Posts Tagged ‘smartphone’
OnLive, a company that provides console-quality games streamed over the internet, has announced the launch of its app for Android and iOS smartphones and tablets. The OnLive app allows portable device users to play console games that they normally would not have access to.
OnLive calls its service “cloud gaming,” and it offers access to nearly 200 console and PC games without having to install them locally. The company’s servers do all of the hard crunching and processing of the game remotely, and then stream it to users’ devices. This method allows relatively slow mobile devices to play high-end games that usually require much more computing power. Users have the ability to stream the games to their devices over Wi-Fi or 4G LTE cellular networks, though the service will obviously work much better with faster connections.
The company says that over 25 games in its library, including top-tier titles like L.A. Noire, have already been adapted to the touchscreen controls that smartphones and tablets require. The rest of the games can be played with the optional Universal OnLive Wireless Controller that connects to a device over Bluetooth and costs $49.99. The OnLive service has built-in syncing across multiple devices, so users can play a game on their tablet, and then pick up where they left off on their PC with the OnLive PC app.
The OnLive app is available for free in the Android Market now and is expected to hit the iTunes App Store in the near future. The Universal OnLive Wireless Controller is expected to be available in the U.S. and UK in the near future as well. Games can be rented or purchased for play on the service, and OnLive also has subscription options available.
Microsoft on Tuesday began wooing developers for a February opening of its first “app store” for computers powered by the US technology giant’s Windows software.
The Windows Store will open in late February when Microsoft releases a test version of its next-generation Windows 8 operating system.
It will take on Apple and Google in the booming market of fun, hip or functional programs built for smartphones, tablets, or computers.
“I think we are going to do great,” Windows Web Services vice president Antoine Leblond said as he gave developers and press a preview of the store in a San Francisco art gallery.
“The reach of Windows is absolutely huge and can’t be matched,” he continued, noting that the Microsoft operating system powers a half billion computers around the world.
Independent developers understandably devote their limited resources to making programs for platforms that promise the most potential customers, and Windows would outshine Apple gadgets and Google Android devices in that regard.
However, Windows has a meager presence when it comes to smartphones and tablets, where third-party applications such as games are typically bought.
A Google executive recently said the cloud computing market in 2012 will focus more on mobile devices and social networking in order to keep pace with businesses’ interests. Amit Singh, vice president of Google Enterprise, told eWeek that the cloud trend next year will try to move businesses more into the realm of teamwork from the era of individual production.
With the move more into social networking, Singh said Google is trying to push forward the integration ability of its social networking website Google+. Singh said businesses will start using more of a BYOD, or bring your own device, approach when it comes to using mobile devices at work. Peter Coffee of Salesforce.com said he sees the cloud helping users break through with features and capabilities they may not have had before, such as the ability to create a document on one device and view it on another.
“People do not want to be burdened by what device is holding a piece of content,” said Coffee, who added that having content that is device-neutral will be important for everyone in the business world.
Gartner’s predictions for the future of cloud computing agrees with Singh’s prediction, adding that by 2016, 50 percent of cloud-based email users will rely on a browser, tablet or mobile device instead of a desktop.
Google on Tuesday announced that more than 10 billion applications had been downloaded worldwide in its software store Android Market.
In a company blog post, Google said Android Market reached the milestone with a growth rate of one billion app downloads per month after app downloads hit 6 billion in July.
Partnering with some Android developers, Google also unveiled a ten-day celebration with a selection of apps for only 10 cents each day since Tuesday.
We can’t wait to see where this accelerating growth takes us in 2012,” said Eric Chu, director of Android developer ecosystem, in the blog.
Google has been gearing up to close the gap with Apple in the mobile market. Thanks to the broader availability of smartphones and tablets running Android, the software’s mobile market share is expected to be twice as Apple’s iOS in 2011, according to data from several research companies.
In July, Apple said app downloads had surpassed 15 billion in its App Store.
Though Android Ice Cream Sandwich is only available for the Samsung Galaxy Nexus right now, it’s done enough to make us Android 2.3 users pretty dissatisfied with our perfectly decent OS. If reports are accurate, the update floodgates should be set to open – starting with the Google Nexus S.
The Google Nexus S is the former lead Android device and the Samsung Galaxy Nexus’s immediate predecessor. It’s a decent phone, with a 4-inch Super AMOLED display and a 1GHz single-core processor. It didn’t rock people’s world half as much as the Galaxy Nexus has, though.
Still, one of the key benefits of Google Nexus S ownership over the past 12 months or so has been priority updates – and that seems to be the case even with the next gen Android Ice Cream Sandwich too.
According to a number of Google+ postings, Google is in the process of testing its new OS on its old Nexus S device. How is it doing this testing? By using its own employees as guinea pigs, of course.
If you’re keen to try out the new Nokia Lumia 800 Windows Phone, then Nokia is offering you the chance to get your hands on a handset for free thanks to the Nokia Amazing Collective. And you could even win some great gifts and free prizes, so why not sign up today at Nokia UK Facebook?
The Nokia Amazing Collective has been set up by Nokia UK to give people across the country the chance to try out the Nokia Lumia 800 free. All you have to do to be in with a chance is visit the Nokia UK Facebook page, click on the Join The Amazing Collective link at the left-hand side of the screen and then answer eight easy questions about your current smartphone usage.
Places on the Nokia Amazing Collective are limited, so sign up as soon as you can, if you want to take part and try out the first Nokia Windows Phone. You could be enjoying your own Nokia Lumia 800 handset before you know it and win some great prizes. And it’s all completely free, so why not sign up now?
A district court has denied fruit themed Apple’s attempt to get Samsung’s products banned in the US.
US District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California denied Apple’s request for a preliminary injunction against Samsung, according to the Wall Street Journal. The two rival companies are scheduled to go to trial in the case on 30 July, 2012.
This gives Samsung a long time to sell its hardware, and critically, the holiday sales period that surrounds Christmas.
Last week Samsung was somewhat victorious in Australia when it ensured that it could provide local shoppers with its gear in that country, after having seen off other similar challenges from Apple.
The US market, though, is much bigger than the Australian market, making this a key victory for Samsung and probably something of a blow to Apple, which has always said that it vigorously defends its designs, designs that it claims Samsung has copied.
“It’s no coincidence that Samsung’s latest products look a lot like the iPhone and iPad, from the shape of the hardware to the user interface and even the packaging. This kind of blatant copying is wrong, and we need to protect Apple’s intellectual property when companies steal our ideas,” Apple said both when it launched its legal action against Samsung and ever since.
We’ve asked Samsung for comment.
Source: inquier
HTC has officially released Rhyme in the Indian market today. Priced at INR 27,499 (MRP – 29,990), it has been available for a much lower price of INR 24,800 for quite some time. But, we believe that it going to change soon. All the major cellphone manufacturers are correcting their pricing to take the increasing load of poor rupee value and it has impacted the pricing pattern deeply.
Results are clearly before us, a single core Gingerbread smartphone with 3.7 inch display has been priced in the range of some time old Samsung Galaxy S II, which features a dual core processor and 4.27 inch Super AMOLED Plus display along with several other great features.
To refresh your memory, HTC Rhyme features a 5MP rear camera, 0.3MP front shooter, 768MB RAM and 1GB internal memory with 1600 mAh battery. Rhyme package in India comes with Charm indicator, and tangle free headset in the box.
Unveiled with much fanfare at its global even in London in October, Nokia’s Asha phones were announced in India. The phones, Asha 300 and Asha 200, run on Symbian S40 operating software. They are a crucial part of Nokia’s strategy in India and African countries. While Asha 200 will be available from mid-December, Asha 300 will hit Indian market in early January.
Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange has warned, “You’re all screwed,” when it comes to smartphone and gadget monitoring and surveillance.
Users of the Iphone, Blackberry and Gmail are among those who are supposedly ‘screwed’ because more than 150 organisations can monitor data on mobile devices. Assange made the statement at a press conference while unveiling the Wikileaks ‘Spy Files’ project.
Wikileaks said, “Mass interception of entire populations is not only a reality, it is a secret new industry spanning 25 countries.”
“It sounds like something out of Hollywood, but as of today, mass interception systems, built by Western intelligence contractors, including for ‘political opponents’ are a reality.”
Assange said, “Who here has an iPhone? Who here has a BlackBerry? Who here uses Gmail? Well, you’re all screwed.”
“The reality is, intelligence contractors are selling right now to countries across the world mass surveillance systems for all those products.”
The organisations apparently have the ability to track devices, intercept messages and listen to phone calls, according to The Press Association.
It might sound like a complete invasion of privacy but the goings on are legal according to Assange and are leading to a “totalitarian surveillance state”.
He said the US, UK, Australia, South Africa and Canada are all developing “spying systems”, and the data is collected and sold on to “dictators and democracies alike”.
The publication of the ‘Spy Files’ consisting of 287 documents in collaboration with the web site spyfiles.org is a “mass attack on this mass surveillance industry,” added Assange. µ
Source: The Inquirer
The mighty Angry Birds has come to the Nokia Lumia 800 and it’s better than ever. Looking fantastic on the stunning 3.7-inch AMOLED screen, we’ve recorded a quick hands-on video preview to whet your appetite for our full Angry Birds on Nokia Windows Phone review, coming tomorrow.
We doubt there are many people left that haven’t heard of Angry Birds, but if you’re one of them, here’s the deal. A pack of evil green pigs has run off with your eggs and it’s up to you, the angry birds, to take the battle to the swine, smash their defences and bring home the eggs and bacon.
While this amazing game has long been one of our favourites and by far the best smartphone game you can play, it looks better than ever now thanks to the stunning Nokia Lumia 800, with the gorgeous 3.7-inch AMOLED ClearBlack screen showing the great cartoony graphics to their best effect.
We’ve got a full review of Angry Birds coming for you soon, but to tide you over until then, we’ve recorded a quick hands-on video of Angry Birds on the Nokia Lumia 800, giving a glimpse into how great the game looks on the Nokia Windows Phone, thanks to the unbeatable Windows Phone 7.5 OS.
Samsung has already commenced the shipping of the Bada 2.0 operating system based smartphone internationally. France will be the first country to get this smartphone following closely with delivery of the smartphone in countries like Germany, Italy and Russia.
Considering these countries, it is expected that the Samsung Wave 3 smartphone will hit the Indian markets by mid or the end of week two in the month of December.
Samsung Wave 3 is priced at Rs 19,600. It will feature a wide variety of new capabilities which were missing from the earlier version that includes multi-tasking, WiFi Direct (which allows Wi-Fi devices to share content without the need for wireless access points such as routers), Near Field Communication (NFC), and voice recognition.
The handset will come with latest Bada 2.0 operating system which is considerably faster than previous Bada devices. Bada 2.0 will also support HTML5 and improved Flash functions, thus offering enhanced usability and web experience.
The new Samsung Wave 3 features a 4 inch Super Amoled display with 480 x 800 pixel resolution. It will run on a 1.4 GHz processor and have an improved TouchWiz user interface that would ensure a better user experience. Along with that for shutter bugs, the Wave 3 carries a 5 megapixel camera at the back with LED flash, capable of recording 720p HD videos
Ahead of this week’s Tokyo Motor Show, Japanese car manafacturers Toyota
unveil the ‘Fun-Vii’, a futuristic interactive concept car that features a
touchscreen door.
Apple beats Android in Britain
Posted on: November 29, 2011
The long-awaited iPhone 4S launch helped Apple Inc take top spot in the British smartphone market in October, overtaking phones using Google Inc’s Android platform, data from research firm Kantar Worldpanel ComTech showed on Monday.
Apple took a whopping 42.8 percent share of all smartphone sales, giving it a significant lead over Android — a feat many thought was impossible,” Dominic Sunnebo, global consumer insight director at the firm, said in a statement.
“With nearly a year and a half between iPhone launches there has been huge pent-up demand for a new Apple device,” he said.
In October Google’s (GOOG.O) Android had 35 percent of the British smartphone market, often seen as the indicator for the rest of Europe.
For the 12 weeks to end-October Android was still ahead of Apple (AAPL.O), while Research In Motion Ltd (RIM.TO) held on to its 20 percent share. Nokia Oyj (NOK1V.HE) had 4 percent and Microsoft Corp’s (MSFT.O) Windows Phone platform 1 percent share.
Nokia started to sell its first Windows Phone in Britain in mid November.
Top 10 Android phones in India
Posted on: November 26, 2011
HTC has officially launched its Beats Audio smartphone Sensation XE in the Indian market. This Sensation successor has been available at online stores for last some days. HTC Sensation XE has been priced at INR 35,490, but will be sold at a Best Buy price of INR 33,990.
This is the first Android smartphone to come with Beats Audio integration in India. HTC Sensation XE features a 1.5GHz dual core processor, 4.3 inch display and Android 2.3.
Handset maker Motorola is back with the new version of its best-selling smartphone Razr, which is sleeker and more powerful than the earlier models.
The latest version of the Android 2.3 ( Gingerbread) device is equipped with a 4.3-inch super AMOLED display, scratch-resistant Corning Gorilla Glass screen, 1 GB RAM and a dual-core 1.2GHz processor. It also has a front-facing 720p HD video camera and 8-megapixel rear-facing camera.
The handset is priced at Rs 35,990, while the best buy price is Rs 33,990.
“One of the best-selling mobile phones of all time, the original Motorola Razr redefined what a mobile phone was as people worldwide proudly flaunted their fashion items,” Motorola Mobility Mobile Devices business country head-sales and operations (India and South West Asia) Rajan Chawla said in a statement.
The device comes preloaded with the Motorola MotoCast app, which allows users to stream or download content straight from the PC.
“With the new Razr smartphone, we’re bringing sexy back in a stylish and sleek body…We expect style-conscious and technology-savvy people in India will be eager to get their hands on this new fashion icon,” Chawla said.
With only a couple of weeks until the iPhone 4S launch in India, BGR.in claims to have gotten confirmed information about Apple starting to sell refurbished 16GB iPhone 4 units in India, for an amazing price Rs 22,500.
The refurbished units are factory unlocked, and you will be able to use them on any carrier of your choice (on GSM networks). And as some of you might confuse refurbished devices as second hand or unreliable pieces, be releived to know that it is not so.
Refurbished phones are the handsets sent back to Apple factories for repair work, with parts cleaned, or replaced as necessary, repacked, and sent back to the stores for sale. This whole process is completely official and legitimate, and the refurbished unit you get is just as good as a new one, except for the ‘refurbished’ tag.
Afterall, you are getting a brand new iPhone 4 for exactly INR 10,000 below the price for a new one. Also, these refurbished units come with the standard service you get with the non-refurbished iPhone, a 1 year warranty.
Google senior product manager Michael Siliski introduces the company’s digital music store. Photograph: Jae C Hong/AP
Google and Apple have stepped up their corporate battle with the launch this week of music services for their smartphone platforms.
Android handset users in the US will now be able to get access to Google Music, where the search engine company has signed up the main music labels except, so far, Warner Music.
The service is not available outside the US because Google has not completed negotiations with record labels to allow it to sell songs elsewhere.
The Google Music offering comes with exclusive content from the Rolling Stones, Coldplay, Busta Rhymes, Shakira, Pearl Jam and the Dave Matthews Band.
Songs are available in MP3 format encoded at 320Kbps. Song prices range from 69c to 99c and $1.29, the same as on Apple’s iTunes.
The absence of Warner Music means Google Music will lack some famous names such as Led Zeppelin and Prince which are available on rival stores such as Apple’s iTunes.
“They’ve got to get that [music] catalog filled pretty quickly,” said Mike McGuire, an analyst at industry research firm Gartner. “It’s a launch, but it’s kind of like a work-in-progress.”
Analysts say selling online music is unlikely to provide much of a lift to Google’s revenue. But they say Google needs to be in the market to ensure that its Android-based mobile efforts can match offerings from competitors.
Android is the world’s No. 1 smartphone operating system, powering about 200m devices worldwide. But without a music service, Android-based smartphones and tablets may not be as attractive to consumers seeking a product that offers a seamless media experience.
The service costs $25 per year, leading Jamie Rosenberg, Google’s director of digital content for Android, to take a dig at it: “Other cloud music services think you have to pay to listen to music you already own. We don’t,” he said.
via Google opens Android music store to challenge Apple iTunes guardian
- Users living in urban areas to generate 60% of total mobile traffic
- Swedish telecom equipment maker Ericsson sees a tenfold increase in mobile data traffic by the year 2016.
- Video would be the main driver behind the surge, according to the latest Traffic and Market Data report published by the company.
- Mobile broadband subscriptions are expected to reach almost five billion by 2016, up from the expected 900 million by the end of 2011. As per Ericsson, this would “represent 60% year-on-year growth.”
- However, users living in urban areas, covering less than one per cent of the Earth’s total area, are set to generate around 60% of mobile traffic.
- Traffic generated by advanced smartphones is expected to increase 12-fold by 2016, which will be almost equal to mobile PC-generated traffic
- India and China account for some 40% of the estimated global mobile subscriptions at 5.8 billion as of the third quarter of 2011, Ericsson adds.
- Motorola Razr , which was unveiled last month during an event, is set to come to India in this month. A spokesperson of the company who revealed this to The Mobile Indian, however, did not confirm any particular date.
- Sporting a mere 7.1 mm thickness, Motorola Razr features a dual-core processor and full HD recording capable camera. Most likely the Motorola Razr will be the first 4G LTE supporting Android smartphone for India unless Motorola brings its 3G version. Notably, India will see the 4G LTE roll out sometime next year.
- Motorola Razr smartphone comes with a massive 4.3 inch Super Amoled display and supports qHD 960×540 pixel resolution. The first of its kind display supporting higher resolution certainly has raised expectations of many. The slim 7.1 mm razor like profile has Kevlar plastic built body to offer stylish and premium look.
- Under the slim and strong Kevlar body, Razr packs a dual-core 1.2 GHz processor paired with 1 GB RAM. That means hardware is good enough to play your latest Android games and browse the web effortlessly. By default, the Razr will come with Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread and would be upgradable to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich whenever it is released.
- One of the pain points of Motorola has been the software updates but with recent acquisition by Google, that might be taken care of. Bootloader of this smartphone won’t be unlocked so developers can create some splendid applications.
- Shutterbugs are in for a treat with 8 megapixel camera with LED flash that will allow recording full 1080p HD video and capture high quality images using the image stabilisation technology. This smartphone also has a front facing HD camera for video calling and chat.
- Demand of mobile handsets in the country is expected to reach 350 million units per annum by 2020, says a study by industry body FICCI with market analyst firm Ernst and Young (E&Y)
- India is the world”s second-largest telecom market after China, with the total wireless subscriber base crossing 850 million at the end of June, 2011. By 2020, the handset demand is projected to reach 350 million a year,” the study said. At present, Indian mobile handset market is estimated to be in around 130 million handsets per annum.
- It added that 505 million handsets are estimated to be manufactured in India, during the same year. The study has found that average selling price (ASP) of handsets in the country is estimated to increase to Rs 2,950 by 2020 as compared to Rs 2,300 in 2010.
- In India, handsets are categorised as high, medium, low, and ultra low cost ASP devices. The medium ASP segment is likely to be the fastest growing segment in terms of volume,” Prashant Singhal, Telecom Industry Leader, E&Y, said. He added that affordability of feature-rich handsets is also expected to be a key enabler of handset adoption.
- The study sees untapped rural market to provide handset players the next phase of growth. The number of 3G subscribers expected to cross 300 million by 2020, fuelling the growth of 3G-enabled handsets. A favourable policy and regulatory initiative conducive for handset manufacturing in India is expected to drive sustainable growth in this segment,” the statement said.
- In: Market | Telecom News
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- Samsung Electronics Co overtook Apple Inc as the world’s top smartphone maker in the July-September period with a 44 percent jump in shipments, and forecast strong sales in the current quarter in a clear warning to its rivals.
- In the handset division, Samsung has no real rival models to challenge its products except for the iPhone 4S. Apple and Samsung will continue to dominate the market in the fourth quarter,” Reuters quoted Kim Hyun-joong, a fund manager at Midas Asset Management, which owns Samsung shares as saying.
- Profits from the South Korean firm’s telecoms division, announced on Friday, more than doubled from a year ago to a record 2.5 trillion won ($2.2 billion) and accounted for 60 percent of Samsung’s total profit, offsetting a plunge in earnings from its bread-and-butter memory chips.
- Shipments of smartphones jumped 44 percent from the preceding quarter to 27.8 million units, up nearly four times from a year ago, according to research firm Strategy Analytics. Apple’s iPhone sales shrank by 16 percent to 17.1 million units in the third quarter. Samsung had 23.8 percent of the global smartphone market in the third quarter, 9 points higher than Apple. Samsung’s flagship Galaxy line of products is powered by Google’s Android software.
- Samsung on Monday unveiled three new smartphones in India. These handsets are Omnia W, Wave III and Galaxy Y. Samsung Omnia W is based on Microsoft’s Windows Phone latest version code-named Mango. Equipped with 3.7-inch display and a 5MP camera, the handset has a 1.4GHz processor.
- Mobile handset maker Samsung is betting big on smartphones and expects the segment to contribute about 20% of its total revenue from mobile devices by the year-end.
- Smartphones currently contribute about 12-14% of volumes of Samsung’s mobile handset business, which is one of the largest verticals of the company. Samsung also sells other electronic items like refrigerators, ACs and televisions. When asked about the sales number, Yadav declined to comment since the company does not disclose country-specific numbers. The company has launched three new handsets to expand its smartphone portfolio taking the total number to 12.
- Samsung Omnia W is based on Microsoft’s Windows Phone latest version code-named Mango. Equipped with 3.7-inch display and a 5MP camera, the handset has a 1.4GHz processor. Features such as Windows Phone People Hub integrated with social networking services built-in Windows Live, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn allows users to always stay in touch with their social community.
- E-commerce leader Amazon has enabled its AppStore for Android users in India, according to various media reports.
- Amazon’s AppStore has over one lakh apps and is offering one paid app for free daily. Users will need to register for Amazon.com before downloading the app. Like Apple’s AppStore, users will also need to add their credit card information before accessing the app store. On the other hand, Google’s Android market, which comes loaded with all Android OS-based phones, does not require this information and only asks for it when you download a paid app. This could be a make or break for Amazon’s AppStore in India, where credit card usage is still low. By restricting access to free apps, we doubt Amazon will see much traction for its app store unless it offers a huge USP.
- According to a report by mobile market intelligence firm Research2Guidance, Google’s Android Market crossed six billion downloads in August. It also states that as of the end of August 2011, the Android Market contained 277,252 apps and on average, weather apps generated the highest total revenue from paid downloads.
- Blackberry smartphones are losing ground to the combined strength of iPhone and Android smartphones, as far as their use at the workplace is concerned, according to a survey of 1,681 U.S.-based workers released Thursday by Forrester Research.
- That finding amplifies what many have known for a while about the entrenched workplace smartphone veteran: the BlackBerry faces trouble from its competitors.
- The BlackBerry, made by Research in Motion, still leads among U.S. workers, with 42%, the survey said, with Apple”s iPhone accounting for 22% and Android devices, 26%.
- The survey also found that nearly half, or 48% of the group, said that they chose the primary smartphone used for their work without considering what their company supports. Only 29% said they chose the smartphone from a list of phones the company supports, while 23% said they had no choice in the matter.
- Often, corporate IT shops will choose BlackBerry smartphones when requiring a worker to use a specific smartphone, partly because of the perceived security benefits, many analysts, including at Forrester, have found. The growth in Android phones and the iPhone — many of them brought to workplaces by workers independently — are forcing IT shops to rethink that decision
MarketBite 