store

Within hours of its iOS release last week, Imangi Studios’ Temple Run 2 game shot to the top of the free-app chart. Now owners of Android devices can have a go.

If the success of the iOS version of Temple Run 2 is anything to go by, then we have a pretty good idea of what’s going to be sitting atop the Google Play free-app chart before the day’s out.

The sequel to the popular endless runner game launched on the Android platform early Thursday, promising “beautiful new graphics, gorgeous new environments and new obstacles”. And as well as running, sliding and jumping, you can now also swing on a rope and ride in a mine cart.

The iOS version of Temple Run 2 shot to the top of the free-app chart last week within eight hours of its release. Within 24 hours it had clocked up an astonishing six million downloads and on Monday, just four days after it first landed in the iOS app store, maker Imangi Studios announced it had been downloaded over 20 million times. Expect the Android version to follow suit.

Thanks to in-app purchases, Temple Run 2 has also landed in third spot in the iOS top-grossing-apps chart.

Imangi Studios’ co-founder Keith Shepherd called the response from fans of the game “overwhelming,” adding that there were plans to grow and expand it in the coming months.

The original Temple Run game has become a massive hit with mobile gamers since launching in August 2011, with more than 170 million downloads to date. That’s good going for a company that comprises just three people: Keith, his wife Natalia Luckyanova and artist Kiril Tchangov. The team is based in Washington DC and has been creating games since the company was founded in 2008.

Owners of Android devices can pick up the free game here. And iOS owners yet to try it can download it from here.


Source : http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/temple-run-2-lands-in-google-play-store/

Nokia posts a profit at the end of 2012, helped by sales of more than four million Lumia phones

Nokia Lumia 920 and Lumia 820

Nokia has published its financial performance data for the final quarter of 2012, where it shows a profit and confirms sales of more than four million Lumia Windows Phone devices.

Apple isn’t the only one chatting about its financial performance for the final three months of 2012, as Nokia has also announced its official figures. No records have been broken, but the news is very positive for a company which has seen more than its fair share of negative numbers over the past year.

Nokia has reported net sales of 8.04 billion euros ($10.7 billion) with an operating profit of 439 million euros ($584 million), a considerable improvement over the previous quarter results, when the firm saw a shocking 576 million euro ($754 million) profit loss from net sales of 7.2 billion euros ($9.5 billion).

Over the same period, Nokia shifted 4.4 million Lumia smartphones, 9.3 million Asha phones – Nokia points out this figure is for the full touch handsets such as the Asha 311, 308 and 309 – plus 2.2 million Symbian phones too. Looking at the chart related to Nokia’s geographic sales performance, we can see North America has taken a big step forward over the third quarter of 2012, with sales increasing by 133-percent to 700,000 units. This time last year, Nokia sold 500,000 handsets in North America.

In Europe, 19.4 million phones were sent out the door, a 15-percent increase over the third quarter of 2012, but down 23-percent on last year. While these are good results, Nokia has suffered in China, where it’s down 21-percent over the previous quarter and a more worrying 69-percent down on this time in 2011. In a statement, Nokia indicates lower volumes of Symbian and basic feature phones were to blame.

A return to profit at the end of 2012 is good news for Nokia, and if it comes up with some exciting new products during MWC next month – a Windows RT tablet, or even new Windows Phone handsets perhaps – it could be on its way to an equally positive start to 2013.


Source : http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/nokia-announces-q4-2012-results-with-4-4-million-lumia-phones-sold/

Apple-Samsung patent ruling to be reviewed by the ITC

The US International Trade Commission will review ruling, which could lead to an import ban on few devices from Samsung.



The ITC will be reviewing the preliminary ruling, which found the Samsung smartphones and few tablets breaching upon the four patents held by Apple. The final verdict on the case was supposed to be come by March 27 and now that date is very likely to be rescheduled due to the trade body's review.

Samsung's hope of continuing its dominance in the mobile market relies heavily on the decision from the International Trade commission. However, the company remains confident that the commission will ultimately rule in its favor.

Source


Source : http://www.gsmarena.com/apple_samsung_patent_ruling_to_be_reviewed_by_us_trade_body_-news-5399.php

Mozart may be first in line at HTC to receive Windows Phone 7.8

Mozart may be first in line at HTC to receive Windows Phone 7.8
Music to Mozart's ears?

The HTC Mozart may be the first handset in the Taiwanese firm's fleet to received the Windows Phone 7.8.

That's according to Polish site Windows-Phone.pl, which claims to have spoken to an (unconfirmed) HTC employee who revealed the news.

Now our Polish isn't the best, but we believe the source said something along the lines of "currently the HTC Mozart is the only phone which has been confirmed for the Windows Phone 7.8 update."

All WP7 devices in the running

The employee went on to reveal that the update would start rolling out towards the end of February or the start of March, which would correspond with reports suggesting the update will arrive with manufacturers at the end of January.

TechRadar has spoken to HTC and a spokesperson told us: "We are currently reviewing our upgrade plans for our Windows Phone product portfolio, but don't have anything to announce at this stage.

"In terms of the update, we can say that this is a Microsoft update, which will therefore roll out to all Windows Phone 7 devices."

However, it seems that there is some manufacturer influence: LG has previously admitted the Optimus 7 won't be getting the update any time soon, so it seems the brands are completely hands off with their handsets.


Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/mozart-may-be-first-in-line-at-htc-to-receive-windows-phone-7-8-1127254

No buttons, no problem: Here’s how touchscreens work when you can’t see

how touchscreens work when you can’t see

The world loves smartphones and tablets, but what if you – or someone you know – can’t see see a display, hear feedback, or even touch the screen? Surprisingly, a number of brilliant workarounds exist to keep you connected.

I have a confession: I don’t like touchscreens. My fingertips have thick callouses from years of playing music. Some smartphones and tablets do better than others, but I often can’t make them work without pressing hard or tapping with a bent knuckle.

Other people find smartphones and tablets even more frustrating. Imagine not being able to hear audio cues or unlock a device. A two-fingered swipe or pinch isn’t effortless with osteoarthritis or with a finger in a cast. The World Health Organization estimates 295 million people worldwide are visually impaired, and nearly 40 million are blind. Ever answer a call or check Twitter without seeing what you’re doing?

Mobile devices don’t have to leave people behind. We’re still a long way from making mobile devices equally useful to everybody, but assistive technology has come a long way. Here’s how today’s latest mobile devices user clever software to overcome a lack of sight.

Back in the day

Yaesu 901dm transceiver

My first tech accessibility experience came as a teenager by way of Bill Navarte, a blind ham radio operator. I’d sometimes help him set up new gear and mark the knobs and switches, usually by notching them with a file or applying bumps of enamel paint. He had a system, and we documented it all in Braille. He could find and operate almost everything by touch.

Today, that approach doesn’t work because most devices have just a few multifunctional controls — it might be great industrial design, but many people are locked out. Bill’s now retired, but minces no words. “I can still run my ham station,” he told me via telephone, “but I can’t work the new stereo. Over Christmas I spent an hour trying to change the radio. It got into some ‘CD’ mode, but there was no way I could tell.”

Smartphones and tablets are worse: they have only a few physical buttons, and any part of a touchscreen can do almost anything. Mobile devices could be designed around accessibility, but it’s difficult: What might work for the deaf doesn’t work for the blind, and what works for the blind may not help folks who have difficulty with touch. So, accessibility focuses on adapting devices designed for the fully abled.

Apple and iOS

Right now, Apple is an undisputed leader in mobile accessibility.

iPad (VoiceOver rotor)

“Apple wants to make its products accessible and can,” noted Toronto-based author and accessibility expert Joe Clark. “Accessibility is built into every single item Apple sells that remotely resembles a computation device, save for the iPod Classic. Apple values user experience. Not being able to use a product makes for a shitty experience.”

VoiceOver is the flagship accessibility feature in iOS. It’s easy in theory: Just drag a finger around the screen to have VoiceOver speak items. Double-tapping activates buttons, and simple gestures let users move between objects. VoiceOver has a learning curve (and any screenreader is usually a mind-bend for sighted users), but it’s remarkably effective. VoiceOver may be most stunning browsing the Web. Users can drag their finger around a page to pick up layout and contextual cues, and VoiceOver has an innovative “rotor” control gesture (think of turning a knob) to concentrate navigation on headings or lists or zoom in to read (or edit) character-by-character. Pop in an earbud and VoiceOver is silent to anyone nearby, and a three-fingered triple-tap hides the display: No worries about someone reading over your shoulder.

iPad Assistive Touch (Pinch)

“My eyes are fine,” says Katherine Macquire, an office manager at a Seattle-area consulting firm, “but at work I use VoiceOver with a headset and the blank screen to keep in touch with my [homebound] mother. I love it. It’s totally private.”

VoiceOver works with the onscreen keyboard, speaking each character when it’s touched: just touch again to confirm. Entering text using VoiceOver takes time — but (with an Internet connection) users can also dictate into most apps.

Apple’s iOS also offers zoom and color inversion that work in any app. Text can also be enlarged, but only in Apple’s core apps like Mail, Contacts, and Messages. For people (like me) who struggle with gestures, Assistive Touch enables one-finger pinching, multi-finger gestures, and the equivalent of programmable gesture macros.

Google and Android

Google has been working on Android accessibility almost as long as Apple, with the first features appearing in Android 1.6 “Donut.” The results have been mixed, and when Google adds new features (as in Android 4.x) there’s no knowing if device makers or carriers will make them available.

Eyes-Free Keyboard (Android)

Out of the box, Android accessibility was minimal before version 4.0 (“Ice Cream Sandwich”). Forget the touchscreen: Low-vision users need a physical keyboard and pointing device (like a directional pad) to get around. Most Android devices include three main accessibility features: TalkBack uses speech synthesis to describe events and actions, KickBack can vibrate gently when a user finds a control (useful for lock screens), and SoundBack provides audio feedback moving to a new control. Google also offers Eyes-Free Shell for accessing home-screen functions. These tools are available via Google Play — but, weirdly, they’re easier to get via the IDEAL Accessibility Installer. Many Android users prefer third-party tools like the Eyes-Free Keyboard (it has an on-screen directional pad, and while it chokes on menus and dialogs, it works for navigation) or Speil, an alternative to TalkBack. Folks with serious text-to-speech needs usually turn to third-party apps like SVOX’s Classic Text to Speech.

With Android 4.0, Google introduced Explore by Touch, which can identify onscreen elements when users drag over them. There’s also gesture-based linear navigation, and, like VoiceOver, TalkBack in Android 4.x works with Web content. This version of Android also makes the on-screen keyboard accessible: Users can move over letters then lift when they find the one they want. Android 4 aids low-vision users with options for larger type, inverted colors, and some pinch-to-zoom items.

Android version fragmentation Jan 03 2013

Sounds great, but Android 4.x represents only about 40 percent of active Android devices today: More than half are Android 2.2 and earlier, including brand-new devices still being sold. There’s no guarantee any of these tools work with Samsung TouchWiz, HTC Sense, or other skins. For older versions of Android there’s no strong screen reader for browsing the Web.

“Android could have the same desire Apple has to make products accessible,” noted Clark, “but even that would not result in accessibility due to device fragmentation and a seriously outdated user base.”

How to cope

Voice commands and speech recognition (like Siri and Google Now) would have been accessibility features a few years ago; today they’re mainstream. Similarly, many hearing-impaired mobile users use FaceTime, Google Hangouts, and Skype video chat for signing or reading lips, when no one considers those services adaptive technology.

Stevie Wonder famously proclaimed “there is nothing that you can do on the iPhone or iPad that I can’t do.” That’s not strictly true — thousands of iOS apps aren’t accessible, and many Android users get by just fine with available accessibility options. But, right now, Apple is the out-of-the-box leader for general mobile accessibility.

Users who prefer Android are probably best-advised to look at Google’s Nexus phones and tablets. Their unadulterated Android works best with Google’s accessibility options and doesn’t depend on carriers for updates: it’s also the best bet for third-party accessibility apps.

In the meantime, take a look at what mobile accessibility can do for you — it should be a pleasant surprise.


Source : http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/android-and-ios-accessibility-can-help-everybody/

Apple boss addresses rumor of iPhone component cuts (sort of)

Apple is usually content to leave the rumor mill churning away, happy for the publicity. A recent report suggesting the company had ordered a cut in orders for iPhone 5 components has, however, elicited a response.

Apple posted a mixed bag of results on Wednesday for the quarter ending December 29, 2013. Granted, they were the kind of sales figures most companies would die for, but with Apple comes high expectations. Sure, they sold millions of iPhones and iPads – 10 iOS devices a second, apparently – but investors and analysts expect the company to go beyond their forecasts, to smash records, to leave them with their jaws planted firmly on the floor.

During the earnings conference call following the release of the results, Apple boss Tim Cook took the unusual step of commenting on an Apple rumor. No, not the one about the iPhone Math or cheaper handset. They evidently don’t matter to the Cupertino company so much.

Cook picked up on a more damaging story, one that emerged earlier this month suggesting that the tech giant had ordered a significant cut in orders for iPhone 5 components because of “weaker-than-expected demand” for the handset.

Addressing the report, Cook said it was important to “question the accuracy of any kind of rumor about build plans.”

However, during his comments, he didn’t outright confirm or deny the talk of a cut in orders, adding, ”Even if a particular data point were factual, it would be impossible to accurately interpret the data point as to what it meant for our overall business, because the supply chain is very complex and we obviously have multiple sources for things.”

He continued, “Yields might vary, supplier performance can vary, the beginning inventory positions can vary, I mean, there’s just an ordinate long list of things that would make any single data point not a great proxy for what’s going on.”

His comments may have left analysts none the wiser, but some investors, looking at the results for the quarter as a whole, saw fit to offload at least some of their stock. After-hours trading on Wednesday saw Apple shares fall over 10 percent to around $460 – their lowest value in about a year and a figure well below their $700+ peak back in September.


Source : http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/apple-boss-addresses-rumor-of-iphone-component-cuts-sort-of/

Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update hits international Galaxy S2 smartphones

Samsung Galaxy S2 Plus Front

Samsung has reportedly begun sending its Android 4.1 update out to selected Galaxy S2 smartphones. Initially for unlocked devices, the software adds many new features and a new, Galaxy S3-style look to the phone.

Reports are coming in from Galaxy S2 owners in the UK and Europe that their phones are now receiving the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update. The new software has, like most Android version updates, been a long time coming. Announced in September last year, it only became clear at the beginning of this month that its release was imminent.

According to SamMobile’s update tracker, Jelly Bean is now available in China and Spain, however a reader from the UK has informed KnowYourMobile his Jelly Bean update was live on the evening of January 23. A quick check on Twitter shows many Spanish S2 owners tweeting about their newly updated phones, along with several from the UK too.

Android 4.1 Jelly Bean for the Galaxy S2 contains a wide range of new features, plus a version of the Nature UX seen on the Galaxy S3 and the Galaxy Note 2. Several other features from these two devices will also arrive on the S2, including Pop-Up Play and Smart Stay. Samsung’s new Galaxy S2 Plus also gave us a hint at what the update would bring to the original S2, as its specification is identical to the first model. It also features the Nature UX, plus Google Now, Direct Call and S Voice.

Initially, the discovery of a Samsung webpage which provided details of the Android update warned it would only be available through Kies, Samsung’s device management software; however this may not be entirely accurate. If you have an unlocked Galaxy S2 GT-i9100, have a check of Software Update to see if an over-the-air version is available.

As you’d expect, it’s these carrier-free Galaxy S2 phones which will get the update first, but those locked to a network are sure to follow in the future. If your phone has been officially Jelly Bean’d, let us know in the comments.


Source : http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/android-4-1-jelly-bean-update-hits-international-galaxy-s2-smartphones/

Samsung Ativ Odyssey comes to Verizon today, faces stiff competition from the Nokia Lumia 822

Samsung Ativ Odyssey Release

Verizon has announced the availability of the Samsung Ativ Odyssey, the latest addition to its range of Windows Phone 8 hardware, however it faces stiff competition from the Nokia Lumia 822.

Finally, the Samsung Ativ Odyssey’s journey is over, as it’s available to buy from Verizon today. The Ativ Odyssey has lived up to its name too, having been announced way back in October 2012 before disappearing, only to reappear occasionally in other stories until the beginning of this month at CES 2013. There, Verizon confirmed it would be bringing the Samsung Windows Phone 8 device to its network, but failed to provide a launch date.

It has now sprung the news on us just hours before the Ativ Odyssey was put onto shelves, so if you were waiting for Samsung’s little bundle of joy, then it should be for sale both online and in stores now. All the time we were waiting for some solid information on the Ativ Odyssey’s release schedule in the U.S., we’ve been hoping it would be the free Windows Phone handset Verizon promised to provide. Sadly though, the Ativ Odyssey isn’t it, however it’s up against one that is.

It’s not going to break the bank though, as it’s yours for $50 after a $50 mail-in rebate, and provided your scribble your signature on the bottom of a two-year contract. That puts it in the same price bracket as the Verizon-exclusive Nokia Lumia 822; which is bad news for the Samsung phone.

The 4G LTE Ativ Odyssey has a 4-inch touchscreen with a 480 x 800 pixel resolution, while a 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor with 1GB of RAM powers the Windows Phone 8 operating system. The spec list continues with a 5-megapixel camera, 8GB of internal storage memory, a 1.2-megapixel video call camera, a 2100mAh battery and a microSD card slot.

You may recall the Lumia 822 dropped in price, from $50 to $0 with a two-year contract, just before Christmas. Why is this bad for the Ativ Odyssey? The Lumia 822 offers a 4.3-inch screen, an 8-megapixel camera, 16GB of internal storage space and can connect to Verizon’s 4G LTE network. The choice is yours, then, but we’d take a good look at both phones before making a decision. You can read our hands-on report of the Lumia 822 here.


Source : http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/samsung-ativ-odyssey-comes-to-verizon/

Nokia Drive+ Beta now available for all Windows Phone 8 users

Nokia's much awaited turn-by-turn navigation application, Drive+ is now available for free to all Windows Phone 8 users in United States, United Kingdom and Canada.



The application is still technically a beta, but we have already had numerous chances to see that it's actually pretty great and little to no bugs. So as long as you live in one of the three countries above you now gain access to full turn-by turn voice guided navigation, offline maps, speed limit warnings and other conveniences such as day and night modes.

Nokia Drive + has been one of the key advantages of the Nokia Lumia lineup over WP smartphones from other manufactures, so this might have a significant impact on the balance of power in the Microsoft platform.

Nokia Drive+ can be downloaded from the official Windows Phone website. We are yet to hear anything about its availability for other countries, though.

Source | Via


Source : http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_drive_beta_now_available_for_all_windows_phone_8_users_-news-5398.php