LG sells 10m L-Series phones, snipes at rivals

Numbers don't lie

LG's L-Series range of smartphones has sold 10 million units.

The Korean company sent out a press release announcing the milestone. And it makes quite interesting reading, though not for the reasons LG intended.

The L-Series includes the Optimus L3, L5, L7, and L9, all of which have left us less than impressed. But still, while it might not be anywhere near the 30 million units the Samsung Galaxy S3 has sold, 10 million handsets isn't to be sniffed at.

LG isn't shy about making this known. It describes the milestone as "modest", as if it was expecting to sell far more. And it takes the opportunity to have a dig at the competition.

Keep digging

LG describes its handsets as having "distinctive" styling, not "me too". That could be a reference to the fact Samsung was sued for infringing Apple's patents. But LG didn't stop there.

"This milestone demonstrates the importance of delivering smartphones with stylish design, comparative size of display and enhanced UX features," said Dr. Jong-seok Park, LG Mobile Communication Company's president and CEO.

"Whereas other manufacturers are putting all their eggs into a one-size-fits-all phone, our strategy is to develop mobile products for all types of customers according to their individual needs and lifestyles."

Could that be a reference to Apple's iPhone 5? It could well be.

Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/lg-sells-10m-l-series-phones-snipes-at-rivals-1118118

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Samsung teaser video promises something new and innovative at CES 2013

Samsung has released an 18-second teaser video, hinting at exciting things to come during CES 2013, which begins on January 8. The video is so cryptic though, it gives absolutely nothing away, leaving it down to us to speculate what it has in store.

With only a few weeks before the Computer Entertainment Show 2013 gets underway, the teaser videos from manufacturers plugging their latest creations are about to begin. It’s Samsung who is first on the scene with a short video entitled Get Ready, which contains almost no information whatsoever.

The video runs for a mere 18-seconds, and features an overly dramatic soundtrack mixed with a few words chosen from the Big Book of Marketing Terms someone happened to have lying around. After being told The World Awaits, we’re bombarded by old favorites such as Ideas, Innovation, Wonder and The Future, before finally we’re told to expect Something New between January 8 and 11 next year.

Did you notice the flicker over the dates at the end of the video? Think it contains a secret message about what’s to come? It doesn’t, sorry, as on closer examination it’s a quick fire series of images showing the Las Vegas skyline. If you’re wondering why, it’s because that’s where CES 2013 is going to be held.

New tablets, smartphones and brand identity are all possible at CES

This leaves it down to us to speculate on what Samsung is so excited about. Of course, minds instantly jump to the next flagship phone, the Galaxy S4; but Samsung is almost certainly going to wait until mid-2013 for this one. It held a separate and incredibly successful launch event for the S3 is May, so a return to a show launch for its sequel is highly unlikely to appeal.

The Galaxy Note 2 has only just been upgraded, so it won’t be the Note 3, leaving us with the exciting prospect of something new. We’ve already seen rumors regarding a 1080p screen from Samsung, and with the recent launch of the Droid DNA/HTC J Butterfly, we suspect Samsung isn’t keen to get left too far behind in this burgeoning niche. Flexible screens have also been discussed recently, so a device using this new technology is a possibility too.

However, Samsung may not be thinking smartphones at all, and the fuss could be about tablets. Its Galaxy range hasn’t seen much movement recently, and a rumor has mentioned a new 7-inch and a larger 13-inch tablet are in development at the Korean firm. The latter of which will have a keyboard dock and be aimed at Asus’ Transformer line of convertible tablets. These rumors have also pointed to a budget Galaxy Note device too, which will ditch the S-Pen stylus and stick with a 5-inch display to keep the price as competitive as possible.

Knowing Samsung, we can expect another video providing just that little bit more information before the show, where it’s also expected the company will reveal an overhaul of its branding too.

Source : http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/samsung-releases-ces-2013-teaser-video/

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LG announces 10 million L-Series Android smartphones sold

LG announced that it has sold 10 million of its L-Series smartphones to date. The number includes the entire range from the entry-level LG Optimus L3, through the Optimus L5 and Optimus L7, all the way to the imposing looking Optimus L9.

While LG calls the eight-figure sales number a "modest milestone", it still pats itself on the back for it. The official press release points out the fresh styling of the range, the high quality displays of the handsets , as well as LG's proprietary UX features as the main reason for its commercial success.

LG's L-Series broke cover during MWC 2012. The devices in the range are available in 50 markets worldwide.

Via

Source : http://www.gsmarena.com/lg_announces_10_million_lseries_android_smartphones_sold_-news-5177.php

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Twitter photo filters coming before 2013?

Twitter has already restricted Instagram, now it may try to nullify it

The long-rumoured Twitter photo-tweaking tool may arrive before the year is out, according to reports this weekend.

The social network is thought to be testing a new version of its mobile app, which would allow Instagram-like filters to be added to smartphone photos before they're uploaded to a feed.

AllThingsD is reporting that the company wants to get the app into the hands of its users before the festive season rolls around.

Indeed, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey may already be road testing the app, after posting black-and-white filtered photos of his Square colleagues and the wing of a plane this weekend.

Twitter on lockdown

If the reports are to be believed, Twitter's plans may have been accelerated by the new war with Instagram, which has broken out over the course of the last week.

Earlier this week, Twitter turned off the 'Cards' functionality for Instagram, which means users cannot see Instagram posts 'in-line' within Twitter feeds and have to click the link to view the photo.

That move was likely down to a combination of three potential reasons: Firstly, Twitter is desperately trying to engage users with official clients and shut down third-parties.

Secondly, Instagram is now owned by Facebook, so the gloves are off, and thirdly, Instagram recently rolled out web profiles for users, which could again be considered a threat to Twitter.

Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/software/applications/twitter-photo-filters-coming-before-2013-1118046

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Weekly mobile news recap: Now is the winter of Microsoft’s discontent

It doesn't feel like winter yet, does it? We don't think so, but some mobile companies are trying to get into the spirit of the season. Google is doing so by giving updates to all its apps, while Microsoft's Windows 8 OS has going the melodramatic, poetic route by slowly dying. All that and more in the weekly news recap.

We’re a full week into December and it’s yet to really feel like winter. Sure there’s holiday ads plastering every available second of screen time during commercial breaks, but states that are usually covered in snow by now still have patches of green grass. Folks that live in tropical climates haven’t had to bust out their sweaters yet – which normally occurs when it drops below 60 degrees. Even the wind doesn’t have that crisp, bitter feeling yet. Maybe it’s because Samsung is keeping everything warm by maintaining its heat from this summer. Thankfully Microsoft is trying to keep the cold, hopelessness of winter alive with its struggles, while Apple turns over a new leaf. All that and more in the weekly news recap from December 2-9, 2012.

Samsung rising

Samsung finds itself in an interesting place these days. Despite legal trouble with king of all patents, Apple, it seems that the company accused of copying has surpassed its accuser. Well, at least in Europe. But that is where global trends are set, after all. Samsung is doing pretty well around the world and appears to have plans to continue its domination. Hopefully it has more success than others who have attempted global conquest. An update to the Galaxy S3 will bring new features in the form of the Premium Suite, which sounds like it probably comes with caviar. The features will become available as soon as Android 4.1 makes its way to the handset, which should be soon for AT&T subscribers. Everyone else, you’ll have to keep waiting. The Premium Suite is like the VIP room, and Samsung has not added you to as it’s plus-one quite yet.

 

American as Apple pie

After making more money than we knew was in circulation, Apple has decided that maybe it can find some new and adventurous ways to spend its profits. Tim Cook spoke very candidly about some of the exploration that he hopes to accomplish, but perhaps none are quite as exciting and daring as the idea of building Apple products in America. Even though Apple will have products shipping around the world, including the iPhone 5 in over 100 countries before 2012 ends, it would like to keep the apple a little closer to the tree – or something like that.

HTC isn’t much for travelling to Europe

We mentioned earlier that Samsung seems to be a hit in Europe. That may be in part because Europe is still Droid-less. HTC’s beloved Droid DNA handset has yet to make the journey that so many American teens make before they head to college: a backpacking trip across Europe. Even HTC’s newest family member, the Butterfly, doesn’t seem to have the flight distance to make it into the continent. All hopes appear to rest on the M7 Project, which is not the a secret spy organization no matter how much it sounds like one. Europeans shouldn’t feel too bad, though. The Taiwan phone maker has canned the 8S and delayed the One XV for Americans. HTC better hurry or someone else might just catch the eye of impatient and fickle consumers that are suckers for pretty screens. 

Google dusts off its apps

Google might just have had a little too much on it’s plate recently. Some things were starting to fall by the wayside. Now that it has the mobile OS war locked up until 2016, presumably because we just vote on that every 4 years or something, it can finally focus on getting down to business with some projects that were too long forgotten. To solidify its dominance in the mobile world, Google took to revamping every app it could thing of. Gmail finally functions for both iOS and Android in a way that most email clients apps work, as opposed to how the Gmail app used to work. That is to say, it allows you to read emails now instead of attempting to get you to break your phone or tablet in two. YouTube also got an upgrade that optimizes it for tablets, meaning all those cat videos and songs you haven’t got around to downloading yet will finally play in high definition. 

 

Now is the winter of our discontent

Spring is the season of new life, but before new life begins something has to die. All signs point to Microsoft’s Windows 8, which might not be dead yet but is sure starting to smell like a corpse. Every time more information comes about about Windows 8, it’s bad. The Surface tablets still aren’t selling, and Valve co-founder Gabe Newell has all but driven the knife into chest of the operating system by calling it a failure in the game industry. If there’s one thing Microsoft can take solace in during this season of death, it’s that it isn’t alone. Brick and motar Blockbuster stores are having their innards gutted by Dish Network to make room for racks of cell phones in a new mobile push and iPad only newspaper The Daily met its demise this month thanks to plenty of competition and not enough readers. Hopefully that whole paragraph on death will really get you into the holiday spirit.

Source : http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/weekly-mobile-news-recap-12-9-2012/

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Researchers develop LCD contact lens that displays your text messages

Potentially ideal for checking recent text messages or emails, a breakthrough in LCD and contact lens development could result in amazing applications.

Covered by The Telegraph yesterday, a research team at the Ghent University Centre of Microsystems Technology in Belgium have developed a new type of contact lens that uses the entire surface of the lens to display letters and symbols. Prior to this point, researchers have only been able to create a LED lens that displays a single pixel. However, the technology behind this new development offers the ability to display a large range of pixel sizes as well as a significant volume of pixels on a LCD display. To show off the technology, the prototype shows a large dollar sign across the entire curved surface of the lens.

Conceptually, an image could be displayed on the lens in order to see scrolling text messages or emails that have been sent to a smartphone. Even more interesting, GPS driving directions could actually appear in the field of vision while someone is operating a vehicle. 

In the medical field, these lenses could be used to limit the amount of light a person can see after they experience a form of trauma to one of their eyes. That could also be programmed to naturally allow more light into the damaged eye as the healing process progresses.

Researchers also indicated that the technology could create adaptive contact lenses that lighten or darken depending on the sunlight in the immediate area. Similar to eyeglasses that are coated with a light-transitioning material, the contact lens would provide the same function as a pair of sunglasses when outside. In addition, people could utilize the lenses to cosmetically change the color of their eyes and select different colors at any time using a mobile application.

Regarding the timeline for application development, head researcher Professor Herbert De Smet stated “Now that we have established the basic technology, we can start working towards real applications, possibly available in only a few years.” When asked about the development process by The Inquisitor, De Smet said “Normally, flexible displays using liquid crystal cells are not designed to be formed into a new shape, especially not a spherical one. By using new kinds of conductive polymers and integrating them into a smooth spherical cell, we were able to fabricate a new LCD-based contact lens display.“

Source : http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/contact-lens-displays-text-messages/

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Apple and Google team up to buy Kodak’s patents

While Kodak continues the bankruptcy process started during early 2012, Apple and Google join forces to snag Kodak's imaging patent library.

Reported by Bloomberg recently, smartphone competitors Apple and Google have submitted a joint bid of more than half a billion dollars for Eastman Kodak’s 1,100 imaging patents remaining in the company’s portfolio. Both Apple and Google had attempted to purchase Kodak’s patents separately, but all attempts were unsuccessful up to this point. Apple was working with Microsoft and Google as working with a variety of unnamed Android smartphone manufacturers when the original bids of $150 to $250 million were placed during Kodak’s auction. Representatives for both Apple and Google have declined to comment on the reported partnership and Kodak representatives hasn’t disclosed the total amount of the joint bid from the two companies.

After CES 2012 came to a close in early January, Kodak filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy due to dwindling revenue from camera film sales as well as increased competition in the digital imaging space. At the time of the filing, Kodak reported approximately five billion dollars in assets and nearly seven billion dollars in total debt.

During November 2012, Kodak was able to secure $830 million in exit financing. However, access to that money was contingent on the sale of Kodak’s imaging patent portfolio for a price above $500 million. Prior to the patent auction in August, Kodak estimated the entire patent portfolio was worth between $2.2 to $2.6 billion. 

While the partnership between Apple and Google clearly doesn’t give either company an edge regarding patent ownership, it will allow both companies to avoid spending money on litigation over the Kodak patents in the coming years. Strategically, it also halts Kodak representatives from spurring a continued bidding war between the two companies. Without a strong bargaining position, Kodak will likely be forced to take the offer in order to finalize the bankruptcy process unless a new bidder comes forth. 

Source : http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/apple-google-bid-kodak-patents/

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