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Cellphone Usage in North Korea Now Considered a War Crime

2012-01-27T15:35:00.005-05:00

Let's be honest, living in North Korea sucks, big time. The standard of living in the country is nearly barbaric and don't even get me started on former "leader" Kim Jong-il. While the ex-dictator's death may have seemed like a bright light for the country, it has actually resulted in more restrictions. It has recently been reported that North Korea has warned its citizens that any use of a cellphone whatsoever during the mandatory 100 days of mourning (more like 100 days of celebration) for Kim Jong-il's death is prohibited and that any citizen who violates this will be treated as a war criminal.

And I thought things couldn't possibly get any worse. The Workers' Party issued the threat in an attempt to deter North Korean citizens from fleeing the country to South Korea or China. It is reported that there are nearly 23,000 defectors living in South Korea as North Korea is experiencing food shortages, among other things. It is also assumed that the rule in the country is trying to deter people fleeing in order to ensure the stability of North Korea's new leader Kim Jong-un, the son of Kim Jong-il.

Citizens attempting to flee the country, as well as those detained in China, are usually forced to work in terrible labor camps while repeat offenders are normally executed. The former dictator died on December 17th when he suffered a well-deserved heart attack at the age of 69. Years of mismanagement economically as well as stagnation have weakened the oppressive regime and it is even feared that the death of Kim Jong-il could result in public unrest (let's hope so).

Citizens of the country are severely limited in their connection to the outside world with the use of cellphones only permitted for a privileged few. However, discontent could increase if word of conditions outside the country and the other rebellions going on the world were to reach the citizens via cellphones. However, if using that phone could lead to imprisonment or execution, it could be hard for people to revolt.

United States-based research and consulting firm The Eurasia Group has identified that North Korea is the fifth-largest threat to international world stability in 2012. The firm noted that the "lack of information about events" in North Korea, as well as its new leader, is a high risk that is being "severely underplayed". It is far too early to tell what the country will be like under Kim Jong-un, though if he is anything like the man that raised him, we can assume things will only get worse.

Source: Engadget - North Korea makes using a cellphone a war crime during 100-day mourning period
Gizmodo - Using a Cell Phone in North Korea Is Now a War Crime
The Telegraph - North Korea threatens to punish mobile-phone users as 'war criminals'

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New Data Plans from AT&T

2012-01-18T20:53:00.003-05:00

On Wednesday, January 18, AT&T announced that it is adopting new smartphone and tablet data plans. These plans will begin to be offered on Sunday, January 22.

The new data plan breakdown is as follows:

- 300 MB of data will cost $20 per month (with an additional $20 charge for an extra 300MB of data if you exceed 300MB)
- 3GB of data for $30 (an additional $10 will be charged for each GB over 3GB)
- 5GB of data for $50 (also with an additional $10 charge for each GB over 5GB)

As of right now, AT&T has been offering 200MB for $15 per month, 2GB for $25 and 4GB for $45. Despite the issue of “extraordinary” amounts of data usage that AT&T dealt with back in October, there are also still customers that are lucky enough to be able to still take advantage of unlimited data from AT&T back when the company still offered it.

With tablets AT&T will now be offering either 3GB of data usage for $30 or 5GB for $50 per month. Before this new change, the company had offered 250MB for $14.99 and 2GB for $25.

All of these tablet plans run for 30 days, and unless you cancel the plan, it is automatically renewed. For each GB of additional data that users use, AT&T charges $10 in overage fees.

"Customers are using more data than ever before," said David Christopher, chief marketing officer of AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets. "Our new plans are driven by this increasing demand in a highly competitive environment, and continue to deliver a great value to customers, especially as we continue our 4G LTE deployment."

AT&T also made sure to mention that users will now receive text messages if they are close to running out of data. Users will receive messages saying what percentage of their data has been consumed, which is a very helpful feature.

Source: PCMag - AT&T Unveils New Data Plans for Smartphones, Tablets

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Looks Like Motorola Will Be Victorious in ITC Battle with Apple

2012-01-16T15:28:00.004-05:00

On Friday, January 13 Motorola Mobility said that it was generally happy with the initial, unofficial word of the U.S. ITC which stated that smartphones released by Motorola have not violated Apple’s patents.

Now of course, this is not official yet. It is merely a preliminary ruling by the ITC. The decision will not be final until there is a full vote of the ITC. The vote will not take place until March.

All of this started when Apple sued Motorola in October of 2010. Apple claimed that Motorola had violated Apple’s patents with some of their wireless technology including the Motorola Droid, Droid 2, Droid X, Cliq, BackFlip, Devour and Charm phones. Apple had requested that the ITC stop the importation of these phones due to three different patents that the company felt Motorola was violating.

However, it doesn’t seem like the ITC is agreeing with what Apple believed had happened. "We are pleased with today's favorable outcome for Motorola Mobility," said Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Motorola Mobility, Scott Offer. "Motorola Mobility has worked hard over the years to develop technology and build an industry-leading intellectual property portfolio. We are proud to leverage this broad and deep portfolio to create differentiated innovations that enhance the user experience."

Motorola and Apple have been battling out legal issues in the U.S. and around the world. Both companies have cited patent issues in an attempt to block and restrict the sales of each other’s products. Although Apple may have had some success elsewhere, it does not seem like they are going to be winning this current battle. The ITC seems pretty set against Apple’s claims, but until an official final vote is taken, we’ll just have to wait and see. Anything is possible.

Sources: Chicago Tribune - U.S. trade judge: Motorola did not infringe on Apple patents, PCMag - Apple Sues Motorola for Multi-Touch Phone Infringement and PCMag - Motorola Scores a Point Against Apple in U.S. ITC Case

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Apple Store in China Suspends Launch of iPhone 4S

2012-01-13T15:09:00.003-05:00

In the past couple of years, there have been some crazy stories about shoppers in China fighting over Apple products when they are first released; however, when the Apple iPhone 4S was released this week in Beijing, things got crazier than anyone ever anticipated. Things were so out of hand that Apple had to temporarily halt the sale of the devices.

Apple did expect that there would be an incredibly high demand for the device in China, but this is the first time that Apple has ever had to suspend the sale of a product because of its intense popularity.

It was just last week that Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, said, “Customer response to our products in China has been off the charts. With the launch in China next week, iPhone 4S will be available in over 90 countries making this our fastest iPhone rollout ever." Despite this exciting news, Apple has been forced to hold off on the launch of the iPhone 4S in China because the crowds at the Beijing store were simply too over-excited and there were several violent outbursts that occurred.

Apple spokeswoman Carolyn Wu told the Associated Press, "We were unable to open our store at Sanlitun [the Apple flagship store in Beijing] due to the large crowd, and to ensure the safety of our customers and employees, iPhone will not be available in our retail stores in Beijing and Shanghai for the time being."

Apple has said that shoppers in China that want the iPhone 4S can still purchase the device online; however, as of right now, the device is still not featured on Apple’s Chinese online store.

So why are there so many customers, you may ask? Yes, it is normal for there to be plenty of customers lined up at Apple product’s launch; however, these crowds were record-breaking. The explanation being given is that these customers were not just Apple enthusiasts, but there were also large groups of professional scalpers that were looking to purchase devices that they could then resell at highly inflated prices. However, this obviously didn’t work out for the scalpers or those genuinely wanting the new device.

Apple has not yet said how long the sales of the iPhone 4S will be halted in Apple Stores in China, but hopefully for the Chinese customers, it won’t be much longer.
If you are interested in seeing the crowds and the fights that broke out, check out the video below.

Source: PCMag - Unruly Crowds Prompt Apple to Halt iPhone 4S Sales in China

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Will Windows Phones Be Successful in 2012?

2012-01-12T15:05:00.004-05:00

Recently, there has been a lot of talk concerning the lack of success of Windows phones; however, according to Greg Sullivan, senior product manager for Windows Phone 7, things are not over for Windows phones. Sullivan said that 2012 should prove to be a great year for the phone line.

At CES the HTC Titan II and the Nokia Lumia 900 were debuted featuring Microsoft’s platform. It seems that Sullivan feels that these are just two of the many great Windows phones that will help get Microsoft’s numbers back on track.

"We're seeing great hardware from all our partners. AT&T is clearly very excited and is putting a lot behind the platform. It's not just a piece of software that got thrown over the transom to succeed or fail," Sullivan said.

Although Windows Phone seems to be having some success with AT&T, that does not mean that the other major U.S. carriers are just as excited about it. Earlier at CES, executives at Sprint were expressing their concerns about the sales numbers for Windows phones.

"We have a Windows device in our lineup, but honestly, it hasn't done well enough for us to jump back into the fire. We told Microsoft: You guys have to go build the enthusiasm for the product. We'll train our reps on why it's great...[but] the number-one reason the product was returned was the user experience," said VP of Sprint’s product realization David Owen.

Lois Fagan, director of product development for Sprint, also commented, "We want to participate in the market, but we can't build that brand by ourself. We're cautiously optimistic, but [Windows Phone] just hasn't taken off."

Sullivan responded to these remarks saying, “That's something that our Sprint team and the folks back in Redmond can work on. We're working closely with carriers to help show how Windows Phone can meet their needs across an array of slots."

Sullivan also made sure to back the statements that Nokia CEO Stephen Elop had made concerning the false rumors about Microsoft buying Nokia’s smartphone business.

"It would make it more difficult for us to have as thriving a third-party hardware ecosystem if we were directly competing with them," he said. "I think that's a challenge Google is going to face with the Motorola mobile acquisition."

Sullivan believes that there is plenty of time for Microsoft to catch up with other phone operating systems.

"This is like the PC market in the early to mid-80s. If you were going to declare a victor then, what would it have been? CP/M? Apple II? I think declaring the smartphone space locked up and done is like declaring CP/M the victor in the early '80s."

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Green Hat Purchased by IBM

2012-01-06T12:48:00.004-05:00

Green Hat (not to be confused with Red Hat), one of the largest manufacturers of automated testing tools for integration, service-oriented architecture (SOA) implementations and cloud-based deployments, is being purchased by IBM, according to an announcement by the company on Wednesday. As of the announcement, no specific terms of the acquisition have been released, though some may make their way to the internet soon.

Green Hat offers customers a virtual test environment platform that allows development teams to test their applications without having to set up a bunch of actual labs. By using a virtual testing facility, these developers save a lot of time and money, according to IBM, and the rise of smartphones and tablets have called for faster development cycles that have severely increased the developer's need for increased speed and flexibility.

Green Hat's products will be combined into IBM's Rational division, a part of the company that already offers a plethora of software development and testing tools. However, the deal does seem a bit additive for IBM, at least in the eyes of Forrester research Analyst Jeffery Hammond.

In an email from Hammond, he stated, "I think Green Hat has extended capability over what Rational Quality Manager currently has. As an example, dedicated support for SAP NetWeaver and Oracle Fusion Middleware. Also I think the support for REST functional testing is a net add for the Rational group. With the proliferation of JSON and XML-based web services we're seeing as companies build for corporate engagement platforms, functional regression testing for these APIs is going to become more and more important."

Source: Computer World - IBM acquires software testing vendor Green Hat

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Sony's Tablet S to Get Ice Cream Sandwich

2011-12-29T12:03:00.007-05:00

If you bought Sony's Tablet S when it was released, or you happened to get one for Christmas, you can count yourself lucky because it has just been confirmed that the tablet PC from Sony will be getting the old Ice Cream Sandwich treatment. The only thing is that nobody really has any idea when you may get it though, not even Sony.

A Sony representative posted on the company forums last week confirming that Android 4.0, otherwise known as Ice Cream Sandwich, will be available for the Sony Tablet S. In addition to that, the rep stated that the timing of the update, as well as other details, will be "announced in due course".

The Tablet S is already pre-loaded with Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) and hit the tablet market back in September. The 9.4" device is a little more expensive than most tablets, costing $499 for only a 16GB version and $599 for the 32GB. In addition to that it is WiFi only, at least in the United States, which means your smartphone better have WiFi hotspot if you want to use this thing literally wherever you go.

The good news is that the Tablet S does come with a lot of features designed to expand the use of the tablet, including PlayStation certification for mobile gaming, DLNA video and music streaming and an integrated universal remote control, just to name a few. Aside from the Tablet S, Sony is also poised to release the Tablet P, an Android-based clamshell device complete with a hinged pair of 5.5" screens, much like the Nintendo DS. Sony announced this device back in April but has yet to show it off in physical form.

A software development kit was released for the Tablet P in the middle of December in hopes of drawing in potential developers. Aside from that, however, the company has been pretty tight-lipped on the whole thing. The forthcoming Ice Cream Sandwich update for the Tablet S, however, follows recent news that a bunch of Sony Ericsson's Experia smartphones will also receive the Android 4.0 update beginning in late March. Whether that time frame is anywhere near that of the Tablet S remains to be seen.

Source: CNET - Ice Cream Sandwich update to flavor Sony S Tablet

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Why is the Windows Phone OS a Flop?

2011-12-28T11:51:00.006-05:00

Microsoft’s Windows Phone OS was hyped up quite a bit, but honestly, it simply hasn’t really been all that popular. It has fantastic reviews and is available on all four of the major U.S. carriers, so what is the problem? According to Gartner, a company that offers global technology research, Microsoft’s phones were only able to haul in 1.5 percent of the market in the third quarter.

Tech analysts have been thrown off guard by the Windows phones. They seem like great phones, but consumers simply don’t seem interested in them. It just does not make sense that reliable, feature-packed phones, produced by a successful, leading company, aren’t selling. Well, Charlie Kindel, an employee at Microsoft for 21 years and the Windows Phone’s chief developer has offered his opinion as to why the phones are not a slam-dunk success.

Kindel posted a blog post that stated that he believed that the phones and the Windows OS have been unsuccessful because he believes that Microsoft has worked to alienate itself from both phone manufacturers and wireless carriers. He feels that with both its required hardware specs and tight upgrade policy, Microsoft is severing relationships by limiting the freedom of both carriers and manufacturers. “This is why, despite being a superior PRODUCT to Android, Windows Phone has not sold as well,” Kindel wrote.

“Google has been wildly successful with Android (at least in terms of units) because Android was built to reduce friction between all sides of the market. It ‘bows down’ to the device manufactures AND the carriers. It enabled device manufactures to do what they do best (build lots of devices). It enabled carriers to do what they do best (market lots of devices). It enabled users tons of choice,” he wrote.

“WP (Windows Phone) raises its middle finger at both the device manufacturers and mobile carriers. WP says ‘here’s the hardware spec you shalt use’ (to the device manufacturers). And it says ‘Here’s how it will be updated’ (to the carriers).”

"Thus both of those sides of the market are reluctant. Especially the carriers, but also the device manufacturers. Remember that end users just do what they are told (by advertising and RSPs [salespeople]). Carriers own the marketing money and spend billions a year," Kindel wrote.

Right now, carriers and manufacturers are still willing to make and sell Windows phones; however, it may be due to the fact that they are afraid of becoming too attached to Google or Apple, not necessarily because they enjoy producing Windows devices.

Some of Kindel’s readers did not share his views and felt that he wasn’t necessarily considering the role of software developers and apps.

"Android and iOS are 'safe' because that's where the apps are. Anything else? Not safe. Every conversation, every ad, and every Techcrunch post, er, Verge post, will remind them of where the apps are," blogger Robert Scoble said.

"I agree with you that the relatively weak app ecosystem in WP7 also plays an important part. I do not believe it is the most important reason," Kindel responded.

Microsoft has been saying recently that it is making a major push with Nokia; however, there have been some very mixed reviews about the Nokia 800 Windows phone in the six countries that is has debuted in so far.

"Analysts said there was nothing particularly wrong with the sleek-looking handsets, other than a software glitch on some models affecting battery life, but consumers were just not biting," a Reuters report said.

Kindel said, “The question in my mind is whether Microsoft’s continued investment in WP and close partnership with device manufacturers such as Nokia will eventually enable a breakthrough here. I know that MS can be very persistent & patient; it’s been so in the past. We will see. In the meantime, Android devices will continue to sell like hotcakes and fragmentation will continue to get worse and worse.”

Sources: cek.log - Windows Phone is Superior; Why Hasn’t it Taken Off? and PCMag - Former Microsoft Exec Scopes Windows Phone's Failure

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Android Tablet from Google Said to Give Apple Some Competition

2011-12-24T09:28:00.007-05:00

This week, the chairman at Google, Eric Schmidt, said that in the next six months the company will be producing a tablet that is of the “highest quality” and will offer some serious competition to Apple’s iPad. I think that we have heard that story at least once before.

Schmidt recently did an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera that was published on Monday, December 19. In the interview he called Steve Jobs "the Michelangelo of our time," however, despite this, he claims that Google will be truly offering Apple some “brutal competition.”

Google translated Schmidt’s interview with Corriere della Sera. Jobs was "[a] friend of mine and a unique character, able to combine creativity and visionary genius with an extraordinary engineering ability," Schmidt said. "Sometimes you find people who have one thing or the other, but not the two together. Steve realized the revolutionary potential of the tablet and created an amazing product [in] the iPad.”

"But our companies compete ... in the next six months, we plan to market a tablet of the highest quality. And in mobile communications and the smartphone market, you will see brutal competition between Apple and Google Android. It's capitalism."

It is not exactly clear as to whether the tablet that Schmidt was talking about will be built by Google. Some techies seem to believe that Google will build the device and then label it with Google’s Nexus brand. So far, this brand has only been used with Android-based smartphones, but the brand could definitely expand to tablets as well.

Right now, Google’s Android OS can be found in a variety of devices including Samsung’s Galaxy Tab, Asus’s Eee Pad Transformer Prime and Xoom and Droid Xyboard devices. The company will also be introducing its mobile OS, Android 4.0 (also called Ice Cream Sandwich) in different smartphones and tablets that will be released next year.

According to Schmidt, Google currently has "the best voice translation software" available but they “must develop it” in order to “use it to do things similar to Siri,” which is the iPhone 4S’s digital assistant.

In the interview Schmidt also discussed Google’s YouTube business.

"YouTube will be more profitable because it will have more publicity," Schmidt said. "But it will not be televised. ... [T]he business model of YouTube is different [from television], it's to help people make money with content that is produced and distributed independently, but on the Internet. Even the new channels that we are creating are for the Web.”

"Of course, it's true that people often prefer to follow these channels on the Web instead of watching television, but they are two different things. We have a strategy to allow the user to combine them together, but that's part of Google TV, which will arrive in Europe in the first half of 2012."

Sources: The Economic Times - Google to Debut New Android Tablet to Win 'Brutal Competition' with Apple and PCMag - Google Promises Highest Quality Tablet in 2012

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Carrier IQ Disabled on All Sprint Devices

2011-12-16T18:13:00.005-05:00

If you own a Sprint smartphone, you may be interested in this news. Rumors have started floating around that the carrier has asked manufacturers to remove Carrier IQ's software from every single device that it carries. Naturally, Sprint doesn't comment on rumors, though the company has confirmed that it is indeed shutting down Carrier IQ software on all of its mobile phones and will no longer be collecting data from it.

The first to stumble across the news was Geek.com, who reported that "Sprint has ordered that all of their hardware partners remove the Carrier IQ software from Sprint devices as soon as possible." What isn't clear is whether or not Carrier IQ software will be removed completely or just partially. However, Sprint is doing its part to stop the Carrier IQ software from ever functioning again.

According to an email from Sprint to website Mobile Burn, "We have weighed customer concerns and we have disabled use of the tool so that diagnostic information and data is no longer being collected. We are further evaluating options regarding the diagnostic software as well as Sprint's diagnostic needs." Sprint claims that it was not using the software to spy on its customers, like going through text messages and things of that nature. In addition to that, Sprint also stated that Carrier IQ was not used for any advertisement spamming or customer profiling.

Sprint has told the public that the data was purely used for reporting network deficiencies and to allow the carrier to improve its network and service it for existing customers. Sprint has completely stopped collecting the data obtained by the software and has also reported that it disabled it on devices on the carrier's network. However, it is still hazy as to whether or not the software will be removed by future software updates for existing phones or if it will be installed on new devices going forward.

Source: Geek.com - Sprint orders all OEMs to strip Carrier IQ from their hardware
Mobile Burn - Sprint: Carrier IQ has been disabled on our devices

Flipboard App for the iPhone

2011-12-15T15:29:00.005-05:00

The new Flipboard app for Apple’s iPhone has reached more than one million downloads a mere week after it was released.

paidContent is also saying that Flipboard is not one of those apps that people download and then never use again. According to paidContent, the Flipboard app for iPad has been bringing in around 650 million flips per month, and after Apple added the app for the iPhone, numbers are on course for the app to bring in more than 2 million flips per month.

Jill Duffy, a junior software analyst for PCMag, brought up the potential issue that "one might worry that the comparatively cramped screen space might bog down the experience, but our first impressions are that design still reigns even on the smaller device," she wrote. "The usability and 'flipping' motion of paging through the app are just as graceful and pretty as they are on the iPad version."

So, some of you may be interested in what on earth the Flipboard app is. Well, it is a social reader app that offers feeds for formal news sources, as well as social networking sites, and presents them in a magazine-like format. The app seems to be a hit, as it has been receiving incredibly positive feedback from the press and Apple App Store reviews.

If this sounds like something that you would be interested in, you should definitely check it out!

Sources: PCMag - Flipboard iPhone App Logs 1 Million Downloads in a Week, paidContent.org - Flipboard’s Phone Flips Beating iPad 2:1 and Mashable Tech - Flipboard Has 5 Million Users, iPhone App Gets Million Downloads in First Week

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Samsung's New SCH-W999 Dual-Screen Flip Phone

2011-12-04T17:48:00.005-05:00

Remember flip phones? You know, the phones everybody had before smartphones, touch screens and all that jazz? Instead of pressing a button to light up a screen, you flipped the phone open to reveal a screen on top and a keypad on the bottom. Those were the good ol' days and, apparently, days many phone enthusiasts have missed because that seems like the most logical reason Samsung would create a flip phone for this generation.

That's right, not too long ago Samsung introduced its second-generation dual-screen Android clamshell phone and it has finally arrived, announced in partnership with China Telecom. This SCH-W999 flip phone comes with two 3.5" 480 x 800 Super AMOLED panels back-to-back, as well as a 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm MSM8660 processor. In addition to that, this device comes with Android 2.3 with TouchWiz, HyperSkin back cover (the same one found on the Galaxy Nexus for grip and anti-smear), 5 mp camera, Bluetooth 3.0, WiFi and WAPI, China's rendition of WiFi.

As is the case with most of the phones on China Telecom, the W999 comes with dual SIM slots, as well as dual-mode connectivity in the form of GSM and CDMA2000 with CDMA2000 offering EV-Do 3G, though it does come with support for pentaband radio for those who fancy traveling the world.

If you are looking to get your hands on one, you are looking at a 2012 release date, though there is no word yet on any specific pricing. However, if you want a comparison, the previous model, Samsung's W899, starts at $1,410 so be prepared to spend quite a bit of money if you honestly can't live without it. The phone does look pretty cool and I do have fond memories of my own flip phone from days gone by, but don't expect to see me dropping that kind of cash for nostalgia.

Source: Engadget - Samsung's two-faced SCH-W999 Android plays the dual core, dual SIM game

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AT&T Gets Fired Up About the Report Released by the FCC

2011-12-01T17:10:00.003-05:00

On Thursday, December 1 AT&T spoke out about the recent staff report that was released by the Federal Communications Commission about the AT&T and T-Mobile merger. AT&T definitely did not hold back about its feelings that the report was hypocritical and one-sided.

"The document is so obviously one-sided that any fair-minded person reading it is left with the clear impression that it is an advocacy piece and not a considered analysis," wrote Jim Cicconi, AT&T's senior vice president of external and legislative affairs, in a blog post.

The report was released by the FCC on Tuesday, November 29. That was the same day that the FCC announced that AT&T had withdrawn its merger application. AT&T said that it withdrew the application because the FCC had said that the merger was not in the interest of the public and needed to be looked at by an administrative law judge.

The FCC claims that it released all of the data that it had collected concerning the merger for the public’s sake; however, AT&T believes that the release of the information was unfair.

On Thursday AT&T thoroughly articulated its displeasure with the way that things have been handled concerning this whole situation.

"In our view the report raises questions as to whether its authors were predisposed. The report cherry-picks facts to support its views and ignores facts that don't," Cicconi wrote. "Where facts were lacking, the report speculates, with no basis, and then treats its own speculations as if they were fact. This is clearly not the fair and objective analysis to which any party is entitled, and which we have every right to expect."

There were several issues that were brought up in the FCC report that Cicconi went on to address.

AT&T made the claim that if the company were to acquire T-Mobile it would help improve its 4G LTE network; however, in the report that was released, the FCC said that AT&T will “build out” its 4G whether it acquires T-Mobile or not.

Cicconi countered this writing, “The report apparently assumes a high enough level of competition exists in rural areas to compel billions of dollars in investment. Yet the report elsewhere argues that the level of wireless competition in more populated areas of America is so fragile that the merger must be disallowed. At the very least, these conclusions show a logical inconsistency. T-Mobile has no clear path to LTE," he said.

There has also been a huge debate about whether or not the merger would create or kill jobs. The FCC claims that there will be a large amount of layoffs if the merger were to occur, but Cicconi disagrees.

"This notion—that government spending on broadband deployment creates jobs and economic growth but private investment does not—makes no sense," Cicconi wrote. "Conversely, if the FCC had applied to its own broadband fund the same analysis it used for our merger-related investments, the result would be similar—zero new broadband, zero jobs, zero growth."

Cicconi was also frustrated with the fact that the report from the FCC “barely” made mention of spectrum. "Surely, it is neither fair nor logical for the FCC to trumpet a national spectrum crisis for much of the past year and then draft a report claiming that two major wireless companies face no such constraints despite sworn declarations demonstrating the opposite."

It is clear that AT&T is thoroughly frustrated with the FCC. "We believe that the utter absence of balance is clear and demonstrates that the document lacks all credibility," Cicconi wrote. However, despite these bumps in the road, it seems as though AT&T still wishes to take whatever steps are necessary to move forward with the merger. "We understood the issues such a combination might raise, and we made clear, publicly and privately, our readiness to address those concerns. We are still ready to do so," he said.

As expected, AT&T’s rival, Sprint, seemed to agree with the report from the FCC. The company called the report “a careful, substantive analysis."

"Rather than accept the expert agency's Analysis and Findings, AT&T has chosen to make baseless claims about the FCC's process," said Vonya McCann, Sprint's senior vice president for governmental affairs, in a statement. "Let's not forget that it was AT&T who tried to game the process by requesting to withdraw its merger application in the pre-dawn hours of Thanksgiving. AT&T can't have it both ways: either it wanted to have an application that would be judged on the merits or it didn't. We agree with AT&T on one point however: the public should read the Analysis and Findings on AT&T's proposed takeover."

Sources: The Washington Post - AT&T slams FCC report on T-Mobile merger, sees bias and cherry-picking and PCMag - AT&T Slams FCC Merger Report as One-Sided

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China Ships More Smartphones Than the U.S. in the Third Quarter

2011-11-28T11:33:00.007-05:00

According to a report from Strategy Analytics in terms of the shipment of units in the third quarter, China has surpassed the United States and become the largest smartphone market in the world. Strategy Analytics reported on Wednesday, November 23 that almost 24 million smartphones were shipped to China during the third quarter. During the same time period, the United States came in a close second with just over 23 million units.

"Smartphone shipments grew 58 percent sequentially to reach a record 23.9 million units in China during Q3 2011," Strategy Analytics Analyst Linda Sui said in a statement. "In contrast, smartphone shipments fell 7 percent sequentially to reach 23.3 million units in the United States. China has overtaken the United States for the first time to become the world's largest smartphone market by volume."

Nokia became the market leader in China during the third quarter, shipping more than 6.8 million smartphones to the country or 28.5 percent of all units that were shipped. Samsung came in second with a 17.6 percent market share and shipping more than 4.2 million smartphones. According to Strategy Analytics, all other vendors made up the other 12.9 million devices unaccounted for which is 54 percent of the smartphone market in China.

"China is now at the forefront of the worldwide mobile computing boom," said Strategy Analytics Executive Director Neil Mawston. "China has become a large and growing smartphone market that no hardware vendor, component maker or content developer can afford to ignore."

"In the coming one or two quarters, it's going to be a seesaw game," Strategy Analytics director Thomas Kang said. "But going into next year, China will outstrip the U.S. market continuously. China is going to be larger every quarter."

In the United States it was HTC that came out on top, shipping the most smartphones in the third quarter. The company shipped more than 5.6 million units throughout the United States, 24 percent of the smartphone market. Apple came in second shipping more than 4.8 million iPhones, 20.6 percent of the market. All other smartphone manufacturers shipped a combined 12.9 million units, taking 55.4 percent of the smartphone market.

"China's rapid growth has been driven by an increasing availability of smartphones in retail channels, aggressive subsidizing by operators of high-end models like the Apple iPhone, and an emerging wave of low-cost Android models from local Chinese brands such as ZTE," said Kang.

Although China did take the spot as largest smartphone market in the world in terms of units shipped, Strategy Analytics did note that the United States remained the largest smartphone market in the world in terms of revenue.

Source: PCMag - China Passes U.S. as Top Smartphone Market by Volume and PCWorld - China Overtakes U.S. in Smartphone Shipments, Says Research Firm

AT&T Withdraws Merger Application

2011-11-27T13:49:00.004-05:00

On Thursday, November 24 AT&T announced that it withdrew the application that it submitted to the Federal Communications Commission in order to acquire T-Mobile. With this withdrawal there will be more than $4 billion in “break-up” fees.

AT&T made sure to clarify that although it did withdraw the application which was submitted to the FCC, the deal is not dead. The company claims that instead it will focus on the antitrust lawsuit that the Department of Justice brought forward. The lawsuit is seeking to block the merger, due to the concern about competition issues.

"AT&T Inc. and [T-Mobile parent company] Deutsche Telekom AG are continuing to pursue the sale of Deutsche Telekom's U.S. wireless assets to AT&T and are taking this step to facilitate the consideration of all options at the FCC and to focus their continuing efforts on obtaining antitrust clearance for the transaction from the Department of Justice either through the litigation pending before the United States District Court for the District of Columbia ... or alternate means," AT&T said in a statement. "As soon as practical, AT&T Inc. and Deutsche Telekom AG intend to seek the necessary FCC approval."

The decision to withdraw the merger application came just two days after Julius Genachowski, the chairman of the FCC, suggested that the merger was not in the interest of the public and advised the other commissioners to send the merger application for review to an administrative judge.

"The record clearly shows that—in no uncertain terms—this merger would result in a massive loss of U.S. jobs and investment," said a senior FCC official.

The chairman basically recommended that the deal be rejected; however, it is important to note that the FCC cannot technically block a deal. The FCC only has the ability to approve, approve with conditions or refer to an administrative law judge. When the FCC was reviewing the deal, they said that if AT&T and T-Mobile were to merge, the result would be massive layoffs. The case will go to trial in February.

There are several different consumer groups that feel that the withdraw of the merger application is meant as a last effort to save the merger.

"After today's actions, the chances that AT&T will take over T-Mobile are almost gone," President and Co-founder of Public Knowledge Gigi B. Sohn said in a statement. "While you can never count out AT&T entirely, the fact that they pulled their FCC application speaks volumes about the company's lack of confidence that it could prove in a legal setting at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) the claims it spent millions of dollars to make about job creation and rural deployment of broadband, among other issues."

Sohn said that she believes that AT&T is attempting to "prevent the FCC from making public its many, well-documented findings that the deal is not in the public interest."

The Senior Vice President and Policy Director of Media Access Project Andrew Jay Schwartzman said that this decision from AT&T is an "act of desperation." "It is time for vainglorious managers at AT&T to accept that there is no way that this deal can obtain approval of the FCC and the courts," he said.

Source: PCMag - AT&T Pulls T-Mobile Merger Application From FCC, Will Take $4B Charge

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Galaxy Nexus Users Deal with "Phantom Volume" Issue

2011-11-21T12:49:00.006-05:00

Random glitches seem to plague every high-profile smartphone that is released these days. Maybe smartphone manufacturers are working so hard at getting them to the public as quickly as possible that they aren’t testing them enough and catching these glitches. Whatever it is, there have been some major smartphone issues. Recently, we had the issue concerning the iPhone 4S battery, and now the Samsung Galaxy Nexus has a “phantom volume” issue.

According to various reports from Galaxy Nexus users, their Android 4.0 phone’s volume will randomly move up and down on its own. Some users seem to be pretty fed up with the issue.

"Got my Galaxy Nexus on Friday night and so far I've been pretty impressed on the whole, however, the volume seems to have a ghost which makes it go up and down at its own accord!!" a user named finchilla wrote on the forums for U.K. wireless carrier O2. "I don't even have to be touching it and when it happens you have to wait for the volume bar to disappear before you can use the screen!!"

Finchilla even went so far as to post a YouTube video that demonstrates the issues that they have been experiencing with the smartphone.

DrGed, another Galaxy Nexus user, said that he also was having difficulties with the volume glitch. However, he did mention that he only experienced problems when he was making a phone call on 2G. "It makes phone calls pretty much impossible when on 2G!" he wrote.

On the xda-developer.com forum, there have also been Galaxy Nexus users that have reported issues with the phone.

"I just received a phone call and the volume rocker I had to fight with to try and get it full volume. Phone won, call was quiet," wrote her0n.

"This morning the volume went down on its own. I actually saw the volume bar appear and decrease, as if I was pushing down on the rocker. It happened twice," wrote jonnyguitar. "Both times I was hammering the phone so perhaps it's related to RAM? The first time I was moving six 400mb avi files from one folder to another using a file manager app and listening to MP3s at the same time."

“I've got the volume problem too. Picked up my phone today and it’s done it about 5 times in the past hour or so while I've been playing with the phone. Usually coincides with me sending/ receiving a text message. Really annoying problem as I don’t know I have received a text most of the time,” wrote dumb donkey.

O2 was asked about the volume issue via Twitter. The company’s response this morning was that "unfortunately we don't have a fix, it has been reported to Google & Samsung though. Sorry!"

The glitch has reportedly caused Vodafone to hold off on releasing the device. "We're continuing to test the Galaxy Nexus software to ensure our customers get the best possible experience of the device," wrote Vodafone community manager Tom in a forum post on Thursday. "We'll provide concrete details on availability of the device once the testing process has been successfully completed."

The Galaxy Nexus is set to debut in the United States on Verizon Wireless; however, Verizon has not announced when it will be releasing the smartphone. Hopefully, all of the glitches will be worked out by the time the device hits the U.S.

Sources: PCMag - Samsung Galaxy Nexus Users Report 'Phantom Volume' Bug and xdadevelopers - Issues After 24 Hours

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Archos Reveals Budget-Friendly Arnova 9 G2 Tablet

2011-11-18T15:42:00.007-05:00

Tablets are amazing pieces of technology. They offer convenience and portability and also offer lots of fun interaction with touch screens and apps. However, while tablets are cool, you are going to have to fork over a nice piece of cash if you want to get a good one worth having. Thankfully there are companies out there, like Archos, that still put an effort into more low end devices, like the company's new Arnova 9 G2 tablet.

While Honeycomb may be on the minds of recent tablet developers, Gingerbread is on the mind of Archos, as that is the operating system implemented into the all new Arnova 9 G2, a 9.7" device with tablet-friendly modifications to Android. However, despite being on the low end of the spectrum, the Arnova 9 G2 does have some respectable hardware, mainly in the form of a 1GHz ARM processor and 8GB of built-in storage.

In a rather strange move, the Arnova 9 G2 tablet has a 4:3, 1,024 x 768 LCD screen, just like the one on Apple's iPad and HP's Touchpad. This is a definite departure from the "status quo" screen of most Android devices, which primarily use a 16:9 or 16:10 ratio. Due to the lower pixel density for a panel of this size and resolution, it is probably a lot cheaper to manufacture than the ones that are more prevalent on the market today.

In a not so strange move, WiFi is the only wireless option, though Archos has continued its tradition of expandibility with a microSD card slot, micro and full-size USB ports. Like many Gingerbread tablets currently on the market, Google services and Android Market access are absent.

The fact that this device users Gingerbread may be an big detriment, especially considering the fact that Ice Cream Sandwich is more or less here. However, Archos does have quite the community of modders, so you can definitely expect to see an ICS ROM show up once this tablet is officially released. Speaking of release, there has yet to be any official pricing or availability released by Archos, but I would expect the price to be considerably less than the already cheap G9 Honeycomb tablets. Keep checking back for updates as they come.

Source: Android Community - Archos Arnova 9 G2 budget-friendly tablet revealed

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T-Mobile Reports An Increase in U.S. Customers

2011-11-12T16:53:00.006-05:00

It was announced on Thursday, November 10 that T-Mobile has been able to increase its number of U.S. customers during the last quarter. This is the first time that the company has been able to do so in over a year.

"A decline of 186,000 contract customers in the third quarter was offset by an increase in prepay customers of 312,000," Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile's parent company, stated during an earnings report.

Deutsche Telekom seemed to be very surprised by the progress that T-Mobile had made. They said that T-Mobile had "reported somewhat more positive development than in past quarters."

Deutsche Telekom went on to say that, on average, T-Mobile brings in about $14 per customer in revenue. This is a 13 percent jump from this time last year. Although T-Mobile is the only carrier out of the four major U.S. carriers to not offer the iPhone, it reported that the number of its customers with smartphones has increased by 40 percent, reaching 10.1 million customers.

"The improvement in earnings was largely attributable to successful savings initiatives and new rate plans without subsidized handsets," Deutsche Telekom said.
So, the big question is whether or not these improvements will affect AT&T’s efforts to purchase T-Mobile. One of AT&T’s main points during a recent Department of Justice lawsuit was that T-Mobile is going downhill and can only be saved if a company like AT&T saves it.

In September, in response to the DOJ, AT&T said that different rivals like Sprint are unable to "explain how T-Mobile, the only major carrier to have actually lost subscribers in a robustly growing market, provides a unique competitive constraint on AT&T."

"For the past two years, T-Mobile has been losing customers despite growing demand, and, without the spectrum to deploy a 4G LTE network such as that deployed by the other carriers, there is no reason to expect a change in its undifferentiated competitive significance," AT&T continued.

There is also a major debate about if the AT&T and T-Mobile merger were to occur whether or not it would create or kill jobs. The Communication Workers of America put out a report on Tuesday that said that the merger would create thousands of job, and the Economic Policy Institute said that a merger between the two mobile carriers could create somewhere between 55,000 and 96,000 jobs over the next seven years. They did, however, mention that this would only occur if AT&T followed through on its promise to invest $8 billion into its infrastructure over the seven year period.

However, the director of the Center for Economics and Public Policy at the University of California at Irvine, David Neumark, said in a report released in August that "AT&T has actually told investors and the federal government that the merger would lead to reduced capital expenditures on net. If you take EPI's own logic and apply that net reduction in capital expenditures to the data, you predict fewer jobs, not more jobs."

Who knows what will happen? AT&T is clearly the stronger company, but it is also apparent that T-Mobile is taking steps towards being a much more successful mobile carrier. Who knows if T-Mobile has enough time to save themselves though? One successful quarter does not mean that they are necessarily heading in the right direction overall. We’ll just all have to wait and see how it goes.

Source: PCMag - T-Mobile Adds Customers as Battle Over AT&T Merger Continues

Smarter, Stronger, Indoor GPS Technology Coming Soon

2011-11-04T21:32:00.005-04:00

Almost all of the smartphones that are available these days feature GPS navigation, as well as different location-based apps; however, that doesn’t mean that you want to use them all of the time. Using these features can drain the life right out of your phone. There are also issues with using such features indoors. Most of the time you cannot even get a GPS satellite to find you when you're inside.

These are all issues that could definitely use some good solutions. CSR announced that it is working on its next generation of GPS functions for cell phones, portable navigation devices and car systems. The company has announced three main new types of technology that they will be focusing on: SiRFstar V, SiRFusion, and SiRFprima II. These will improve some of the problems that there have been with GPS navigation and smartphones.

"Traditionally, when trying to solve satellite navigation problems [on a technical level], it's been in the car—such as with urban canyons and sight line issues," said Kanwar Chadha, CSR’s chief marketing officer and founder of SiRF. "To most extents, we have solved this problem [with SiRFstar V]. However, we're still in a very early stage of what I call the indoor navigation experience, when using Wi-Fi or cellular connections, for example."

Basically, the issue right now is that developers need to find a way to make location awareness available everywhere. They also need to figure out how to provide users with a seamless experience when they transition from being outside to inside. This technology will be especially useful in places like museums, malls, hospitals, university campuses and airports.

"We're seeing a fundamental shift in how devices will be built and how content will be made available," Chadha said. He went on to say that most manufacturers tend to focus on cloud computing; however, he prefers to spend his time looking into “cloud contenting.” This has to do with individual sensors and radios in different devices including accelerometers, gyroscopes and compasses.

The technology that Chadha likes to focus on would help with the battery draining issue. Instead of draining your battery every time that you utilize location-based features, something within the device would be able to take care of supervising and optimizing battery use when using the features, while also adding precision.

"Let's say you're sitting at a desk inside with your mobile device," Chadha said. "We can keep the location engine off until we receive a signal from the accelerometer that there is a movement. The device is still location aware, but until that happens, we aren't consuming any power."

Chadha also said that CSR is looking to make improvements to its automotive systems. He said that the plan is to move from self-contained systems to systems that are more connected through things like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and different links to the cloud.

"We're also trying to bring the cost factor down," Chadha said. "The idea is that a complete, connected automotive infotainment system with augmented reality should cost just a few hundred dollars, rather than a few thousand dollars like current in-car navigation systems."

These will all be some great improvements to both mobile devices and automotive systems. Hopefully, it will not take CSR too long to figure all of this out, because I know that I sure can’t wait! These upgrades could make a big difference in the way that we use GPS navigation.

Source: PCMag - Indoor GPS Coming Soon to Cell Phones

Amazon Ships Samsung Galaxy Tab 7 Plus Early, Available Now

2011-11-04T17:59:00.007-04:00

It appears as if Amazon has jumped the gun much sooner than Samsung expected it to on the company's new round of tablet PCs. The all new Samsung Galaxy Tab 7 Plus was made official by Samsung in late October with a shipping and availability date of November 13. However, Amazon has been offering pre-orders since the early part of October and appears to be shipping already, with overnight delivery also available.

The Galaxy Tab 7 Plus is the replacement to the original 7" Galaxy Tab, and this device gives us Android 2.3 Honeycomb as opposed to Gingerbread as well as a pumped up dual-core processor and some other nice additions. The Galaxy Tab 7 Plus gives us a 7" 1,024 x 600 resolution display, complete with 3MP camera on the back of the device and a 2MP camera on the front for video chatting. All of this is powered by a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM and Android 3.2.

In addition to that, this device comes with either a 16GB or 32GB variation and, according to the picture on Amazon, is available right now, with shipments beginning yesterday. Users should expect their device any time now and overnight delivery is also available for anybody interested. Pricing begins at $399 for the 16GB version and $499 for the 32GB version, though some are thinking this to be a bit high, especially considering the prices of the Transformer and Kindle Fire that are coming out soon.

Regardless, this is still a very portable and very powerful tablet and if you are good with the price, you should probably buy one quickly because Amazon has already started selling and there is no telling when they will sell out. I wonder what Samsung thinks about all this?

Source: Android Community - Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus shipping early from Amazon, get one today

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Battery Issues with the iPhone 4S

2011-10-31T21:40:00.006-04:00

Just recently, there have been some issues discovered with the battery of the newest version of the iPhone. Apple engineers have been spending their time contacting iPhone 4S owners to make them aware of the problem.

The iPhone 4S became available to consumers just over two weeks ago, and ever since its release users have been raising concerns about unexplainable battery loss on the device, even when the phone is on standby. One individual dealt with a ten percent drop every hour according to The Guardian.

"I then got a call from a senior [Apple] engineer who said he had read my post and was 'reaching out' to users for data and admitted this was an issue (and that they aren't close to finding a fix!) and asked lots of questions about my usage and then asked if he could install the file below and that he would call back the day after to retrieve the info," he told The Guardian.

When the iPhone 4S was first released, the CEO of Apple, Tim Cook, promised that the device would feature a much longer battery life; however, some of the devices are obviously not fulfilling that promise. According to Sascha Segan, a lead mobile analyst at PCMag, the Sprint iPhone 4S got 7 hours and 33 minutes of continuous 3G talk time, while the Verizon iPhone 4 only got 6 hours and 17 minutes. This would make it seem like the iPhone 4S does follow through with the promise that Cook made, but there are still the incidents surrounding battery issues.

Although Cook promised longer battery life, he did add that “it delivers on Apple's promise of longer battery life - as long as you have strong wireless signal." There’s the catch!

If you’re having issues with your iPhone 4S’s life, there are things that you can do to reduce the loss of battery life. You can drop push e-mail, lower the brightness of the screen, turn off all calendar notifications and shut down the Wi-Fi when you aren’t using it.

Hopefully, the issues will be worked out soon, because there is nothing more frustrating than having a phone that dies on you all of the time. Knowing Apple, they will have it worked out sooner than later.

Sources: PCMag - Report: Apple Investigates iPhone 4S Battery Issue and PCWorld - Apple iPhone 4S Battery Drain: Guessing Game Continues

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Android Ice Cream Sandwich to Add Native Stylus Support

2011-10-21T17:28:00.005-04:00

Android OS 4.0, adorably nicknamed Ice Cream Sandwich, has just let loose information on another new feature that will be gracing your Android devices when this highly anticipated operating system update hits handhelds in the future. The newest feature to be revealed is native support for smartphones and tablets with a digital stylus, a feature confirmed by Google.

This new feature will include pressure recognition, hover tracking and nib-tilt with a differentiation between pen and finger use. In addition to that, a specific stylus API, which was discovered by Reddit, will be able to differentiate between stylus, finger, mouse and eraser and will even support pens with up to three buttons. Before this, devices like the HTC Flyer and Samsung Galaxy Note required custom pen-control systems to be created in order to handle their digital styli.

Google is expecting big things from this feature including its capability to be used to improve Android phones and tablets in drawing and sketching applications. Google also hopes that it will help in boosting precision for gestures as well. Handwriting and shape recognition are also a few possibilities, even though Android currently lacks a native handwriting recognition engine.

In addition to all of this, Google has added a basic painting app, known as TouchPaint, to its API demo code. This allows developers to become capable with the different elements of the new functionality. However, it is still unknown what HTC and Samsung will do in regards to their own custom APIs. Samsung released the Galaxy Note source code on October 20 as a part of its strategy to get third-party developers to produce apps for the S Pen stylus. The HTCdev team has also stated that it too was prioritizing the Flyer, as well as the Jetstream, pen API in its developer outreach.

Source: SlashGear - Ice Cream Sandwich adds native stylus support to Android

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Ever Wonder How Much It Costs to Make the iPhone 4S?

2011-10-21T11:45:00.003-04:00

How much do you think it costs to make the iPhone 4S? Apple is charging anywhere from $199 to $399 for the device, but obviously it doesn’t really cost that much to manufacture it…does it?

According to a breakdown that was released by IHS iSuppli on Thursday, October 20, all of the materials for the 16GB iPhone 4S come to a total of $188. Then if you also add in the manufacturing costs, the total goes up to $196. If you add gigabytes to the device, the price will increase further. A 32GB device costs $207 and a 64GB phone costs $245.

Although the outside of the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 4S are completely identical, iSuppli said that the inside of the iPhone 4S offered a "wealth of innovation." "Key among these changes is a custom part from Avago that helps give the iPhone 4S its unique capability to be used in multiple wireless systems globally, while still keeping costs down," Andrew Rassweiler, senior director of teardown services for IHS, said in a statement. "In another surprise development, the 4S employs a Hynix NAND flash memory device. While IHS has already confirmed multiple suppliers for this part, it does mark the first time that IHS has identified a Hynix NAND flash in an iPhone, as opposed to devices from Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. or Toshiba Corp. seen in all previous iPhone and iPad teardowns."

The wireless parts incur a chunk of the cost, totaling $23.54 in all versions. The phone also possesses a dual-mode design which iSuppli said was "a unique design approach compared to that used by most cell phone makers, which use different models with unique wireless subsystems to support various wireless carriers' standards."

It also has the Avago component that allows the device to support 2G and 3G technology across multiple different bands. "This is a very special converged approach that gives Apple a real technology lead over most other manufacturers, further reducing the complexity of the radio frequency/power amplifier (RF/PA) section of the iPhone line beyond Apple's already highly-integrated design," Rassweiler said.

Other costs for the production of the smartphone include: $23 for the 3.5-inch display, $14 for the touch screen, $17.60 for the 8-megapixel camera, and $15 for the Qualcomm baseband processor.

"Qualcomm obviously is a big winner in the 4S, with the company now taking sole ownership of the baseband processor position with its MDM6610 device," said Wayne Lam, a senior analyst for wireless communications at IHS. "While the Qualcomm MDM6600 was in the CDMA version of the iPhone 4, the Intel (formerly Infineon Technologies AG) PMB9801 was used in the HSPA model. In the iPhone 4S, Qualcomm no longer has to share the iPhone 4 baseband design win with Intel. It will be interesting to see how Intel responds in terms of winning back this socket in the next design cycle."

Another incredibly expensive aspect of the phone is the memory subsystem. For the 16GB phone it is $19.20, $38.40 for the 32GB version and $76.80 for the 64GB phone.
I don’t know about you, but I personally was surprised at how expensive the phone really is to manufacture. Apple is still making plenty of profit off of it I am certain, but I never would have guessed that it was so expensive to make. I guess it makes sense when you have such a well-made product though. Now I can better understand why the iPhone is so expensive.

Source: PCMag - How Much Does it Cost to Make the iPhone 4S?

T-Mobile's New Dual-Screen Smartphone

2011-10-17T15:50:00.003-04:00

On Monday, October 17 T-Mobile unveiled the “ultimate multi-tasking handset,” the dual-screen LG DoublePlay.

The DoublePlay smartphone has some amazing features. It offers a 3.5-inch touchscreen at the top of the phone as well as a 2-inch bottom touchscreen when you slide out the keyboard, which is a QWERTY keyboard that is split on both sides of the bottom display. The smartphone also comes standard with Swype, which allows for easy texting. T-Mobile said that it "allows users to perform multiple tasks at once such as updating their Facebook pages while simultaneously surfing the Web, texting or checking email." The DoublePlay runs a 1-GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor as well as Android 2.3. It also features a fantastic 5-megapixel camera with an LED flash and 1080 HD video recording.

"Whether sending texts or emails, checking in on social media sites, or browsing the Web, consumers are looking for fun and easy ways to stay connected to the people and things that matter most to them," said Kim Swanson, director of product management at T-Mobile USA. "With the introduction of the LG DoublePlay and its unique dual-screen design, we are bringing the ultimate multitasking tool to our customers."

Unfortunately, T-Mobile has not yet announced when they will be releasing the DoublePlay and how much it will cost customers. However, there have been recent reports that the device will launch on November 2 and will cost users $149.99.

Just as a side note, the DoublePlay will be the device that is used for the 2011 U.S. National Texting Championship. The competition seeks to find the fastest texter in the United States and rewards whoever can text the fastest with a grand prize of $50,000. Obviously, if the DoublePlay is being chosen for a national texting competition, it has to be a great media phone. If you’re a constant texter, this could be the phone for you!

iPhone 4S Sales Are Going Well

2011-10-15T17:23:00.003-04:00

On Friday, October 14 Sprint and AT&T were both able to boast about their sales and activation numbers for the iPhone 4S. The numbers prove that consumers are extremely excited about the latest version of Apple’s iPhone.

The weekend before the iPhone 4S’s release the preorders for the device sold out on Apple’s online store, and on Friday sales continued to boom.

"Sprint today reported its best ever day of sales in retail, web and telesales for a device family in Sprint history with the launch of iPhone 4S and iPhone 4," said Fared Adib, Sprint's product chief, in a statement. "We reached this milestone at approximately noon CT/1pm ET. The response to this device by current and new customers has surpassed our expectations and validates our customers' desire for a truly unlimited data pricing plan."

Three of the four major U.S. mobile carriers began selling the iPhone 4S on Friday: AT&T, Sprint and Verizon. Although the lines outside the stores were smaller than the lines for the launch of the iPad 2, there were still plenty of consumers that were hyped about the latest version of the iPhone. Sprint announced earlier in the week that they had already sold out of its cheapest version of the iPhone 4S, while Apple said that they had sold 1 million devices via preorders. Obviously, these devices are selling well.

AT&T reported that it had "record activations," although they did not attach a number to that statement. "As of 4:30 pm ET today, AT&T had already activated a record number of iPhones on our network – and is on-track to double our previous record for activations on a single day,” was all that the carrier said.

However, all of these record sales numbers do not mean that the activation process was a breeze.

All of the devices required a two-year contract with either AT&T, Verizon Wireless or Sprint, unless the customer wanted to pay almost an extra $500 for an unlocked iPhone 4S. Once buyers, especially AT&T’s customers, attempted to power up and activate their new phones, there were some reports of the activation process being slow.

"Seven iPhone 4s activation attempts in a row... #ATTFail," tweeted one buyer.
There have been different delays and glitches with the whole process, but hopefully the issues will die down in the next few days so that customers can enjoy their latest version of the iPhone.

Apple Unveils New iPhone 4S

2011-10-05T22:42:00.005-04:00

The second coming of the iPhone 4 has arrived, led by none other than new Apple CEO Tim Cook. This adds a new milestone to Apple, being the first to launch three new handsets in 2011.

Aesthetically the iPhone 4S looks identical to its predecessor but the real changes are on the inside. Inside the new device Apple has added a dual-core A5 CPU alongside a new dual-core GPU that apparently boosts graphics performance 7x. On the front of the device is the same old 3.5" Retina display that has become quite the Apple fan favorite with a glass plate on the back.

The side antennae, which caused many problems during release, have been upgraded as well and iOS will now intelligently switch between two different sets on the fly to avoid dropping calls. In addition to that, those antennae are connected to a dual-mode GSM and CDMA radio that will allow Apple's handset to roam the globe while still enjoying either 14.4Mbps HSPA+ or EV-DO Rev. A.

The back of the iPhone 4S also sports a new 8 megapixel camera with a backside illuminated CMOS sensor for better low-light performance. In addition to that, the lens also comes with a new 5-element assembly with a hybrid IR filter and also sports aperture down to f/2.4.

The revamped visuals also extend to the video performance. The 4S can now record 1080p video and also has a new image signal processor for image stabilization as well as facial recognition. The camera itself is also a little faster, requiring only 1.1 seconds before being ready to take the first picture and only 0.5 seconds between successive images.

The new iPhone 4S is also Apple's first handset to feature a Siri virtual assistant tech built in. All you have to do is tap the mic on the keyboard and start talking into your phone, which will then convert your voice into text, check the weather, get directions or even perform web searches.

A typical eight hours of talk battery life can be experienced over 3G and 14 hours over 2G while web browsing over 3G will drop you down to six hours. You should get somewhere around nine hours of web when using WiFi and 10 hours of video playback with music topping out at 40 hours.

The 4S will come in both black and white colors for a starting price of $199 for a 16GB model and $299 for a 32GB model. However, both of those pale in comparison to the newly announced 64GB model which will run you a hefty $399. Pre-orders will become available Friday, October 7th with a shipping date of October 14th in the United States, Canada, Australia, United Kingdom, France, Germany and Japan.

Oh, and if that isn't enough, you should also be happy to know that Apple has now added Sprint to its family in the United States with Vodafone, O2, Orange, T-Mobile and Three holding down the fort in the UK.

Source: Engadget - iPhone 4S officially announced: lands October 14th starting at $199 in sizes ip to 64GB, coming to Sprint

New Photo Session App from Flickr

2011-09-29T18:35:00.003-04:00

On Thursday, September 29 Flickr unveiled an official Android app that will allow users to share their photostreams in real-time via a new feature called Photo Session.

The Android app is now available, and it lets users quickly snap photographs, enhance them with one of the optional filters and post them on social networking sites including Facebook, Twitter and Flickr. Sound easy? It is!

The app gives you a variety of different options that allow you to adjust your camera settings. Options include flash, shutter focus and ratio selection. Once you have taken the pictures, you can then view them by swiping through the images or tapping the screen to allow you to view them in full screen or slideshow modes.

"Browsing and navigating has been custom designed for Flickr to make use of maps, tags, and activity around your photos," Flickr said in a blog post. "You can stay up to date with the latest comments and activity on your photos and take advantage of gorgeous full screen browsing and slideshows."

The app also allows you to control how private you would like your pictures to be. You will be able to choose who will be able to download your images.

The new app also lets you and a small group of family or friends view and interact with the pictures that you take in real-time.

"Just got back from your African safari? Invite your friends to a Photo Session and inspire wanderlust in one and all. It's a girl? Congrats! The whole family is dying to meet her," Flickr said. "So set up a Photo Session to show off the latest pics of your newest member of the family and fill them in on every gurgle."

To access this, all you have to do is select all of the photos that you want to publish. Then invite up to 10 family members or friends to share them with. "Seamlessly flip through images as you doodle on your photos with the drawing tool and chat with each other, all at the same time. You can also pause or scroll through the photos at your own pace," Flickr said.

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BlackBerry Curve 9360 Available at T-Mobile September 28

2011-09-22T18:53:00.005-04:00

T-Mobile announced on Wednesday the upcoming availability of the BlackBerry Curve 9360. The Curve 9360 is said to combine powerful new BlackBerry features with an attractive price point according to the company.

This new device will be available in two different color variants, black and merlot. In addition to that, it will also be running the latest BlackBerry 7 operating system and utilize the powerful BlackBerry 7 Webkit-browser. This is good for those tech junkies out there that absolutely cannot live without their CrackBerry...I mean BlackBerry.

The new Curve is also designed to address a large, important segment of the global mobile phone market with consumers looking to upgrade their existing phone or current BlackBerry Curve by getting a more affordable, easy-to-use, full-featured and socially-connected phone.

The new BlackBerry Curve comes with an all new sleek design, including a 2.4" screen, full QWERTY keyboard and navigation trackpad, making it perfect for mobile communication via call, text or email. In addition to that, it is also equipped with essential smartphone features like a 5-megapixel camera with flash, video recorder and WiFi connectivity.

The new Curve also comes with the latest edition of BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) pre-loaded and extends the real-time BBM experience to a host of other applications like Foursquare, allowing you to easily stay connected with all of your friends via your social networking sites.

The BlackBerry Curve 9360 is available in an exclusive pre-sale for T-Mobile business customers right now and will be available in the black color finish at T-Mobile retail stores and select dealers beginning on September 28 for $79.99 on a new two-year agreement and after a $50 mail-in rebate. The merlot finish is expected to hit stores on October 12.

Source: Engadget - T-Mobile's BlackBerry Curve 9360 available for $79 on September 28th, swanks it up with a merlot variant

Apps from Nintendo? Not Any Time Soon!

2011-09-19T14:09:00.004-04:00

The biggest app category in Apple’s App Store is games. However, according to The Loop, Nintendo does not plan to capitalize on that any time soon. Although Nintendo has been pressured by investors to begin designing games for iOS devices like the iPhone, the iPad and the iPod, according to comments made by Nintendo President Satoru Iwata, there are not any plans for games for iOS devices in the company’s near future.

“This is absolutely not under consideration,” Iwata told the Japanese news site Nikkei after a 3DS press conference. “If we did this, Nintendo would cease to be Nintendo. Having a hardware development team in-house is a major strength. It’s the duty of management to make use of those strengths. It’s probably the correct decision in the sense that the moment we started to release games on smartphones we’d make profits. However, I believe my responsibility is not to short term profits, but to Nintendo’s mid and long term competitive strength.”

However, tablets are on the rise. Will Nintendo need to change their stance in order to remain competitive?

“Collectively, iPad gamers are showing slightly decreased involvement with gaming on home consoles, mobile phones, and Nintendo handheld consoles,” Interpret analyst Jason Preston said in a statement. “These facts imply that iPad game developers and publishers can definitely reach a new audience on the iPad.”

Nintendo has already been going through some rough waters with the 3DS. In August the company had to drastically drop the price of their 3D hand-held device from $249.99 to $169.99. Nintendo felt that this was necessary to boost the sales numbers for the console a mere six months after its release.

On top of all of these issues that Nintendo is having, games sales are also down. In the July earnings report, Nintendo reported its first quarterly loss in its entire history. Despite this, Iwata does not seem to be concerned. He believes that Nintendo has a successful business model that will show its worth when the holiday seasons rolls around a little later this year.

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Droid Bionic Now Available

2011-09-08T13:25:00.005-04:00

With absolutely no lack of enthusiasm, Verizon Wireless has officially announced the release of the much anticipated Droid Bionic by Motorola. This much talked about device was first announced and unveiled all the way back in January during CES and eager Verizon customers have been waiting ever so patiently to get their hands on it.

The device, which looks stunning in my opinion, is physically available today at any Verizon retailer or online store for $299.99 with a new two-year agreement as is customary with Verizon.

The Droid Bionic is a 4G LTE device that runs the latest Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread OS. It is powered by a dual-core 1GHz processor and comes with a beautiful 4.3-inch qHD display. What's more, this beautiful screen is scratch resistant thanks to Corning Gorilla Glass. The screen also has a dual-layer anti-reflective coating to make it all the more special.

Full specifications of the Droid Bionic include:

1GB of RAM

32GB of memory with 16GB on board and 16GB on a pre-installed microSD

Front-facing camera that allows for video chatting via 4G LTE, 3G or WiFi

8 megapixel auto-focus rear camera with flash and full 1080p HD video capture

Mirror Mode with HDMI out that supports full 1080p HD video playback

MOTOPRINT application allowing you to print through a WiFi-enabled printer

Multi-window options for easy multitasking

Adobe Flash Player pre-installed

HTML 5 capabilities

Wireless charger support

Business ready with advanced security features

In addition to the Droid Bionic, Verizon is also offering all the bells and whistles that one might want or need when using this device. Verizon is also offering the Lapdock for $299.97, the HD Station for $99.99, the Webtop Application Adapter for $29.99, the Car Navigation Dock for $39.99 and the Battery Dock for $49.99.

Needless to say, this definitely looks like the device everybody has been waiting for. I'm just mad that I don't have an available upgrade on my Verizon account for another 9 months. But by then, something bigger and better than this will probably have already come out.

Source: TFTS - Verizon Wireless Makes It Official: Motorola Droid Bionic Coming September 8th

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Samsung Announces Galaxy S II LTE and Galaxy Tab 8.9 LTE

2011-08-28T16:00:00.007-04:00

Samsung has just announced the LTE editions of the Galaxy S II and Galaxy Tab 8.9, both of which offer high-speed 4G connectivity in addition to increased power, portability and screen technology.

According to President and Head of Samsung's Mobile Communications Business JK Shin, "With the introduction of Galaxy S II LTE and Galaxy Tab 8.9 LTE, we will take the capabilities of these devices to a whole new level. LTE redefines the user experience made possible by these devices and opens entirely new possibilities in terms of content viewing, sharing, quality and connectivity. This is a milestone in our commitment to lead the charge in 4G mobile telephony around the world, both in terms of back-end network solutions for service providers and the development of powerful consumer handsets."

LTE technology, when connected to a 4G network, allows portable devices to download high quality files at speeds of up to 100Mbps. In addition to that, it also allows these devices to upload information at 50Mbps, five times faster than the fastest HSPA+ connection. What this means is that a four minute MP3 song can be downloaded in 0.3 seconds or a full length movie in under two minutes.

The enhanced connectivity that comes with LTE technology broadens the range of possibilities for the user. You can enjoy a plethora of features seamlessly, including social gaming, video conferencing and high-quality media streaming. In addition to that, 4G technology also allows you to seamlessly and instantly share multimedia content with anybody, anywhere, anytime.

Unfortunately, the announcement about these two devices is all there is at the moment. Samsung has yet to release any sort of pricing or availability information though it is rumored that both the Samsung Galaxy S II LTE and Galaxy Tab 8.9 LTE will both debut at IFA.

Source: Engadget - Galaxy S II LTE and Galaxy Tab 8.9 LTE announced, set to debut at IFA

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Samsung's Super Fast 6Gbps SSDs

2011-08-12T14:15:00.005-04:00

Samsung Electronics has just announced volume production of SSDs that support the Serial ATA Revision 3.0 interface with data transmissions at 6Gbps. These new high performance PM830 SSDs are also available in up to 512GB volumes.

According to Executive Vice President of Memory Sales & Marketing, Device Solutions for Samsung Wanhoon Hong, "Samsung's new lineup of advanced SSDs will raise the performance bar to the next level for ultra-slim notebooks and tablets and accelerate growth of the market for high-performance SSDs."

These new high-speed SSDs from Samsung are perfect for use in high-performance OEM notebooks and tablets. Sample production of the SATA 6Gbps 512GB SSDs started back in May with volume production initiated earlier this month. The new drives are expected to take over for the SATA 3Gbps-based SSDs by the end of the year.

Hong went on to say, "The industry is expected to quickly embrace SATA 6Gbps-based SSDs, which also will help increase market interest in 256GB and higher densities significantly."

The SATA 6Gbps SSD shortens system boot times to nearly 10 seconds while the high-performance allows you to download as many as 5 DVD files in under a minute. The 512GB SSD will utilize the most advanced 20 nanometer class 32Gigabit multi-level cell NAND memory chip that Samsung has to offer, which incorporates the toggle DDR interface. In addition to that, a proprietary NAND controller facilitates high-performance levels that take full advantage of the architecture of the toggle DDRas well as the SATA 6Gbps interface.

On top of that, this new SSD doubles the performance of a SATA 3Gbps drive with sequential read speeds of 500Mbps and a sequential write speed of 350Mbps. The drive also features the industry's highest security level, which uses an AES 256-bit encryption algorithm in order to protect all of your data from any and all unauthorized access.

The new 6Gbps SSD will be available in 128GB, 256GB or 512GB volumes and is targeted for use in premium OEM notebooks and tablets.

Source: Engadget - Samsung's speedy 6Gbps SSDs shreds bits, blows minds

Skype Video Calling Now on Android Devices

2011-08-05T09:25:00.003-04:00

Do you own an Android device? If you do, then most likely you now have the ability to use Skype Video Calling. On Wednesday, August 3 Skype released an update to its Android app that brings video calling abilities to 17 more Android devices.

It was just earlier this summer that Skype added video calling capabilities to its Android app; however, it originally only worked on the Google Nexus S. Now, after this latest update, dozens of Android devices, including the Samsung Galaxy S and the HTC Incredible, will be able to enjoy video calling as well.

Skype said that the update also fixed a few bugs that the app was experiencing and included some performance enhancements. (If you have a Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini and you were having some issues with a faulty microphone, the update should have taken care of the issue.)

The updated version of Skype for Android, Skype 2.1, is now available in the Android Market or via Skype.com/m. “For those of you using Android 2.2 (Froyo) and above, you should…be able to enable video calling in your Skype settings. Just go to ‘Skype settings’ after launching the app and select ‘enable video calling’, said the Skype Blog.”

“Unfortunately, if you cannot see the video calling settings, it means your Android phone does not meet the minimum requirements needed to make Skype video calls,” the blog continued. “Please be aware that video call quality may not be as good as on a certified Android device and only the back camera of the device will work if your device is running on Android 2.2 (Froyo).”

“We are really excited that video calling with Skype for Android with video calling is now available on the majority of Android handsets, so you can easily share moments wherever you are with the people that matter most to you.”

Here is the complete list of devices that can now use Skype Video Calling:

• Acer A5
• HTC Desire (2.2)
• HTC Desire HD
• HTC Evo 3D
• HTC Evo 4G
• HTC Flyer
• HTC Incredible S
• HTC Sensation
• Samsung Galaxy S
• Samsung Galaxy S II
• Samsung Galaxy Tab
• Sony Ericsson Xperia mini pro
• Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY
• Sony Ericsson Xperia ray

U.S.-only phones getting the update include:

• HTC Thunderbolt - Verizon (2.2)
• LG Revolution - Verizon (2.2)
• Samsung Droid Charge - Verizon (2.2)

Apple Brings in Great Second Quarter Numbers

2011-08-01T20:28:00.006-04:00

According to the International Data Corporation, Apple has more than doubled the number of smartphones it has sold compared to the same quarter last year.

Strategy Analytics said that in the second quarter, Apple shipped 20.3 million iPhones, which is up 8.4 million phones from last year’s second quarter. They continued saying that this means that Apple has 18.5 percent of the global smartphone market, which is up from 13.5 percent last year.

"We had previously reported on Apple becoming the largest smartphone vendor in terms of revenue and profits. Now, just four years after the release of the original iPhone, Apple has become the world’s largest smartphone vendor by volume with an 18 percent market share," according to Strategy Analytics.

Samsung wasn’t far behind Apple. In the second quarter, they shipped 19.2 million smartphones grabbing 17.5 percent of the smartphone market. That was also quite a big bump from their numbers the previous year. Last year, Samsung only shipped 3.1 million smartphones and had a 5 percent share of the market. The success of Samsung and Apple caused Nokia’s numbers to drop however. Last year, they had snatched 38.1 percent of the global smartphone market, but this year their numbers dropped to 15.2 percent.

When it comes to the overall shipment of smartphones and feature phones, Nokia is still the number one phone provider. During the second quarter, Nokia shipped 88.5 million phones globally, down 20 percent. Samsung was number two, shipping 74 million units, a 16 percent boost. LG came in a close third right in front of Apple. They shipped 24.8 million devices, but were down 19 percent. Apple was so close to coming in third place. Strategy Analytics said that this is "the closest Apple has ever been.”

The IDC confirmed the numbers that Strategy Analytics released naming Nokia, Samsung and LG as the very top mobile phone providers. The firm also did say that Apple’s “record” quarter helped to close in on the gap and bring the company much closer to the top.

Apple "easily posted the highest growth rate of the worldwide leaders despite the fact that its flagship iPhone 4 is now more than a year old," IDC said. "The triple-digit shipment volume growth allowed Apple to more than double its share when compared to the same quarter last year."

IDC agreed with Strategy Analytics and reported sales of 20.3 million iPhones in the quarter. It gave Apple a 5.6 percent market share in the global handset market, as well as a 141.8 percent boost from the same time period last year.

"Apple’s ability to bring its smartphone momentum to developing economies, where it’s less successful, will help dictate the company’s smartphone fortunes in future," IDC said.

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Verizon Lands Super Fast 4G Galaxy Tab 10.1

2011-07-29T16:04:00.006-04:00

You have probably heard just about everything there is to hear about the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 by now. It seems that every time you turn around there is something new going on with it and today is no different. A new version of the tablet has just arrived, this time packing an LTE radio tuned to the 4G waves of Verizon.

Nothing has really changed with the Verizon version of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 aside from a new brushed, gray plastic back and a rumored Micro SIM slot on the top. This latest version officially went on sale yesterday, so many people are wondering how the 4G LTE capabilities stack up.

While it has been noted that Verizon's LTE network is fast, things seem a little different with the Galaxy Tab 10.1. Not only does this device run the table on most cable modems, it is also competitive with a FiOS connection. The Galaxy Tab 10.1 averages 28.25Mbps down and 7.93Mbps up on speed tests, which is definitively better than the Thunderbolt's 21.77Mbps. Some speed tests have even seen the Galaxy Tab 10.1 get as high as 44.44Mbps down and 9.39Mbps up. Ping times are also very low, averaging just shy of 67ms.

Reports are also coming in that the connection feels just as fast as the speeds suggest. The Galaxy Tab 10.1 is capable of loading full desktop websites, even ones bogged down with Flash, in no time at all and movies from the Android market start playing almost instantly.

While all this is highly impressive, it is raising a few questions. Mainly, why is the Verizon Galaxy Tab 10.1 posting such dramatically faster speeds? It is a possibility that there is some beefed up hardware in the Galaxy Tab that isn't in the LTE smartphones currently available, I mean it is a bigger package. Whatever the reason, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 from Verizon is definitely an impressive piece of equipment.

Source: Engadget - Galaxy Tab 10.1 for Verizon, hands-on with the new 4G speed king

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AT&T Offering iPhone 3GS for $9

2011-07-28T10:56:00.003-04:00

If you are looking for an iPhone and don’t mind going for the 3GS instead of the iPhone 4, AT&T is the place for you. They are basically giving away refurbished iPhone 3GS’s.

Just earlier this year, AT&T dropped the price of its iPhone 3GS to $49.99, and we thought that was a great deal. Now customers will be able to purchase a refurbished device for a mere $9.

Right now AT&T lists a black 8GB iPhone 3GS on its website for $99 with a two year contract; however, if you go ahead and subtract $90 for a refurbishing discount, you’ve got yourself an iPhone for $9.

It was in January that AT&T dropped the price of the iPhone 3GS, right before they began to offer the iPhone 4. The newer version of the smartphone obviously has some extra features that you won’t find on the 3GS. It offers a front-facing camera, retina display and the FaceTime app, among other things, but when you consider the difference in pricing, who really cares about all of that stuff. If you’re someone that is desperate for those features, you’re going to be looking at spending anywhere between $200 and $300. To me, it just doesn’t seem like it could possibly be worth it.

So what does AT&T mean when they say a “refurbished phone?” It’s not some phone that was destroyed and then put back together, I can tell you that. It is simply a pre-owned phone that was returned during the 30-day trial period that AT&T offers its customers. All of the devices that are returned have then been reset to their original factory settings and have been put through extensive tests before AT&T resells them. They also come standard with a 90-day warranty and a 30-day trial period.

If you’re looking for a good deal on a smartphone and don’t mind dealing with AT&T’s service, this could be the deal for you!

AT&T Has More iPhone Activations Than Verizon

2011-07-27T20:32:00.003-04:00

Last week, AT&T and Verizon both posted their quarterly results as well as the number of iPhones that they have activated on each of their networks. Surprisingly, the mobile phone carrier with the most iPhone activations is AT&T.

AT&T reported that it has activated 3.6 million iPhones on its network this quarter, while Verizon has only activated 2.3 million. All in all, that adds up to 5.9 million new iPhones, which constitutes about 30 percent of the 20.3 million iPhones that Apple reported that it has sold during this past quarter.

So, are you surprised that AT&T has activated more iPhones than Verizon? I definitely was! So, how have they done it? Well, the advantage that AT&T has over Verizon is that it offers its customers both the iPhone 3GS and the iPhone 4. Verizon is only offering its customers the iPhone 4. AT&T is also offering the iPhone 3GS at a discounted price. Customers can get a new iPhone 3GS for $49.99 or pick up a refurbished device for $9 with a two year contract. That is one heck of a deal! Unfortunately, AT&T did not break down its quarterly numbers to show how many of each version has been activated. They just lumped the numbers all together.

Although Verizon does not have the most iPhone activations, the company did add more subscribers than its rival, AT&T. According to the company, they added more than 2.2 million people to their carrier, clearly beating AT&T who only added 1.1 million new users. Verizon now can boast 106.3 million subscribers, while AT&T sits behind them with 98.6 million users.

Breaking down the numbers even further, only 36 percent of Verizon’s subscriber base is made up of smartphone users. Although this is up from 32 percent last quarter, AT&T is way ahead. Almost 50 percent of the AT&T client base is made up of smartphone subscribers. So why does all of this matter? Well, smartphone subscribers tend to lead to more revenue for the company, due to data plans that users must take out when they choose a smartphone. So, although Verizon had more customers than AT&T, AT&T made $31.5 billion in total revenues, while Verizon came in at $27.5 billion.

Reports have said that when the next generation iPhone is made available, it will be offered by both mobile carriers. They have also reported that it will be a world phone, complete with the capability to run on GSM or CDMA networks. So, once the “iPhone 5” is released, the iPhone 4 will most likely be offered by both carriers at a discounted price. This could help to even the activation numbers, but who knows? Apple could decide to switch things up and offer the newest version of the iPhone through another phone carrier such as Sprint. That could really skew the numbers for both AT&T and Verizon. For now, we will just have to sit back and wait for Apple to release the new and improved iPhone. Hopefully, the wait will not be much longer.

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Sprint CEO Nervous About the Wireless Industry's Future

2011-07-21T10:56:00.005-04:00

It seems as though the CEO of Sprint, Dan Hesse, is worried about the future of the mobile phone industry. At a reporter’s roundtable discussion at the Sprint headquarters in Overland Park, Kansas, Hesse revealed his worries and concerns about many things surrounding the U.S. wireless industry. He also expressed his extreme opposition to the proposal of merging AT&T and T-Mobile.

Hesse and Farid Adib, the product development chief at Sprint, claim that Sprint has been the carrier to drive innovation among the mobile phone companies. Hesse went on to say that if Sprint had not introduced 4G WiMAX back in 2008, Verizon would have not been as quick to turn on LTE and AT&T would "just have called its 3G network 4G."

Hesse and Adib went on to discuss possible phones for the future and service plans. A reporter questioned the two about why Sprint is not carrying the Palm Pre 3, and Adib responded, "HP ... has been a lifelong partner of Sprint" and that "we still have open dialogues, and work together ... a lot of our OEMS have had ups and downs, but we never count any of them out."

Hesse added that Sprint's strength as the "only unlimited carrier" is not necessarily going to continue or be dismissed by the company. It all depends on "how much capacity do we have," Hesse said. "Every few months we take a look, we take a look at tonnage, and we take a look at all the things we're doing to offload tonnage ... we'll just continue to monitor it. Nothing is forever ... [but] we think it's a terrific opportunity to differentiate ourselves in the market."

Hesse continued discussing concerns about all the patent lawsuits that have been going on between Microsoft, Apple and various different Android phone manufacturers. He said that all of these issues could result in more expensive phones. The rise in costs would then be borne by carriers and customers. "I wouldn't say don't worry about it," Hesse said. "We collectively, the industry, are the customers and potential victims in this. There's no upside to us and I hope it gets sorted out."

Hesse said that by far his biggest fear is the AT&T and T-Mobile merger. He claims that it could be "the end of the U.S. wireless industry." He believes that although Sprint has been the company to push the industry forward in the past, he feels that innovation would be dramatically slowed with AT&T and Verizon dominating the market. Hesse explains that Sprint has a contingency if it looks like the merger is going to happen. "I don't spend any time on it," Hesse said, instead spending "all my time on making sure the decision is the right one."

"If this thing goes through, I hope you like 4G, because it's going to be the last generation America ever gets," Hesse said.

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News of the World Drama Continues

2011-07-18T10:48:00.005-04:00

Problems continue to surface from the phone hackings that were conducted by News of the World. Just this past weekend, London police chief Sir Paul Stephenson resigned and former News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks was arrested.

Brooks was arrested a mere two days after she resigned as the chief executive of News International. The company had published News of the World until it had been forced to fold due to the hacking scandal. According to ABC News, Brooks was arrested in London on suspicion of both corruption and conspiring to hack the cell phones of crime victims and celebrities. From 2000 to 2003, Brooks was an editor at News of the World. She then moved up to being an editor for The Sun, and there she remained until she was promoted to her position with News International in 2009.

"I have believed that the right and responsible action has been to lead us through the heat of the crisis," Brooks said in a Friday statement. "However, my desire to remain on the bridge has made me a focal point of the debate."

So far, News Corp. has not released a statement concerning Brooks’ arrest; however, they have named her successor, the CEO of Sky Italia, Tom Mockridge.

It was earlier this month that News of the World was accused of hacking into the cell phone of a murder victim while her disappearance was still being investigated. Allegedly, whoever hacked into the young woman’s phone deleted voicemail messages. This gave her parents a false hope that she was accessing her phone and therefore was still alive.

There were also reports that the company had hacked into the phones of individuals who were affected by the July 2005 London terrorist bombings, as well as the phones of celebrities.

This was not the first time that News of the World was caught hacking into individuals' cell phones. Several years ago, the newspaper was punished for phone hacking. The incident even led to a debate in the House of Commons, allegations surrounding bribery of the police and talk of shutting down the newspaper entirely.

All of the media attention that has surrounded the recent events is what Metropolitan police chief Stephenson claims prompted his resignation.

"Let me state clearly, I and the people who know me know that my integrity is completely intact. I may wish we had done some things differently, but I will not lose sleep over my personal integrity," he said in a Sunday statement. "Nevertheless, I must accept that the intense media coverage, questions, commentary and indeed allegations, as demonstrated by this weekend's attempt to misrepresent my arrangements for my recovery from illness, not only provide excessive distraction both for myself and colleagues but are likely to continue for some time."

"This is not a 12 months that can afford any doubts about the Commissioner of the Met," he concluded.

Recently, Stephenson has been scrutinized for his hiring of former News of the World executive Neil Wallis as a consultant. Stephenson claims that he did not have any idea that Wallis had anything to do with the phone hacking scandal.

"I have heard suggestions that we must have suspected the alleged involvement of Mr. Wallis in phone hacking. Let me say unequivocally that I did not and had no reason to have done so," Stephenson said. "I do not occupy a position in the world of journalism; I had no knowledge of the extent of this disgraceful practice and the repugnant nature of the selection of victims that is now emerging; nor of its apparent reach into senior levels. I saw senior figures from News International providing evidence that the misbehavior was confined to a rogue few and not known about at the top."

Stephenson and Brooks are not the only people who have been affected by the scandal and have been forced to resign from their positions. Just last week, Dow Jones CEO Les Hinton also resigned. "That I was ignorant of what apparently happened is irrelevant and in the circumstances I feel it is proper for me to resign from News Corp. and apologize to those hurt by the actions of News of the World," Hinton said in a statement.

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Droid 3 Now Available

2011-07-15T15:10:00.004-04:00

Droid users, rejoice! The Motorola Droid 3 is now officially up for sale and available for an in-store pickup. Lots of people have been waiting for the powerful dual-core smartphone for a while now and the sleek keyboard is perfect for people who prefer a more physical text solution.

The Droid 3 features the new OMAP 4 dual-core chip as opposed to the popular Qualcomm found in devices like the myTouch 4G slide. In addition to that, the Droid 3 is not a Tegra 2 device so it will be exciting to use the complete and full power this phone has to offer.

The Droid 3 comes with a 1GHz OMAP 4 4430 processor, which some people are saying is a bit of an upgrade over the suspected NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor that was rumored to be included here. The user interface is also different. Motoblur is no longer your UI; instead you get a cross-breed that brings in new icons, new animations between Windows and Gingerbread.

The app screen gives you three full pages of 20 apps each, which includes your regular array of Google apps with some other interesting oddities. An app version of GoToMeeting, which allows you to chat in multiple different ways, is also included as well as MOTOPRINT, NOVA, Social Location, Skype and all the V-Cast apps you expect on a Verizon device.

Physically the device is heavier than most smartphones and comes with a seemingly hardcore chassis and a solid sliding keyboard. By the looks of it, this is one phone you will be wanting to take care of. The internal speakers are loud and the chassis seems to be tightly fitted together making the Droid 3 everything a Droid lover could ask for.

If you are a devout Droid fan or somebody who is looking for a solid smartphone on a solid network, then Motorola's Droid 3 from Verizon is exactly what you are looking for. You can buy the Droid 3 now anywhere phones are sold.

Source: Android Community - Motorola Droid 3 in Verizon Stores Today

The "Facebook Phone" is Hitting Stores Soon

2011-07-15T10:01:00.003-04:00

Are you one of those people that are simply addicted to Facebook? If you are, soon you will be able to satisfy your addiction with a phone that won’t drain your pockets. The HTC Status, also known as the Facebook phone, will be available at Best Buy stores and online starting July 17 for $49.99 with a two year contract.

Pre-orders for the HTC Status are already being accepted.

The HTC Status, which is also known as the ChaCha overseas, is a small Android-based smartphone. It features a dedicated Facebook logo button at the very bottom of the keypad that allows users to instantly update their Facebook wall with status, photos and URLs.

The phone also has a 5-megapixel front-facing and rear-facing camera. This can be utilized by users for Facebook’s new Skype-enabled video chatting. You will need a Wi-Fi connection to use the video chatting, but I wouldn’t think that this should be too much of an issue for most people.

The integration of aspects of Facebook can be found throughout the entirety of the phone. When a friend calls you, you will automatically see their most recent status update, all Facebook chat and e-mail messages will be pushed together with your regular text messages and emails, and the interface itself features a Facebook chat widget that allows users to see who is online at the time.

AT&T claims that the HTC Status is the first of the HTC devices carried in the U.S. to come standard with an enhanced version of HTC Sense UI. Sasha Segan, a mobile analyst at PCMag, says the enhanced version is among one of the more “thoughtful of the manufacturer Android software extensions.”

The Status will come in four different colors: black, silver, pink and blue. Best Buy will also be offering an exclusive mauve version of the device.

Although this is the first Facebook phone to be released in the U.S., there have been plenty of such phones offered overseas. Why is this, you might ask? I honestly do not know. I do know however that this phone is sure to be a success. A very inexpensive smartphone entirely focused around Facebook…how could that not be a hit with teens and young adults? I’m sure that HTC has got a winner here!

News of the World Accused of Phone Hacking

2011-07-10T20:57:00.005-04:00

An incident surrounding a phone hack involving the News of the World absolutely exploded Wednesday, June 6. The allegations against the company included accusations that the newspaper’s hacking activities were much more widespread than was first believed and that the newspaper had paid police officers for some of the information that they used.

All of this recent news prompted a debate in the House of Commons on Wednesday morning. While in session, the members called for an in-depth investigation of the matter. All of this began just earlier this week when the News of the World was accused of hacking the voicemail of a young woman who was murdered. They had hacked the woman’s voicemail while the investigation of her disappearance was being conducted. Allegedly the newspaper deleted voicemail messages when they hacked into the murder victim’s phone. This gave her grieving parents a false hope that she was alive and accessing her phone when this was far from the case.

According to the Daily Telegraph, there are now reports that the newspaper also violated the privacy of the family members of individuals that were either killed or injured in the London bombings that occurred on July 7, 2005 by hacking their phones as well.

"It is thought that journalists were seeking to access voice messages left on family members' phones as they desperately waited for information about their loved ones in the aftermath of the bombings in 2005," according to the Telegraph. "It is unclear if they were aware at that stage that their relatives had died in the bombings."

Unfortunately, this is not the first time that the News of the World has been accused of violating the privacy of individuals by hacking their phones. Just this April, the newspaper published an official apology for the voicemail hacks that had occurred between 2004 and 2006.

The other issue involved with this case involves the payment of Metropolitan Police for information.

On Wednesday the Metropolitan Police confirmed that there have been emails handed over by News International on June 20 that "include information relating to alleged inappropriate payments to a small number of MPS officers."

"At this time we have not seen any evidence requiring a referral to the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) in respect of any senior officer," Sir Paul Stephenson, Metropolitan Police Commissioner, said in a statement. "Operation Elveden will be equally thorough and robust. Anyone identified of wrongdoing can expect the full weight of disciplinary measures and appropriate action through the criminal courts."

Since January 26, 2011, the MPS has been investigating the phone hacking that has been taking place.

A spokesman from News International confirmed that they did hand over the emails to the police. "The emails in question were passed over to police some time ago," the spokesman said. "This story came about as a result of an article that was being proposed to be written in which it was going to be said that we had these emails and we had not handed them to the police."

Members of Parliament are expecting a full investigation of all of the allegations that have been brought forward. They also decided that News Corps.’s currently pending takeover of BSkyB should be put on hold until everything has been settled one way or another.

"We have let one man have far too great a sway over our national life," said MP Chris Bryant, referring to News. Corp chairman and CEO, Rupert Murdoch. The BSkyB deal should be "put on ice," he said.

"The very idea of targeting families in their darkest hour is shameful, sickening, and cruel," said Rt Hon Yvette Cooper.

Attorney General Dominic Grieve commented during the debate that the phone hackings that have occurred "must fill any right-thinking person with revulsion."

Grieve went on to say that Prime Minister David Cameron has committed to a "fully independent public inquiry into those matters," but warned that the "burning desire for people to see finality ... may take some time."

Acer Debuts Aspire One Happy 2 Netbook

2011-06-30T18:22:00.006-04:00

Acer America just recently expanded its popular line of netbooks to include the Aspire One Happy 2, a series of stylish netbooks that come in four bright colors: Banana Cream, Blueberry Shake, Papaya Milk and Strawberry Yogurt. Acer is hoping that with names and colors like this that the Aspire One Happy 2 will bring a fresh sense of fun and style to the ultra-light mobile PC experience.

The cover of the Aspire One Happy 2 features a bright and shiny finish with a textured liquid "water ripple" pattern, heightening visual and tactile appeal. These 10.1" netbooks are light and portable enough to take with you almost anywhere and are packed with powerful features and performance to boost productivity. They utilize the latest Intel dual-core technology and also consume less power, allowing you to stay mobile longer with better battery life. These devices also provide the computing performance required to take on Office applications, stay in touch with social networks and enjoy web-based videos.

According to Pete Dailey, Senior Product Marketing Manager for Netbooks with Acer, "We've made our industry-leading netbook lines more personal by giving consumers a wider variety of colors and style treatments.The new Aspire One Happy 2 offers users fresh and bright color options, while maintaining the Aspire One's legacy of offering PC productivity for mobile consumers."

These devices feature the Intel Atom N570 dual-core processor, integrated Intel graphics, up to eight hours of battery life and fast WiFi connectivity. All of this comes in a package that is only 1-inch thin, weighing just over 2.5 pounds. These devices also come with a 10.1" CrystalBrite LED backlit display that saves 22.2% power compared to other netbooks and also offers an optimal viewing experience. The Aspire One Happy 2 also has a stylish white keyboard that is 93% as big as a standard size keyboard for a more convenient feel.

These netbooks also feature 802.11 b/g/n WiFi as well as fast Ethernet LAN connectivity. There is also a built-in 0.3 megapixel webcam that allows for smooth video streaming and high quality images for online chats and video conferences. A built-in digital microphone also conveys high voice quality, keeping background noise levels low and minimizing echos. These devices also feature 1GB of DDR3 memory and a 250GB internal hard drive. These netbooks also include Windows 7 Starter and Microsoft Office Starter 2010.

The Acer Aspire One Happy 2 Series of netbooks is available now in the United States for a base price of $269.99.

Source: Engadget - Acer announces Aspire One Happy 2 netbook for the US market, shows its commitment to pastels

Phone Bill Cramming Under Fire

2011-06-24T17:14:00.004-04:00

Ever heard of phone bill “cramming"? Even if you haven’t, most likely you have been subject to it, and you might not have even known it.

Cramming is any odd, extra charges that appear on your phone bill that shouldn’t be there. Now you should make sure that you haven’t gone over on your long distance minutes or sent one too many text messages, but if you know that such things are not the case, then you have been subjected to phone cramming.

This is something that phone service providers are making tons of money off of. If you don’t carefully watch your bill, they will slide charges in without you even noticing it. Fortunately, the Federal Communications Commission has decided to crack down on cramming and unauthorized charges. On Monday, June 20 the FCC chairman Julius Genachowski encouraged users to regularly examine their phone bills for any charges that should not be there. He also announced that there is a proposal that would allow for more transparency with cell phone and landline bills.

"Cramming is not only illegal, it erodes consumer trust in communications services," Genachowski stated while making an appearance at the Center for American Progress. "That makes it both unfair to consumers and unfair to most communications companies who do the right thing every day."

So what kind of charges is he talking about exactly, you might ask, and how much is it costing people? Well, Genachowski says that there have been reports to the FCC of charges including things like yoga classes, cosmetics, diet products and psychic hotline memberships. The charges usually range from $1.99 to $19.99, and many customers simply fail to notice them.

"In fact, according to a survey done for the Federal Trade Commission, only 1 in 20 cramming victims ever notice the charges," Genachowski said. "We estimate that the problem may affect up to 20 million Americans a year. People like a St. Louis, Missouri woman who was charged for 25 months of long-distance service she never authorized or used. When she protested the charges, the company sent her a copy of the form that she had supposedly used to authorize the service. It had a different name, address, email, and birth date than she did."

Genachowski noted that it can be a little difficult and slightly time consuming to examine each and every line of a phone bill; however, this is exactly what the companies are counting on. He continued to urge customers to scan their phone bills and if any unauthorized charges are found, the charges should be reported to the phone company. He continued saying that if the issue was not resolved by the phone company, users should file a complaint with the FCC via fcc.gov or 1-888-CALL-FCC.

Genachowski said there is a proposal that he will be presenting to the other FCC commissioners tomorrow that will "look at ways we can improve the disclosure and transparency on phone bills to help consumers ... look through the phone bills."
He went on to say that ideally the FCC will make it "difficult, if not impossible, for unscrupulous companies to get away with what they try to do."

Just last week the FCC proposed over $11.7 million in fines against companies which have been found to be utilizing cramming practices. These companies charged more than $8 million in fees for long distance services that were not authorized by the users. Genachowski said that this should serve as a warning to other companies who are engaged in cramming or thinking of doing the same thing.

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Samsung Releases 30-pin to USB Adapter for Galaxy Tab 10.1

2011-06-16T12:36:00.006-04:00

When the 3.1 upgrade came to Honeycomb, so did a lot of cool features, one being the ability to allow your tablet to perform as a USB host. This was cool and all, but this usually required a full-sized USB port which is not featured on most Android tablets without an adapter. One such tablet is the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. While the Galaxy Tab 10.1 was nice, neat and cool, it didn't have a full-sized USB port. However, Samsung recently tweeted about an adapter that just went on sale allowing you to get on with your hosting via your Galaxy Tab 10.1.

USB hosting is a great feature that, unfortunately, has been missing from Android phones due to power restraints. However, tablets have larger batteries so hosting was possible. Google was the first to show off the ability to host accessories like thumb drives, keyboards and gaming controllers to the Android 3.1. The problem was that most of these devices need a full-sized USB port, so you would need to get a micro-to-standard USB adapter in order to do so and you would need to make sure your device even had a micro USB port.

The Galaxy Tab 10.1 is a really amazing tablet with a great battery, dual core power and the fact that it is the thinnest 10.1" tablet on the market. The one downside is that the Galaxy Tab 10.1 lacks a standard USB port, going for a 30-pin connector instead. However, Samsung has heard our cries and designed a 30-pin to USB adapter. This device will run you $19.99 plus shipping and handling but doesn't support power over USB. This isn't outrageous by any means but if you want hosting then you will need this adapter.

Source: Android Community - Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 USB Adapter for All your USB Hosting Needs

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Walmart iPhone 4 Offer

2011-06-06T22:08:00.004-04:00

On Monday, June 6 Walmart announced that they will be offering the Apple iPhone 4 for $147 at a select group of its stores from now until June 30.

The special deal applies to both the Verizon and the AT&T version of the smartphone. Walmart said in an email that the price will also include the black and the white version of the phone. To get the iPhone for $147, customers will be required to sign up for a two-year wireless contract with either of the above carriers and also take out a data agreement.

Before this deal was announced, Walmart had been selling the 16GB version of the iPhone 4 in black and white. As of right now, Walmart has both versions of the phone listed on their website for $197, but they are listed as “out of stock online.”

Walmart began selling the AT&T version of the iPhone 4 back in June 2010 when it was first launched, and in February it added the Verizon version.

So far, Walmart has not specified how many phones they will be offering for the $147 price or exactly which stores will be carrying the phones. They have simply said that the devices will be available at “select stores.”

This is not the first price drop on the incredibly popular smartphone from Apple. A little bit earlier this year, AT&T lowered the price of the Apple iPhone 3G to $49. This deal is not quite as sweet, but it will definitely save you some money if you are looking to pick up an iPhone 4.

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BlackBerry PlayBook Hitting Sprint on June 5th

2011-06-03T16:41:00.009-04:00

Ready for some good news, Sprint customers? Well, the highly anticipated BlackBerry PlayBook tablet is said to go on sale at all Sprint stores as well as Sprint direct ship sales channels and business sales on June 5, 2011 with a $499.99 price tag.

The BlackBerry PlayBook is the new tablet from BlackBerry that comes with a lot of cool features including WiFi connectivity and 16GB of storage. The PlayBook is an ultra portable tablet that measures less than half an inch thick and weighs less than one pound. It features a nice 7-inch high-resolution touchscreen that is said to be highly responsive and fluid. The PlayBook also offers high performance along with excellent web browsing and full support for Adobe Flash Player. It also allows for true multitasking, HD multimedia, advanced security and out-of-the-box enterprise support.

If you already own a BlackBerry smartphone, you will be pleased to know that you can benefit from BlackBerry Bridge. BlackBerry Bridge is a unique feature that allows you to wirelessly connect your BlackBerry phone to your BlackBerry PlayBook via Bluetooth. The secure connection allows you to access your BlackBerry smartphone's email, address book, calendar, memo pad, task list, BlackBerry Messenger and browsing functionality with the advantage of the larger tablet display.

The best thing is that BlackBerry Bridge will be available as a free downloadable app via the BlackBerry App World and will also be supported on BlackBerry smartphone data plans from Sprint without incurring an additional fee.

Key features of the new BlackBerry PlayBook include:

7-inch 1024x600 WSVGA capacitive LCD touchscreen

Ultraportable design

1GHz dual-core processor

BlackBerry Tablet OS with symmetric multiprocessing support

MP3, AAC and WMA audio playback

Support for high resolution video playback

1080p HDMI output

Two 1080p HD cameras (3mp front-facing, 5mp rear-facing)

1GB RAM

16GB internal storage

GPS, Accelerometer, Gyroscope and Magnetometer

Stereo Speakers

Stereo Microphone

WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n

Bluetooth 2.1+ EDR support

Source: Engadget - BlackBerry PlayBook headed to Sprint on June 5th for $500

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Curved Glass Screen for the iPhone 5?

2011-05-27T10:23:00.004-04:00

Already, the rumors about the specs on the Apple iPhone 5 are rolling out. In the latest edition of the Taiwanese newspaper DigiTimes, there are reports of the latest edition of Apple's incredibly popular smartphone having a curved glass display screen. The reports said that it would be the same type of screen that has been featured on Apple’s iPod since the fourth-generation iPod Nano was released in 2008.

Now, DigiTimes doesn’t just make this claim out of nowhere. The newspaper cites sources that have something to do with Apple’s supply chain in Taiwan. DigiTimes stated that Apple recently bought 200 to 300 glass-cutting machines that could be used to cut display screens. The report went on to say that Apple had to buy these special glass-cutting machines because “cover glass makers have apparently been reluctant to commit investment to the purchase of glass cutting equipment due to the high capital involved.” The machines are being stored at one of Apple’s assembly plants until it believes that the “yield rates” are satisfactory.

There are several recently released smartphones that have decided to use the curved glass design for their display. Samsung’s Nexus S, LG’s G2x with Google and Samsung’s Galaxy Prevail all have adopted the curved glass. Many people really like the glass that is used on the Nexus S. They say that it feels more comfortable when you hold it up against your face. Engadget said in their review of the Nexus S that the curved glass does not really change the display quality of the phone. Instead, using curved glass shows Apple's focus on aesthetics and “perceived usability.”

The rumors about the iPhone 5 are only going to continue to stack up, especially after the expected June announcement at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference, where Apple first officially announced the iPhone 4. Details are already beginning to slip out via America’s top mobile companies. Just last week, an AT&T rep told a customer that the iPhone 5 would not make its debut in June or July, and the Verizon CFO let it slip that the next generation Verizon iPhone will work on CDMA and GSM networks.

Until Apple makes the official announcement about the iPhone 5, I guess that we will all have to sit here and speculate and hang on to the slip-ups of the reps and execs at AT&T and Verizon. Hopefully we won’t have to wait too long, but who knows? Apple sure likes to keep the details on its products a secret for as long as possible. I guess we’ll just see.

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Verizon's HTC Trophy Windows 7 Phone Available May 26

2011-05-19T18:23:00.004-04:00

Hey, everybody! Check out the HTC Trophy, Verizon's first Windows Phone set to be available starting May 26th online! However, if buying things online isn't your thing, you can always wait until June 2nd when Verizon ships the HTC Trophy to actual stores so you can buy one in person. In addition to the early online date, Microsoft is also offering a freebie to Verizon customers. Anybody who purchases a Windows Phone from Verizon before July 15th will be eligible to receive a free Xbox 360 game. Customers will be able to choose from one of three titles: Lode Runner, Kinect Sports or Halo Reach.

You can pick up the HTC Trophy online on May 26th or in stores on June 2nd, like I said above, for $149.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate. This is all, of course, if you commit to a new 2-year contract with Verizon. Since this is a smartphone, customers will, in addition to picking their talk and text plan, have to sign up for an unlimited data plan for an additional $30 a month. However, Verizon has just confirmed that they plan on eliminating unlimited data plans in lieu of tiered data plans. When this will officially go into action is still unclear though Verizon has stated that it will begin this summer.

This first Windows Phone from Verizon has experienced a tough start in the market. The HTC Trophy was originally expected to launch in March. However, the device was delayed several times for various reasons. Verizon's leaked spring outlook also originally revealed an April 15th release date. However, we saw that date come and go and saw no HTC Trophy. Many Verizon customers have been frustrated by these delays,, customers who are very interested in buying a Windows 7 device.

One good thing is that this Windows Phone will ship with Microsoft's "NoDo" copy and paste update. "NoDo" is Microsoft's first platform update and also includes improved application start-up and resume times. Verizon recently posted support articles that referenced Microsoft's own fixes for issues known to Windows 7 Phones. The HTC Trophy Windows 7 Phone from Verizon was seen out and about back in February with more photos leaking in March following confirmation that the device included all of Verizon's branding.

Full specs of the HTC Trophy include:

1 GHz Snapdragon processor

WVGA 3.8-inch touchscreen

Surround sound through SRS WOW HD

5-megapixel camera with autofocus and LED flash

720p HD video capture

16GB on-board storage

Wi-Fi connectivity: 802.11 b/g/n

Global ready

HTC-hub customization via downloadable applications

View and Edit Microsoft Office documents

Source: WinRumors - Verizon Windows Phone 7 HTC Trophy officially available May 26

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Sound Could Power Your Cell Phone?

2011-05-11T18:44:00.000-04:00

This is some of the coolest technology that I’ve heard about in a while. Researchers in South Korea have discovered breakthrough technology that can convert sound into electricity. So what would this do? Well, think about it…one of the most logical things to utilize the technology on would be cell phones.

Can you imagine having a future cell phone that was powered by the sound of your voice? How cool would that be?! This is technology that could really go somewhere. In an interview with the Telegraph, Dr. Sang-Woo Kim said, “Sound power can be used for various novel applications including cellular phones that can be charged during conversations.” It would be extremely nice to not have to worry about your phone dying on you during a long phone conversation.

Dr. Kim and his team have been working on this new method of converting sound into electricity at the Sungkyunkwan University’s Institute of Nanotechnology in Seoul. With this technology, they say that a cell phone could be completely charged by simply talking into it.

So, what if you don’t use your phone much for the purpose of verbally communicating with someone? What if you are more of a texter? No problem at all. Kim says that even when the phone is not making a call and feeding off of your voice, it can still use background noise to power itself.

Now, cell phones are not the only thing that this sound converting technology could be used for though. The researchers also say that people could install "sound-insulating walls near highways that generate electricity from the sound of passing vehicles." Now that is even more impressive.

In the high tech industry, “energy scavenging” to power mobile devices is quickly growing in demand. Researchers have been hard at work investigating the possible use of movement or kinetic energy to power devices without the need for a charger or wall socket, but the sound converting technology seems to be the most promising at the moment.

So far, the team at Sungkyunkwan has not yet figured out exactly how to completely power a device via sound, but they are getting very close. The technology itself is comprised of an electrical current that is generated via zinc oxide wires that compress and release whenever a sound wave causes an absorbing pad to vibrate. Kim claims that the technology will only improve as they work to switch out the zinc oxide for different, more efficient, materials.

"Our current output performance can be applied to various electronic devices with low-power consumption such as self-powered sensors and body-implantable tiny devices. We believe that we can realize more efficient sound-driven nanogenerators," Kim told The Telegraph.

According to the Telegraph, the current version of the technology can convert about 100 decibels into 50 millivolts. This sounds pretty good to me so far. Kim promises that he and his team will be hard at work to further develop this incredible new technology. I don’t know about you, but I definitely think that this is some promising technology that we could most certainly see sometime in the future.

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Samsung Infuse 4G

2011-05-06T16:56:00.010-04:00

If you thought the Droid X was big, wait until you see the newest thing coming out of Samsung and AT&T. I'm talking, of course, about the Samsung Infuse 4G. This device, which some are calling a superphone, is the biggest device to come out of Samsung to date and measures 4.5 inches. And even though it is rather large, it feels surprisingly light when you pick it up. That could be a result of the impressive 8.99mm profile with subtly textured backside, however.

The Samsung Infuse 4G is said to come with a Super AMOLED Plus display just like the smaller Droid Charge. The Super AMOLED Plus display is said to be much brighter than the traditional Super AMOLED screen as well as easier to view in direct sunlight. Hands-on reports from across the web note that the Super AMOLED Plus display is remarkable and hands down better then the regular Super AMOLED display. The colors are crisp, the blacks are deep and the screen is just all around nice to look at.

Samsung loaded the Infuse 4G with Android 2.2 and made its TouchWiz UI a little less intrusive when you first start to play around with your device. The Infuse 4G comes with a single-core 1.2GHz processor but that doesn't really matter unless you just absolutely love benchmarking things. Apps load up quickly and the touchscreen is responsive and precise.

You can swipe through seven home pages as well as three pages of applications right out of the box, until you customize it of course. This is also AT&T's first device that promises max speeds of 21 Mbps, which is quite a statement. In addition to that, the Infuse 4G, unlike other phones like the Inspire 4G, Captivate or Aria, allows app sideloading and also features the "Unknown Sources" menu item in the settings.

The good news is that this phone will be available May 15th through AT&T or Samsung for $200.

Source: Engadget - Samsung Infuse 4G hands-on (updated)

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Free Phone Friday...And Saturday at Best Buy

2011-04-29T11:26:00.004-04:00

Best Buy is offering three mobile phones for free Friday and Saturday as well as stocking the new white iPhones. The free phones that they are offering are the Samsung Fascinate (Verizon Wireless), the Samsung Captivate (AT&T) and the Blackberry Curve (Sprint).

Now this offer will only be good on Friday, April 29 and Saturday, April 30. Best Buy went ahead and extended the “free phone Friday” period this year to Saturday, which will give more customers the opportunity to take advantage of this awesome deal.

Last year, Best Buy offered the iPhone for free during free phone Friday. This year customers will not be so lucky, but if you are looking for the white iPhone, Best Buy says that they will have it stocked in stores as well as available online. However, they have not said how many will be stocked in stores, so if you want one, you should get there soon.

Scott Moore, vice president of Marketing for Best Buy Mobile, released a statement saying, "We've had tremendous success with the 'Free Phone Friday' campaigns we ran last October and December, and we've been waiting for the opportunity to do it again with a great lineup of in-demand phones. We've worked hard to make it as easy as possible for people to find the smart phone that's right for them with the most smart phones under one roof, exclusives and expert advice, and this is just one more reason to visit Best Buy Mobile."

Best Buy did make sure to mention that the free phone requires a two-year contract or activation, and the deal will not be available with any other offer.

Of course, Best Buy is not the only place that offers free phones. There are plenty of websites where a free phone can be purchased. These sites include Amazon Wireless and Dell, among others.

Best Buy also said that they would be the only mobile retailer that will stock the Nexus S 4G, which is the latest smartphone from Google. A spokeswoman for Best Buy also claimed that they will be the only retail store that will allow customers to try out the phone in person before purchasing it in the store or online.

Other Best Buy news includes the announcement that the company is now taking preorders for the HTC Flyer tablet. The 7-inch mobile device will only be available through Best Buy and will be sold for $499. It will feature a customized version of Android Gingerbread (with a Honeycomb upgrade that will be made available at a later date), 1.5-GHz single-core Qualcomm processor, 1,024 x 600 multi-touch display, optional digital pen, 5 megapixel rear-facing camera, 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera, 16GB of memory, a microSD card slot and support for Adobe Flash 10.1.

If you’re looking for good deals on the latest technology, Best Buy is the place to be. Just remember that some of these deals are only available for a limited time. If it’s time for you to renew your phone contract, you should definitely look into the free phone Friday deals that Best Buy is offering.

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Samsung's 4G LTE Droid Charge Hitting Verizon on April 28th

2011-04-21T20:02:00.003-04:00

A new device has just been announced by Verizon Wireless and Samsung. The newly announced Droid Charge by Samsung will become available on April 28th in your local Verizon store or on Verizon's website.

The Droid Charge is yet another installment in the Droid family, this time coming with a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Plus display. According to Samsung, this display should set a new standard for brightness, clarity and outdoor visibility, but don't they all say that? The Droid Charge also comes with a rear facing, 8-megapixel camera with LED flash as well as a 1.3-megapixel front facing camera. The Droid Charge also has a 1 GHz application processor and HTML 5 Web browser which maximizes high-speed 4G LTE connectivity.

Some additional features of the Droid Charge include 4G LTE, Android 2.2, which also supports Google Mobile Services like Gmail, YouTube, Google Talk, Google Search and Google Maps, Adobe Flash Player, Mobile Hotspot capability, Samsung Media Hub, virtual QWERTY keyboard with Swype and tons more.

As I mentioned earlier, the Droid Charge will be available on April 28th with a $299.99 price tag, as long as you sign a new two year agreement. You can also get unlimited 4G LTE data plans from Verizon for $29.99 a month and for a limited time you can get Mobile Hotspot for no additional charge.

If you don't want to buy one, you can always take part in this new program from Samsung. Starting today, April 21st, anyone over the age of 18 is able to participate in an exclusive Droid Charge Scavenger Hunt. All you have to do is follow the online clues to find hidden locations in 16 different cities in order to win a free Droid Charge from Samsung. Head on over to http://twitter.com/droidlanding to get all the details.

Source: Engadget - Samsung's LTE-enabled Droid Charge coming to Verizon on April 28th for $300 on contract

Security Camera Solutions

One-Year Contract Option Dropped By Verizon

2011-04-10T16:35:00.003-04:00

According to a report released Friday, April 8, Verizon Wireless has made the decision to end its one-year contract option which customers previously had been able to sign up for in place of their more popular two-year agreements. The report, which was released by PhoneScoop, stated that the one year-contract option will be terminated on April 17. The site went on to quote a Verizon Wireless executive saying, “Keep in mind, a majority of our customers select a two-year contract when buying our devices, so we are responding to what our customers want. They still have options available, such as two-year contracts, month-to-month and prepaid plans.” So far, Verizon representatives have not responded to any requests for comment on the claims that PhoneScoop is making. This may not be a big deal to many people, because if you were like me, I didn’t even know that Verizon offered anything like a one-year or month-to-month plan. On their Web site there is not mention of any plan besides the usual two-year agreement. In comparison to other major U.S. mobile carriers, Sprint does not have a one-year plan available on its Web site, but if customers go into a Sprint store, they will have the option of selecting a one-year plan. It’s interesting that Verizon reps claim that they are “responding to what our customers want,” because how can customers know whether or not they might want a one-year plan if they don’t even know that such an option exists? I think that Verizon has been a little shady about it, but honestly, it doesn’t even matter anymore since in a week the option will be completely obsolete. For those of you looking for a one-year contract, I guess you’ll have to start looking somewhere other than Verizon now.

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Asus Releases Source Code for Upcoming Transformer

2011-04-08T18:03:00.006-04:00

Well now, it appears that Asus has already released the source code (no relation to the movie) for the up and coming, though yet to be released, Asus Transformer Tablet/Laptop. Asus actually released a new website completely dedicated to the Transformer and now things look to be getting even better. Just in case you didn't know or you were curious, the Asus EEE Pad Transformer is pretty much a top of the line Android 3.0 Honeycomb tablet with a lot of very nice specifications attached to it.

Some of these specs include a 10-inch IPS display, the usual Tegra 2 dual-core processor and everything else you would expect to see in a respectable tablet these days. However, where this device is different is in its ability to plug into a keyboard-like device and "transforming" it (see what I did there?) into a full-fledged tablet and laptop, just like the Atrix from Motorola.

The tablet by itself recently popped its head up at Best Buy for $400, keyboard thingy not included. This is a really good price. While it isn't as good as the Xoom, which has 32GB of storage as opposed to the 16GB on the Transformer, it may be something to tease your eyes away from the iPad 2. The sad news is that the Transformer is not even on store shelves yet, well, not for us here in America at least, which makes this release of the source code seem a little premature.

However, a lot of people are praising Asus for doing this and think that other companies should take notice of this early source code release. Overall, this looks like a pretty cool device and definitely looks like it is worth the price you will be paying for it. Plus, who doesn't like things that transform and give you two separate devices for the price of one?

Source: Android Community - Asus Transformer Source Code Released Already, Shows HTC How It's Done

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Playstation Phone Released

2011-04-03T23:42:00.005-04:00

On Friday, April 1 the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play, which is also known as the Playstation Phone, launched in several different countries in Europe and Asia. There are also plans to launch the phone in six additional countries within the next two weeks.

The Xperia is an Android-based device and is currently on sale in the UK, Germany, Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Russia, Hong Kong and Taiwan. In the next week or so it will also be available in Spain, France, Finland, Singapore, India and Portugal. The Xperia Play will unfortunately not be available in the United States until sometime later this spring. It will be launched on Verizon Wireless’ network.

According to the Inquirer, there were reports that some “freight issues” might delay the launch of the device in the UK. The paper stated that Orange and Carphone Warehouse will have the device available, but Vodafone has delayed the launch of the Xperia Play and O2 says they are still testing the device. The Inquirer stated that they will be on sale in the U.K., SIM-free for £479.99.

With the launch of the Play comes 60 different games from providers including Sony Computer Entertainment, Gameloft, Electronic Arts and Glu Mobile. There will be several free games that will come pre-installed on the device that will include "Asphalt 6" and the PS One classic "Crash Bandicoot." There will be five PlayStation original games that will be available at the launch including "Cool Boarders 2," "Destruction Derby," "Jumping Jack Flash," "MediEvil" and "Syphon Filter," and in France "Syphon Filter" will come pre-installed. There will also be other titles available including "Assassins Creed Altair's Chronicles HD," "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell," "Need for Speed," "Galaxy on Fire 2," and more. All games will be available to download via the Xperia Play launcher, which is an app that can be activated by merely sliding open the game pad.

Not only is the Xperia Play great for gaming but it also features a 4-inch screen, a 5-megapixel camera, 1-GHz CPU, 8GB of space (that can be expanded to 32GB), and it will be powered by Snapdragon and run on Google Gingerbread. As Bert Nordberg, the president of Sony Ericsson, said, it is the "first mobile device to deliver an immersive gaming experience."

Interested in all of the games that will be available during the first week of the device's release? Here is the complete list:

Bruce Lee Dragon Warrior from Digital Legends (pre-installed)
FIFA 2010 from EA Mobile (pre-installed)
Sims 3 from EA Mobile (pre-installed)
Star Battalion from Gameloft (pre-installed)
Tetris from EA mobile (pre-installed)
Asphalt 6 from Gameloft (free to download)
Dungeon Defenders: Second Wave from Trendy Entertainment
Galaxy on Fire 2 from Fishlabs
Assassins Creed from Gameloft
Need for Speed SHIFT from EA
Mobile Worms from EA
Mobile Nova 2 from Gameloft
Modern Combat Black Pegasus from Gameloft
Guns n Glory from Handygames
Reckless Racing from Polarbit
Real Football 2011 from Gameloft
Gun Bros from Glu
Mobile Racer Luma from Arcade/Unity
Cordy from SilverTree Media
Aporkalypse from Handygames
Brothers in Arms Global Front from Gameloft
Guerrilla Bob from Angry Mob Games/Unity
Let's Golf 2 from Gameloft
Zenonia 2 from Gamevil
Cyberlords from Handygames
Guitar Hero™ Warriors of Rock Mobile from Glu Mobile
Age of Zombies from Halfbrick Studios
Spectral Souls from HyperDevBox Japan
Splinter Cell Conviction from Gameloft
Air Attack from Art in Games/Unity
Armageddon Squadron from Polarbit
Uno from Gameloft
InfeCCt from Handygames
Spiderman total Mayhem from Gameloft
Millionaire City from Digital Chocolate
Avatar from Gameloft
Raging Thunder 2 from Polarbit
Homerun Battle 3D from Com2us Games
Aftermath XHD from Jakyl
I Must Run from GameLion
Baseball Superstars 2011 from Gamevil
Ground Effect Pro from Jakyl
ZeNonia from Gamevil
Super KO Boxing 2 from Glu Mobile
Farm Story from Team Lava
Wave Blazer from Polarbit
Soccer Superstars from Gamevil
Battle Bears from Skyvu
Tower Blocks New York from Digital Chocolate
Super Dynamite Fishing from Handygames
Iron Sight from Polarbit
Toonwarz from Polarbit
Restaurant Story from Team Lava
Escape from AMA
Raving Babies from AMA
Bakery Story from Team Lava
Denki Blocks! Deluxe from Jakyl
Rollercoaster Rush from Digital Chocolate

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Is Verizon Really Stealing THAT Many of AT&T’s Customers?

2011-03-27T18:01:00.004-04:00

When Verizon Wireless announced that it would be adding the Apple iPhone to its smartphone lineup, analysts predicted that the amount of AT&T iPhone customer base that switched over to Verizon could add up to as many as 50 percent. So has this really happened?

As of now, the figures concerning the iPhone user switch rate from AT&T to Verizon have not yet been released; however, early speculations seem to be saying that about 14 percent of Verizon iPhone preorders were AT&T iPhone owners who were switching over.

Although that sounds like a pretty hefty amount of customers for mere preorders, it really doesn’t seem to be bothering AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets President and CEO Ralph de la Vega. Earlier this month de la Vega said that AT&T’s mobile customer losses were within the company’s expectations.

According to reports from Mobclix, two out of every three AT&T iPhone customers who switched to Verizon’s iPhone paid the termination fee that is required by AT&T. These fees include: $325 for AT&T’s smartphone, minus $10 for every month that a user has been on the company’s two-year contract. This can be quite a chunk of change, and in addition to that users still have to go and buy a new iPhone from Verizon.

Mobclix is also saying that 14 percent of iPhone 4 users are now calling Verizon Wireless their home. Out of all the iPhone users in the world, Verizon’s customer base makes up about 4 percent. All of this information from Mobclix is being pulled from the company’s Mobclix Exchange, which is Mobclix huge advertising marketplace that goes ahead and matches different developers with any interested advertisers in a bidding atmosphere. Mobclix did some research to see why AT&T iPhone customers were switching over to Verizon.

What they found just confirms everything that every other survey about AT&T iPhones vs. Verizon iPhones has discovered. The top reason for the switch was reception quality. In the survey of 600 different Verizon iPhone users, Mobclix found that the second and third most popular reason that customers were deserting AT&T was because of “personal hot spots” and “reputation.” The personal hot spot that AT&T users were missing is a feature that allows the iPhone to serve as an Internet host for up to five devices connected via Wi-Fi, or one single device connected via Bluetooth or USB.

Although this was an initial concern, just recently AT&T released its iOS 4.3 update for iPhones that allows AT&T iPhone users to have the same personal hot spot abilities. Mobclix also went on to research where there were the highest areas of Verizon iPhone usage. They found that Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York City, Boston, Chicago and Seattle where the cities with the most usage…big surprise.

I guess we’ll just have to see if Mobclix is accurate when the final official numbers come in. No matter, Verizon really seems to have made a dent in iPhone users that I assume will only increase from here on out.

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Top 10 Touch Screen Smartphones

2011-03-26T14:24:00.007-04:00

It’s taken a little while, but finally, touch screen interface has become a pretty mainstream thing. In the past it would have been difficult to comprise a list of the top 10 touch screen phones, but with all of the options available to-date, it now isn't an issue at all.

The whole touch screen phenomena began back in 2007 with the release of the original Apple iPhone. I can still remember all of the hype. People pre-ordered their iPhones months in advance. At the time, I couldn’t justify the price tag, but with the beautiful 3.5-inch Multi Touch screen with pinch and zoom features, a sleek, gorgeous design, finger-friendly interface and an incredible Web experience, I understood why so many people were counting down the days until the iPhone’s release.

The iPhone displayed all of the potential that the mobile carrier market could tap into concerning keyboard-free phones. After the iPhone was released, every major mobile phone manufacturer decided to take a chance on designing their own versions of touch screen smartphones. Some were obviously very successful, but others…not so much. There are some smartphones that have users begging to have a physical keyboard back, but there are others who have users saying they’ll never go back to a keyboard again. There are some smartphones that offer the best of both worlds, by having a touch screen and a slide out keyboard, but the top 10 touch screen phones listed below are strictly touch screen with no keyboard. If you’re willing to sacrifice physical keys and go completely touch, then here are some phones to consider.

AT&T

Apple iPhone 4
The original touch screen smartphone is still going strong four years later. The iPhone 4 is sleek, gorgeous and offers so many different features. It has an incredibly fast processor, tons of apps, one of the best media experiences and a great camera. On AT&T it does have some reception issues and limited FaceTime video calling, but overall it is an awesome phone.

HTC Inspire 4G
Touch screen smartphones can be pretty expensive most of the time, but the Inspire is a very inexpensive exception. It is extremely powerful and features a vast amount of built-in apps and features. There are some issues with the Inspire’s “4G” speeds though. It just seems a little underwhelming.

Motorola Atrix 4G
The Atrix is an incredibly fast and powerful phone. It has a beautiful screen and incredible design. Different optional docks can even easily turn the Atrix into a desktop or laptop PC; however, despite these cool features, the smartphone can be a little buggy and the laptop dock for the Atrix is way overpriced.

Sprint

HTC EVO 4G
The EVO was the first WiMAX phone and is perfect for someone who is always on the Internet. It features excellent Web browsers with some Flash. It also has as great touch screen, two different cameras and Wi-Fi hotspot mode. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have the best voice quality and the 4G coverage is pretty limited, but other than that it is a fantastic phone.

LG Optimus S
The Optimus S has tons of great features including Android 2.2, very valuable Sprint ID interface enhancements, mobile hotspot and really good battery life. The issues with this phone are that it doesn’t have the best screen resolution, CPU or camera, and the screen is just a bit small. Overall, the Optimus is a pretty good budget Android phone.

T-Mobile

T-Mobile myTouch 4G
The myTouch is incredibly well constructed and has incredible features including: the latest processor, Wi-Fi calling, hotspot mode and voice commands. The only issues with this smartphone are that it has some problems with bloatware and the fact that not everyone may like the UI skin.

Samsung Galaxy S 4G
The Galaxy S is absolutely gorgeous. It also is really fast with 4G HSPA+ data speeds, excellent music and video and a great battery life. The only real issue with this smartphone is that its TV app is a little buggy, but otherwise it’s a fantastic phone.

Verizon Wireless

HTC Thunderbolt
Verizon has been heavily promoting the Thunderbolt, and why not? This smartphone has lightning fast Internet speeds, a gorgeous design, simply elegant interface and lots of storage. The phone is incredible besides the fact that it is a little on the heavy side, occasional bugs and a pretty poor battery life when users are surfing or streaming on 4G.

Motorola Droid X
Droids hit the market as the iPhone’s competition, and they have done a pretty good job of stepping up to the plate. The Droid X features an incredibly fast processor, Wi-Fi hotspot mode, Bluetooth voice dialing, fantastic reception and noise cancellation. For some the Droid is just a little too big and bulky. There also is no way to turn off Blur and it won’t play HD content over an HDMI cable. These really aren’t huge issues though. The Droid X is the most powerful Android smartphone aside from the HTC Droid Incredible.

Apple iPhone 4
So, a short time ago, Verizon broke the barriers and began offering the Apple iPhone 4 right alongside AT&T. Verizon’s version has all of the same incredible features that AT&T’s iPhone offers, except for the lack of 4G on Verizon’s phone. Overall, it functions just as well as AT&T’s iPhone, so I guess it just depends on which service carrier you prefer and whether or not you really want 4G.

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AT&T Plans on Giving Android Users Access to the New Amazon Appstore

2011-03-24T16:55:00.005-04:00

So Amazon.com, the popular online retailer, has just launched their newest service, the Amazon Appstore. The Amazon Appstore is a mobile app marketplace similar to the Android Marketplace and the Apple App Store but completely run by Amazon.com. One interesting thing Amazon is doing to attempt to draw customers away from Apple and Android is offering a free app every day that you would normally have to pay for.

The first app they released for free was a new installment in the Angry Birds series known as Angry Birds Rio, which models itself after the upcoming animated movie Rio. Well Rovio, developers of the Angry Birds series, just announced on their Facebook page a few hours ago that "AT&T is also working on enabling purchases from the Amazon Appstore soon."

If this is true, then it would mark a very big move on AT&T's part considering the fact that they have been rock solid in their resolve to keep apps from outside the Android Market off of their branded Android devices. This has been viewed as frustrating and illogical by a lot of AT&T customers. However, AT&T has confirmed to Engadget that they are, in fact, getting access to the Amazon Appstore.

"We're working to give our Android customers access to third party application stores. This requires updates to our systems and finalizing arrangements with Amazon. We will share more info with our customers in the near future," AT&T stated.

However, with any good news usually comes bad and that holds true here. The bad news is that AT&T isn't having any discussions with Amazon about this at all. This may indicate that they are planning on making an exception to their Android marketplace policy for the Amazon Appstore as opposed to enabling sideloading on all of their Android devices.

This could possibly involve some firmware updates which drop the Amazon Appstore in ROM. However, that seems like a lot of work, especially with all the red tape that is involved in pushing just a single update for a single mobile device on a major carrier. Keep checking back here as we will have all the info as it plays out.

Source: Engadget - AT&T planning on access to Amazon Appstore, sideloading still an open question

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Are Upload Speeds Being Capped on AT&T Devices?

2011-03-10T15:02:00.005-05:00

Something interesting has started popping up around the internet recently, the fact that AT&T may be capping speeds on many devices to speeds quite a bit lower than AT&T's network can support. It is also looking like this may be the case on a plethora of AT&T devices and not just the iPhone 4.

This has been seen on a few different AT&T devices recently including the company's latest set of USB modems like the USBConnect Shockwave 4G and the USBConnect Adrenaline. Both of the aforementioned devices were running upload speeds far below their capabilities in many parts of New York City recently.

It also appears that AT&T devices that should support HSUPA, something that would allow them to enable upload speeds of up to 1Mbps, are also being limited to UMTS, which only maxes them out at 384Kbps, half of their potential speed.

The folks over at PCMag have been running some tests to figure out what exactly is going on. They tested an HTC Inspire 4G, a Motorola Atrix and an Apple iPhone 4. Both the Inspire and the Atrix are supposed to be faster than iPhone 4 overall considering both the Inspire and the Atrix have HSPA+ 14.4 modems whereas the iPhone 4 only has an HSPA 7.2 modem.

PCMag used the Ookla SpeedTest app and connected each phone to the exact same server. Then they ran the test six individual times. Their results? They got the UMTS upload speeds on the Inspire and the Atrix every time. Tests done by PCMag with the iPhone 4 at the same time in the same location showed dramatically higher upload speeds which also correlated to the two USB modems PCMag had tested earlier.

These tests conclude that AT&T is in fact capping upload speeds for several different non-iPhone 4 devices. There are other explanations though. This could be a problem specific to the four separate devices PCMag tested or it could also be a problem with the particular sections of NYC that are experiencing the problems. However, that all seems highly coincidental.

PCMag contacted AT&T and inquired about what was going on but got no solid answer. What do you think? Is there a reason AT&T is doing this? Is it to promote the AT&T version of the iPhone 4 after Apple released a Verizon version? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

Source: PCMag - Is AT&T Capping Upload Speeds?

Security Camera Solutions

The Top Rugged Cell Phones

2011-03-08T12:01:00.007-05:00

So, right now everyone is into the smartphones with their big, glass touch screens, but we all know that smartphones just aren’t that durable. I have seen plenty of cracked iPhone and Droid touch screens. Haven’t you? Have you ever dropped your phone in the sink, the pool, or possibly even the toilet? I have dropped my different phones in all three!

Have any of you that have had phone problems or that work in high risk situations for phones ever thought about getting a rugged phone that would be able to handle quite a bit more than any smartphone or feature phone? If you work in a rough environment, are an outdoorsy kind of person, or simply are just accident prone, then you might want to check out some of these top-of-the-line rugged cell phones.

AT&T

Motorola Tundra VA76r
$179.99

Pros: The Tundra is rugged without giving up all elements of style. No, it’s not chic, but it features fantastic reception, top-notch keypad, web use, GPS options, and AT&T’s push-to-talk.

Cons: It’s rather large for a flip phone, has an external antenna, and features a pretty poor quality camera.

Samsung Rugby II SGH-A847
$119.99

Pros: The Rugby II is firmly constructed with excellent voice quality and a fantastic speakerphone.

Cons: The earpiece could definitely be much louder and there is too much bloatware.

Sprint

Motorola Brute i686
$119.99

Pros: The Brute features great voice quality and a fantastic speakerphone. It also comes with Sprint’s push-to-talk ability.

Cons: The Brute is a very rugged phone, but it feels like it could use a little updating. It looks and feels a little older than some of the others. The phone also has poor Web and video features.

Sanyo Taho
$99.99

Pros: The Taho features a super extra-rugged design that allows the phone to be run over by a car several times. It also features a very loud speakerphone.

Cons: The issue with this phone is that it has poor reception and to many people’s dismay, the Taho doesn’t feature push-to-talk.

T-Mobile

Motorola Defy
$99.99

Pros: The Defy from Motorola is the very first rugged smartphone to hit the market. The phone is waterproof and has a fantastic speakerphone.

Cons: Now there are definitely some issues with the Defy. The Motoblur does make the OS a bit sluggish at times. It also doesn’t have a hotspot mode or HSPA+.

Verizon Wireless

Casio G’zOne Ravine
$149.99

Pros: The Ravine is an extremely rugged phone that is nearly indestructible. It features good call quality, a long battery life, and great outdoorsy apps that can be downloaded.

Cons: The only big issue with this phone is that it has a very dated music player, but if that doesn’t matter to you, then this is a good rugged phone to consider.

Casio G’zOne Brigade
$99.99

Pros: The Brigade is built like a small tank. It has a good battery life, Verizon’s push-to-talk service, and a fantastic QWERTY keyboard.

Cons: The problem with the Brigade is that it can be fairly expensive if you decide to pile on the optional data service. Also, its multimedia performance is poor.

Motorola Barrage V860
$129.99

Pros: The Barrage is a pretty good phone if you’re looking for something rugged. It’s got good call quality, a long battery life, and it is waterproof.

Cons: However, compared to a lot of the phones on this list, it’s not super rugged. It also just has an average video and camera phone.

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Problems Arrive with the First Windows Phone 7 Update

2011-02-24T10:34:00.007-05:00

The very first Windows Phone software update is circulating the airwaves right now, and everybody is eagerly awaiting all the details on what it offers, how it works, how smooth it is or if it is a big waste of time. While this update has been highly anticipated since it was first mentioned, it has not, unfortunately, gone smoothly for everybody.

Thanks to recent reports about the new software update to the phone, there seem to be at least three distinct failure modes with two of them being fairly easy to fix. According to company estimates, about 10% of users attempting to update their software encountered a problem. Of those 10%, however, nearly half failed the update because they had a poor connection to the internet or lacked enough disk space.

Apparently, the update makes a backup of the phone's contents in case something awful happens. Everybody else probably falls under the issue affecting "a small number" of Samsung devices, an issue the company is working furiously to fix. In the meantime, the update has been turned off for those devices.

In lay terms, when you get the prompt to install your update, Microsoft will send you a nice message that recommends that you have the necessary hard drive space on your PC as well as a strong connection to the internet. Around 90% of users were successful in installing the update which is excellent news considering this is the very first update for the device.

Source: Engadget - Microsoft details Windows Phone 7 update problem, 'small number' of Samsungs affected

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Speculations for a Cheaper iPhone

2011-02-11T02:41:00.008-05:00

On Thursday, February 10, Bloomberg reported that Apple is working on some different versions of the iPhone. These new versions will be cheaper (like around $200), feature a CDMA/GSM dual-mode, and have a “universal SIM.”

The report has not yet been confirmed by Apple, but it is saying that the new, cheaper iPhone should be out this summer. They did add though that there is always a chance that a device such as this could be postponed or cancelled.

The report from Bloomberg claims that the cheaper iPhone would be smaller and cost around $200. The report goes on to say that you will not need to purchase a contract, but it will include certain aspects of today’s iPhone. It is also believed that Apple is working on a dual-mode CDMA-GSM phone, as well as a “universal SIM” that would allow users to switch between GSM networks. This would be accompanied by software that would give users the ability to configure their own phones.

Now the universal SIM technology seems to be confirmed by a patent of Apple that was described as “dynamic carrier selection.” What this would do is allow users to pick which wireless carrier they wanted to use for their service plan depending on quotes that they received from each different carrier.

"According to one embodiment of the invention, access to a wireless cellular communication network can be provided by storing a network address on a mobile device," the patent reads. "The network address can identify a mobile virtual network operator server storing mobile network operator data for use by the mobile device. A request for network operator data can be sent from the mobile device to the mobile virtual network operator server, and in response to the request, network operator data can be received. A network operator for the mobile device can be selected based on the received network operator data, and communications can be conducted using the selected network operator."

Now that Verizon Wireless is providing a Verizon iPhone, the biggest complaint about the iPhone seems to be the price. Right now, the iPhone is available from Verizon and AT&T for $199 with a contract and $699 without. Compared to the competition though, the iPhone doesn’t seem that expensive. Right now, the Droid Incredible from HTC is costing users $299 with a contract.

There are some issues with a cheaper iPhone though. It would have to be manufactured in an extremely cheap fashion without sacrificing any of the iPhone’s quality. This would have to happen if Apple were to maintain its profit margins. The profit margins that Apple has are some of the highest in the industry.

According to an analysis that was released by IHS iSuppli on Thursday, February 10, if Apple wished to produce a phone that was on par with the iPhone 4 in all ways, the company would have to spend $178.45 per phone to produce them.

"With the CDMA iPhone 4, Apple Inc. has shown once again that it never recycles a product design," said Andrew Rassweiler, senior director, teardown services, for IHS, in a statement. "Apple's new designs always exhibit changes, evolution and optimization. This approach is evident not only in the antenna design but also in items like the integrated GPS functionality and the shrinking of the Wi-Fi/Bluetooth combo module. As we dig deeper into our teardown analysis, we're certain that we will find a host of other tweaks all designed to improve quality but keep costs on a steady path of decline."

In Bloomberg’s report though, they claimed that the new, cheaper phone would be close to a third smaller than the iPhone 4. Why is this important? Well, according to iSuppli, the 3.5 inch, 960 x 640 screen of the iPhone 4 costs $37.80 and is the second most expensive component of the device. So if the new iPhone’s screen is a third of the size of the iPhone 4’s, that could really cut some cost.

It will be really interesting to see where Apple goes with these possibilities for the iPhone. Of course all of this could be rumor, but it all seems to make sense and match up with what we know that Apple is patenting and working on right now. Hopefully it really will be summer when we see this new iPhone, but until we hear something from Apple, I guess we are going to be left in the dark.

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Pre 2 Shipping February 17th

2011-02-10T17:06:00.010-05:00

A lot of people predicted it and a lot of people were correct, the Verizon Pre 2 will be shipping out to customers willing to lay down $99 and sign a 2-year contract on February 17th. If you want the phone but don't feel like throwing your name down on a contract, you can expect to fork over $439.99. If you want to, you can reserve one now at HP's web store and only there due to the fact that Verizon's online store doesn't have a pre-order.

The Pre 2 may get passed over by a lot of people due to two main things: the fact that Verizon just launched their iPhone and the fact that the Pre 3 was just announced as well, which will have a larger screen, better keyboard, dual cameras, video calling and a lot more. Now the Pre 3 isn't set to release until the summer and the only other information is that it will be EVDO Rev A. It is still unclear whether or not Verizon will pick it up.

Questions have emerged as to whether or not HP and Verizon should release the Pre 2 with all the newer devices coming out soon. When HP was approached with that very same question, they responded, "some people want a slightly smaller phone with a slightly smaller screen."

That seems like a pretty weak explanation to me. I mean, since when does anybody prefer things to be smaller? Nevertheless, reports are coming in from different places from companies that have already gotten a chance to use the Pre 2 and test it out. There have been the occasional bugs with webOS 2.0.1 but the general consensus is that the Pre 2 is a big step forward from the Pre Plus. One plus is that HP's Mobile Hotspot application, which allows you to tether as many as five devices via WiFi, isn't going to cost you a dime over your standard data plan.

What about you? Are you excited for the Pre 2 or are you going to wait for the iPhone 4 or Pre 3? Let us know in the comment section below.

Source: Pre Central - HP puts Verizon Pre 2 on pre-order - $99 on contract, ships Feb 17th

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Will BlackBerries and Androids Soon Be a Thing of the Past?

2011-02-06T16:46:00.004-05:00

The United States has just released the results of a recently conducted, extremely extensive survey of AT&T and Verizon Wireless smartphone customers. The results seem to suggest that come February 10, the day that Verizon’s iPhone is released, there will be quite a few drastic changes in the smartphone world.

The survey that was conducted by uSamp, “one of the world’s fastest growing technology and online sample companies,” who questioned 727 AT&T and Verizon smartphone users. The results were fascinating.

The survey showed that 54 percent of Verizon customers who owned BlackBerry or Android phones said that they were either “very likely” or “somewhat likely” to switch to the iPhone 4 on the launch day alone. However, another 33 percent said that they were “very unlikely” or “somewhat unlikely” to jump to the new device that will be offered at Verizon on the launch day, but that doesn’t mean those people won’t be looking to switch a little later after the device's debut.

Now, to break this down a little bit more, there were 66 percent of Verizon users who have BlackBerries who said that they would be likely or somewhat likely to purchase a Verizon iPhone 4 on its launch day. When the same question was asked of Verizon Android users, the numbers dropped to 44 percent. In total, there were a whole 24 percent of existing Verizon users that said that they were going to make the switch on launch day and planned on even standing in line in order to pick up a new device.

So what is the big reason for the switch? Well, according to 60 percent of all of the BlackBerry and Android users that were surveyed, the biggest reason seemed to be the difference in interface. It seemed as though those users preferred iPhone 4’s web browsers. Also, media, which includes a phone’s ability to easily play or transfer media, seemed to be causing BlackBerry and Android users to switch as well.

However, despite all these reasons that are causing users to want to switch platforms, there is a huge factor that is causing many users to stick to their current devices…price. More than half of the Verizon customers that were surveyed, 64 percent, claimed that the cost of the device by Apple was the largest reason as to why they would not be making the switch. To add to this, 41 percent—when asked if they were having any second thoughts about switching to Verizon’s iPhone 4 after learning more about it—said that the cost of the device and the data plans associated with the device were still a very large roadblock in preventing them from making up their minds about whether or not to make the switch.

On the other side of things, the survey didn’t show as many interested AT&T users as I expected. Only 26 percent of AT&T customers surveyed said that they were “likely” or “somewhat likely” to buy the Verizon iPhone 4 on the launch day. The survey confirmed that the main reason that AT&T’s iPhone customers want to switch is because they are tired of dealing with dropped calls on AT&T’s network. So what’s holding them back? A whole 45 percent of those surveyed said the cost of the transition was just too much and that it was definitely holding them back from jumping at the opportunity to have an iPhone with Verizon service.

Lawsuit Filed Against AT&T Over Inflated Data Charges

2011-02-01T23:15:00.006-05:00

A man from California is filing a suit against AT&T saying that their data charges for Apple’s iPhone and iPad are inflated.

Patrick Hendricks, the frustrated AT&T customer that filed the suit, claims that the billing system that AT&T has adopted for their data plans is like a “rigged gas pump.” Hendricks is an AT&T iPhone user with a $15 per month data plan that allows him 200MB of data transactions. He said that late last year AT&T charged him for 259 individual data transactions that totaled 223MB; however, according to court documents, Hendricks claims that “many of these charges were phantom data transactions” that never really occurred.

A two-month review of Hendricks’s claim and other aspects surrounding the claim was conducted by an independent consulting firm that was hired by Hendricks’ lawyers. According to the lawsuit that was filed on Thursday, January 30, 2011 in the California district court, the consulting firm found that AT&T consistently overcharges their customers for their data plans by 7 to 14 percent.

The suit said that this proves that “AT&T's bills systematically overstate the amount of data used on each data transaction involving an iPhone or iPad account.”

After the filing of the suit, AT&T did not immediately respond to a request for a comment.

Hendricks not only accuses AT&T of billing him for phantom data usage, but also for consistently overbilling him for legitimate data usage. The consulting firm that was investigating for Hendricks went to an AT&T store and purchased a iPhone. They then proceeded to turn off push notifications, location services, closed all apps, and did not enable e-mail on the phone. After a ten day trail period, AT&T still charged the phone for 35 data transactions that totaled 2,292KB of usage.

Hendricks said that although the overbilling really just has a “modest effect” on customers, for AT&T there is a “huge effect.” He claims that AT&T is receiving a “significant portion” of their data revenues from these inflated data transactions.

What Hendricks is really actually suing for is a breach of contract, unjust enrichment, and a few other things. Hendricks says that he wants damages as well as costs.

AT&T announced in June 2010 that it was revamping its system for the data plan lineups. The company decided to adopt a metered usage model in place of their old methods. They offered their customers 200MB of data for $15 per month, 2GB of data for $25 per month, and a tethering plan for $20 per month. They did allow for their existing customers to keep their unlimited data plans. There have also been recent reports that said that AT&T also allowed any of their customers who had downgraded their data plan within the last year to return to their unlimited status.

In late October the FCC said that to settle the compliant issues about the incorrect data charges Verizon Wireless would be forced to pay $25 million. This came just a few weeks after Verizon had said that they would issue refunds to over 15 million different customers who had found mistakes with their phone bills.

"Verizon Wireless works very hard to simplify the wireless experience for customers and to ensure that customer bills are accurate," Verizon said in a statement. "Nonetheless, internal billing processes can be complex and, in this case, we made inadvertent billing mistakes. We accept responsibility for those errors and apologize to our customers who received accidental data charges on their bills."

"We are notifying eligible current and former customers that we are applying credits to their accounts or sending refunds in October and November," the company said. "Current customers will be notified in upcoming bills; former customers will receive a letter and refund check in the mail. In most cases these credits and refunds are in the $2 to $6 range; some will receive larger amounts."

The settlement "sends a clear message to American consumers: The FCC has got your back," FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said in a statement. "People shouldn't find mystery fees when they open their phone bills – and they certainly shouldn't have to pay for services they didn't want and didn't use. In these rough economic times, every $1.99 counts."

"Today's settlement also includes strong FCC oversight and accountability to ensure that Verizon Wireless fully repays what they owe to their customers and puts new measures in place to improve customer service," he said.

More recently than all of this stuff with Verizon, Microsoft has said that there have been inefficiencies between the synchronization of e-mail between the Windows Phone Mail client and Yahoo Mail, and this resulted in a much larger than expected data usage for certain users.

It looks as though AT&T will definitely be shelling out some big bucks when all of this is settled. It may just take a while to make it through the legal system.

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Navigon Releases New iPhone Car Kit

2011-01-27T08:39:00.007-05:00

Navigon has just unveiled a new iPhone car kit at the Macworld Expo 2011. The kit consists of an iPhone mounting device as well as a suction cup for mounting it on nearly any surface in your car. An Apple-certified connection cord is also thrown in as well as a car charger to power the iPhone while driving.

According to Gerhard Mayr, Vice President of Worldwide Mobile Phones & New Markets for Navigon, "The iPhone is the most elegant smartphone available, therefore a mount should never get in the way of showcasing the design." This kit from Navigon is a more stylish rendition of German tech design with a "barely there" look.

The mount is easy to fix in any position on any surface in your vehicle which reduces distraction to the driver and also places the iPhone in a position that is optimal for a GPS signal. The included car charger, as well as the 5-foot long connection cable, are perfect if you need to use your iPhone's navigation system on long trips or vacations.

It appears that the physical cradle could fit other devices besides an iPhone. However, if you buy this kit and you do not have an iPhone, then you now have a 5-foot long iPhone cable that you do not need. The charger, however, is a simple one that plugs into your lighter jack and has a USB port on the other end making it universal with practically every smart phone on the market that uses a USB charging system.

My point is that this case, while designed for the iPhone, would be good for most smartphones out there or even smaller GPS devices. The Navigon Car Kit is available now for the iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 for a market price of $49.99. However, you can get an introductory price of $44.99 if you purchase one before February 3rd.

Source: Engadget

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Users Turning to Mobile Devices for E-mail

2011-01-23T18:40:00.004-05:00

The way that we check our e-mail is evolving. Well, how do you check it? If you have a smartphone, it is very likely that you are beginning to turn to utilizing your phone to check and send e-mails. I mean, if you have access to your messages on your phone, isn’t it a lot more convenient to simply check your phone instead of finding a laptop to check your e-mail?

According to comScore, an Internet traffic analytics firm, numbers are showing that e-mail usage is definitely beginning to move from computers to mobile devices. ComScore cited its November results from two of its services, Media Matrix and MobileLens. The results showed that the total unique visitors to e-mail Web sites like Yahoo Mail, Hotmail, and Gmail have dropped by 6 percent year over year. As you might expect, the shift has really occurred most drastically among the younger age groups. The results show that with 12 to 17-year-olds, the total amount of minutes spent on Web-based e-mail sites has gone down by a whole 48 percent.

It was also revealed that males were more likely to reduce their Web mail usage than females. Males showed a 19 percent reduction in total page views while females only dropped 11 percent. Overall Web mail page views went down by 15 percent and total minutes spent on those pages from November 2009 to November 2010 dropped by 9 percent.

So what about the other side of things? How much has mobile e-mail usage gone up? Well, according to information provided by comScore, e-mail usage has gone up an entire 36 percent from November 2009 to November 2010. The study stated, “In November 2010, 70.1 million mobile users (30 percent of all mobile subscribers) accessed e-mail on their mobile, an increase of 36 percent from the previous year. Daily usage of e-mail showed an even greater increase growing 40 percent as 43.5 million users turned to their mobile devices on a nearly daily basis for their e-mail communication needs."

The age and gender numbers for increasing mobile e-mail use were very similar to the numbers that were recorded concerning the decline of Webmail usage. The main age concentration in the study was 25 to 34-year olds. This group was 60 percent more likely to access their e-mail on their mobile device than the average mobile user. Concerning gender, females were surprisingly 13 percent less likely to access their e-mail via their mobile device than the average mobile device owner, but males were 14 percent more likely to access it via their smartphone.

Unfortunately, the study simply reports on the general smartphone population. It didn’t break down their numbers by phone brand, which could definitely make a difference. It would really be fascinating to see a breakdown of the differences concerning phone brands.

ComScore's senior vice president of mobile Mark Donovan noted, "What we have seen in the smartphone era is the rapid acceleration of data consumption, which has helped drive mobile usage across multiple categories including e-mail. In a relatively short period of time, adoption of mobile email has reached 78 percent of the smartphone population, which is very similar to the penetration of Web-based e-mail among Internet users. These findings demonstrate just how quickly channel shifts can occur and why it's now essential for media brands to have a strong presence in both arenas."

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Does 4G Really Mean Much of Anything Anymore?

2011-01-19T12:47:00.004-05:00

4G is something that we hear wireless carriers talking about all the time these days. Everyone seems to be fighting to provide the best 4G coverage, and while they try to convince the public that their particular company is the best, they don’t seem to mind taking a few jabs at their competition.

The problem is that 4G honestly seems to have turned into a meaningless term. All four of the major U.S. wireless carriers claim that their faster wireless networks are “4G” networks, but really none of the networks actually meet the International Telecommunication Union’s standards for 4G.

Speed is the most important requirement for a network to be labeled as 4G. The ITU says that 4G is technology that downloads at a speed of 100Mbps on mobile devices or 1Gbps on fixed wireless connections. The technology that all four of the U.S. carriers utilizes just isn’t that fast.

Back when the industry moved from 2G to 3G there weren’t any issues. The criteria was clearly defined, so there was no mislabeling going on, and wireless service providers and device makers followed the criteria when labeling their devices.

When 4G started to come about, the ITU defined new requirements. The problem was that wireless operators have decided to ignore the specifications set down by the ITU and have attempted to push their own definition of 4G.

The fact that carriers are doing this and the ITU really hasn’t done anything to clear up the matter is really getting to some people. It’s honestly making everything very confusing for customers.

Dan Warren, the senior director of technology for the GSM Association, an industry group that represents the interests of mobile operators in more than 200 different countries, said, “The term 4G is basically meaningless. It's not a term that anyone could use with a straight face to refer to anything technical. It's a marketing term that means different things to different people."

Some people are arguing that a label is merely a label and nothing else, but Warren says that the standards that are set by the ITU are important for setting customers’ expectations.

"The people who suffer from this are the consumers, who are confused," he said. "The operators use this term interchangeably to refer to different technologies that are incompatible. Customers are confused because they think they can compare the networks like for like. But they can't."

So how close is the “4G” service that U.S. carriers are providing to the real 4G service that is defined by the ITU? Well, keep in mind that the ITU says that the download requirement for 4G is 100Mbps. Verizon claims that its LTE service offers an average download speed somewhere between 6Mbsp and 12Mbsp, and Sprint says that its network download speed comes in somewhere between 3Mbsp and 6Mbsp.

T-Mobile didn’t want to be left out of the 4G game. They were a little a late with their 3G coverage compared to their competitors, but they almost immediately began updating with advanced 3G technology called HSPA+. The upgrades made their service almost as fast as LTE and WiMax in terms of speed. Therefore, last summer T-Mobile began marketing their service as having “4G-like speeds.” By the fall the company dropped the “like” aspect and began referring to their network as a 4G network.

Now instead of stepping in and clarifying, the ITU sent out a press release in early December that simply said that it was okay for the U.S. carriers to call their networks 4G.

"It is recognized that [4G], while undefined, may also be applied to the forerunners of these technologies, LTE and WiMax, and to other evolved 3G technologies providing a substantial level of improvement in performance and capabilities with respect to the initial third-generation systems now deployed," the ITU said in the statement.

This just made everything even more confusing and complicated.

T-Mobile’s CTO Neville Ray justifies calling the company’s HSPA+ network “4G” because he says that it performs just as well or better than the networks that T-Mobile’s competitors are calling 4G.

"Sprint chose to call WiMax 4G first," he said. "And then they chose to charge their customers $10 more for the service, even if some customers aren't in an area where they can get WiMax coverage. So who is misleading customers?"

"Our service performs better than what they are offering," he went on to say. "And HSPA+ and the path this technology is on has the same ability to reach the definitions of 4G as much as LTE and WiMax do."

Warren continues to say that the misuse of the term 4G has just gone too far.
"T-Mobile wasn't the first to cross the line in how they used 4G," he said. "But let's just say it went the furthest. Verizon and Sprint each bent the definition, but T-Mobile stretched the most."

Verizon and Sprint are obviously just as guilty as T-Mobile, but standards experts are saying that those companies’ claims are a little more justifiable, since their technology is at least moving towards the direction of true ITU approved 4G standards.

"Never anywhere on the planet have I ever heard of any version of HSPA being referred to as 4G," said Perry LaForge, the founder, executive director, and chairman of the CDMA Development Group (CDG), a trade association that promotes the use of CDMA cellular technology around the world. "In general, the industry looked at LTE and WiMax as the two 4G approaches. And the ITU was going through the process. Then this marketing stuff cropped up."

Honestly, it’s really just all a big mess. If only the ITU had stepped in when carriers started making 4G claims that weren’t meeting 4G standards, then we wouldn’t be in this situation and there would be a lot less customer confusion.

AT&T Losing iPhone Customers to Verizon

2011-01-14T11:21:00.005-05:00

According to data that was released Thursday, January 13 by ChangeWave, approximately 26 percent of current Apple iPhone users that are on AT&T’s plan are planning to switch to Verizon’s iPhone when it is made available in February.

ChangeWave polled 4,050 people a few days before the big announcement that Verizon Wireless made on Tuesday, January 11. They asked those polled that if Verizon were to announce that an iPhone would be made available on their network, would they be switching providers in the next 90 days? Ten percent said that they were planning on switching within 90 days. About 16 percent said that they would be purchasing a Verizon iPhone but not necessarily right away. Among the AT&T users polled, 26 percent said that they would be ditching the AT&T version of the iPhone for the Verizon iPhone.

About 41 percent of those polled, who said that they would be switching from AT&T’s iPhone to Verizon’s, said that they would be making the switch sometime within the next three months. Another 31 percent said that they would be making the switch within the next year.

AT&T users aren’t the only customers that plan on switching service providers though. About 15 percent of T-Mobile users said that they will switch to Verizon for the iPhone, 10 percent of Sprint’s customers also plan on doing this as well, and 4 percent of the existing customers at Verizon said that they will be switching from their current device to the iPhone.

ChangeWave reported that this is the biggest churn rate that has ever been recorded for AT&T. The most prominent reason for AT&T’s customers leaving and choosing the Verizon iPhone is due to poor reception or coverage. A whole 42 percent claimed that this was their reasoning. Another 27 percent said it was because of dropped calls, while 17 percent said their decision was due to the cost.

ChangeWave did report though that AT&T has made improvements in its dropped call history.
"While AT&T continues to struggle in this very important area and trails Verizon by a wide margin, it has made significant advances since our previous survey –improving from its all-time worst 6.0 percent rating last September to 4.7 percent in the current survey," ChangeWave said. "The findings suggest AT&T is now taking concrete steps to try to improve long-standing service issues. But can it do so quickly enough to forestall large-scale defections to Verizon?"

Who knows if consumers are really going to dump AT&T and jump on the Verizon bandwagon, but as data that was released by comScore on Thursday, January 13 suggested, the Verizon iPhone is really a big turning point in the smartphone market.

"The iPhone Verizon deal will no doubt bring even greater competition to the smartphone arena throughout the coming year as Android, iPhone and RIM jockey for the leadership position," Sarah Radwanick, comScore's marketing communications manager, wrote in a blog post.

Radwanick also pointed out Verizon’s smartphone market share that grew from four percent in the last year to 27 percent. Obviously, that’s less than AT&T’s 38 percent market share, but AT&T did drop 7 percent last year due to the abundance of different smartphones that were made available in the last year. Verizon’s numbers really rose mostly because of the strong Android-based devices that the company added to their lineup of smartphones.

In just overall mobile device market share, Verizon has 31 percent, while AT&T has 27 percent.

ComScore also suggested that the iPhone customers that Verizon does end up nabbing will most likely be in customer segments that are attractive to mobile providers. This basically means younger users that come from higher income brackets. Also important to note, iPhone users seem to remain loyal to the iconic Apple smartphone. More than half have subscribed via AT&T for more than three years now, while another 28 percent have had subscriptions for one to three years.

"Although it's too early to tell exactly how consumers will react to the Verizon iPhone announcement, it is fair to say that this deal represents a potentially significant turning point in the ascendance of the smartphone market," Radwanick concluded. "Only time will tell which carriers and platforms will emerge as the market leaders, but it's clear that right now the consumers are winners as they gain yet another option when making their smartphone choice."

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First Details on the BlackBerry Dakota

2011-01-13T11:54:00.005-05:00

BlackBerry phones were some of the very first smartphones to hit the market and they took off like a bat out of hell. However, since then the BlackBerry craze has lessened with more and more people gravitating towards Apple's iPhone or similar devices like the Droid X from Motorola or the Fascinate from Samsung. But just because BlackBerry has been knocked down does not mean that it is down for the count. The newest device being hinted at by BlackBerry could be just what the company needs to get back in the game.

I'm talking, of course, about the BlackBerry Dakota, first pictures of which have recently been released for viewing by the public. The Dakota is being touted as the master of the BlackBerry family, the one that will reign supreme over all the rest. It's true that the internet is buzzing over the first pic of the Dakota and with good reason, I might add.

While details on the device are very scarce, we do have a picture and a rough spec sheet displaying everything this device will have to offer including the original Bold styling, NFC, magnetometer, HD video recording and 3G mobile hotspot. The full spec sheet is as follows:

3G mobile hotspot
5 megapixel camera with HD video recording, flash and image stabilization
MicroUSB port
Proximity sensor
NFC
Tri-band UMTS
Magnetometer
4GB of built-in storage, 768MB of RAM
Accelerometer
Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE
Launches with BlackBerry OS 6.1
WiFi b/g/n on 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies
10.5mm thick
2.8-inch VGA 640 x 480 capacitive screen

Sounds pretty good if you ask me. However, is it the touch and type BlacBerry fans have been waiting for? Does it have enough to draw customers away from the Droid X or the iPhone? We can only speculate at this point until we have more details. Keep checking back to see when we have more information including an official release date as well as an official price.

Source: BGR

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Apple’s Co-Founder is Buying a Verizon iPhone

2011-01-12T11:34:00.004-05:00

Lots of people are extremely excited about the announcement that Verizon Wireless made Tuesday, January 11 about featuring the iPhone at their stores and online. Everyone has been waiting for quite some time for Verizon to finally make this announcement. AT&T’s exclusive iPhone contract made things a little difficult, so there were a lot of things that had to be worked around. Fortunately, the wait is now almost over, and you’re not the only one who is excited about the iPhone from Verizon.

When Apple’s co-founder Steve Wozniak was questioned about whether he would be getting the Verizon iPhone at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View on Jan. 11 after the announcement was made by Verizon, he responded, “A VeriPhone? Of Course.”

"I'm definitely going to get one," Wozniak said. "I always have at least one Verizon phone on me at all times, just in case I'm in one of those bad areas. You can find those areas where Verizon doesn't work and AT&T does, but in truth, it's usually the opposite."

"And I also love the mobile hotspot," Wozniak added. "I hope it's the standard $30 a month. I wish it was free like the Palm Pre because that made the Pre a cheaper Mi-Fi. Anyway, so I'm expecting that it's no big new iPhone, not even a new color. It's just going to be on the Verizon network."

The Verizon iPhone has been rumored for years, and the rumors have escalated and really started flying around in the past few months. Well, Verizon has finally officially launched the Verizon iPhone. Verizon says that they will offer a CDMA EVDO version of the iPhone 4 as of February 10. Any exsisting Verizon customers will be able to pre-order the smartphone as early as February 3. The 16GB iPhone will cost customers $199 with a two-year contract, and the 32GB iPhone will cost $299 with a two-year contract.

Wozinak went on saying, “I'm actually playing games in my head about which phones I want to keep. I actually want to keep at least one Android phone."

All this talk about the multiple phones that Wozinak has had me wondering exactly how many phones the guy has.

"I came to the conclusion last night that I'll have three activated AT&T iPhones, so if the battery runs down I have a spare," Wozniak said. "And I'm in Europe a lot of times, so maybe one of them will be Verizon, one of them will be AT&T. So I'll have two AT&T, one AT&T with the international plan, and one Verizon if I need it. Although the tethering's only to a computer. Although maybe I can give one number up and give it to Verizon. And I'll keep the Droid X. And I'll probably give up the Palm Pre because I now have another Mi-Fi."

Wozinak also added, though, that data plans are always an issue.

"I have those grandfathered [data] plans," Wozniak added. "I love those grandfathered plans, but you have to watch them [carriers] like a hawk."

I’m so excited that Verizon has finally worked things out so that they can carry the Apple iPhone. We’ve all been waiting for a very long time, but now we finally have an end date to the wait. I think we can all definitely make it until February. Many people suspected that the “event” that Verizon was holding in New York on Januray 11 had to do with the announcement of a Verizon iPhone, and all of those people were correct. I’m glad the cat is finally out of the bag, and everyone can start making their plans concerning Verizon’s iPhone.

Verizon's New York Event Concerning the "Latest News"

2011-01-10T20:00:00.003-05:00

Verizon has invited reporters to an event in New York on January 11 where the company will share what they have dubbed “the latest news.” Everyone is speculating…could this be an announcement about a Verizon version of the iPhone?

The announcement by Verizon really seemed to confuse many of the people that were at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. This is probably because Verizon had already made a ton of announcements at the CES. Most of the announcements concerned the release of its high-speed LTE network. This included the introduction of ten of its LTE devices, including the highly-anticipated HTC Thunderbolt.

It’s possible that the event in New York that Verizon is holding, which is being held at the Frederick P. Rose Hall at the Lincoln Center, is simply a recap of everything that they announced at the CES for the reporters who missed the announcements, but who knows?

Based on reports of conversations with a source that is close to the company, it seems as though the announcement will be about a device.

Many people believe that this announcement simply has to be concerning the rumors about the Verizon version of the iPhone. The rumors have been that the smartphone would be released sometime in 2011.

It appears as though Apple has been working overtime recently. The company has reportedly limited the vacation time of lower-level employees and have also kept on their holiday staff. Other reports (that are complete with drawings) are suggesting that this announcement could be about a next generation iPhone (or a Verizon iPhone) that would be delivered by late February.

Based on the information from a source that is close to Verizon, this announcement could also be about some sort of tablet. Verizon didn’t just focus on phones at the CES. They also discussed hotspots and notebooks, so it is very possible that they want to discuss tablets and how they will be the leading service provider in the tablet industry.

Who knows what Verizon will be announcing? Hopefully, we will be seeing an announcement concerning the iPhone, but for now we’re just going to have to sit around and wait to find out.

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Android Market Now Has Over 200,000 Apps

2011-01-04T19:39:00.004-05:00

Google’s Android Market seems to really be taking off and doing quite well. In just a few months, it looks as though the Android Market has more than doubled in size. AndroLib.com is releasing numbers that show that as of Tuesday, December 28, the store had more than 200,000 apps available to the public.

It was just in October 2010 that Google announced that its Android Market had surpassed more than 100,000 available apps. Now, so far Google has not confirmed any current numbers concerning its app market, but if AndroLib.com is right, then Google truly more than doubled the number of apps that they offered on the Android Market in less than three months.

Now, despite these incredible numbers that have been put forth by AndroLib.com, Apple’s App Store is still the largest apps source available to-date. The Apple Apps Store features more than 300,000 apps in the entirety of its catalog. AndroLib.com did not seem to be worried about this though. They stated that although Apple has more than 100,000 apps more than Google, there have been more than 2.5 billion apps downloaded from the Android Market, so it looks as though Google is definitely gaining some ground.

When the Android Market first debuted in October 2008, there were only 34 apps and nine games available. In February of 2009, Google started moving forward when they began to accept priced applications from different developers in the U.S. and the U.K. Just a month after Google began accepting priced applications from various developers, Google reported that the Android Market then had 2,300 different apps, and by the end of the year, they reported that the Android Market consisted of 20,000 apps.

2010 has definitely been a year for some major growth on the Android Market. In April, Google reported that the app store featured more than 38,000 apps. Just three months later, AndroLib.com claimed that the app store had grown to offer more than 100,000 apps, but this report was denied by Google who said that the number was closer to 70,000.

To give a comparison of the Android Market to the Apple Apps Store, Apple launched their store in July 2008, three months before the Android Market was launched. It was reported by Apple that in November 2009 the Apple Apps Store reached the 100,000 app mark. This occurred just a few months after Apple reported that they had achieved 1.5 billion downloads.

Google’s vice president did announce in early December that more than 300,000 Android devices are activated each and every day. This announcement came only a few months after the chief executive of Google, Eric Schmidt, said that 200,000 Android devices were being activated every day. In just a few months, the daily activation of Android devices increased by 50 percent.

It was reported in October that Android had 8.4 percent of the global market, but in November that number moved up to 14.9 percent. Two separate studies have shown that Android is ahead of both RIM and Apple in the last quarter, claiming 44 percent of the market.

"Much of Android's quarterly share growth came at the expense of RIM, rather than Apple," Ross Rubin, executive director of industry analysis for NPD, said in a statement. "The HTC EVO 4G, Motorola Droid X, and other new high-end Android devices have been gaining momentum at carriers that traditionally have been strong RIM distributors, and the recent introduction of the BlackBerry Torch has done little to stem the tide.”

It’s exciting to see how well the Android Market is doing. I think that it is really fascinating how quickly they seem to be catching up to Apple’s App Store. For now, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see if they can really do it.

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Skype Video Calling for the iPhone

2010-12-30T12:16:00.005-05:00

Skype is one of the most popular internet phone services around. It gives you the ability to call, message and chat with people all from your computer without the need of a phone. There are also a lot of mobile Skype apps out there for the iPhone and Android phones that give you some of the functionality of the website. But now, the iPhone has something that everybody has been waiting for, full video calling.

Skype has just announced the newest version of its application for the iPhone which brings video calling to all iPhone users via 3G and WiFi networks. The app, downloadable from the Apple App Store, became available today and allows iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch users to make and receive free Skype video calls for the first time ever. With 25 million Skype users logged in at any one time you can easily share things with anybody in any part of the world.

The video calling feature will enhance your user experience with the Skype app significantly, and the app itself is one of the top 5 free apps according to Apple. You can now make and receive free Skype-to-Skype calls, call mobile and landline phones around the world and share more moments with Skype video calling.

According to Neil Stevens, General Manager of Skype's Consumer Business, "With video calling representing approximately 40% of all Skype-to-Skype minutes for the first six months of 2010, our users have been eager to get Skype video calling on their mobile phones. By bringing video to mainstream users at their home or work via their desktops, on the go with their mobiles or into their living rooms via their TV, Skype has made it possible for millions of people to share video moments wherever they are."

If you are like me, then you get bored physically talking on the phone. However, with this new video calling you can liven up the conversation by seeing the other person. Loved ones can see each other no matter where they are. If you have a loved one away in the military, then you can rest assured that they will never miss anything with Skype's video calling. You can even collaborate with colleagues back at the home office if you are, let's say, away on a business trip in Hong Kong.

Users of the app can place video calls over both 3G and WiFi, and the new app is compatible with the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS and iPod Touch 4th Generation with ioS 4.0 or higher. The 3rd Generation iPod Touch and the iPad can only receive calls. Calls between devices can be made via the new Skype app for the iPhone and desktops including Skype for Windows 4.2 or higher, Skype for Mac 2.8 or higher, Skype for Linux and ASUS Videophone.

If you want true video calling from Skype, then head on over to the Apple App Store right now and pick up the newest app from Skype.

Source: Engadget

Apple's iPhone is Still Going Strong

2010-12-28T12:11:00.008-05:00

Apple’s iPhone is arguably one of the most successful companies of our time, and if you don’t agree with that statement, than you can’t argue with the fact that in the past few years the company has been incredibly successful. The iPhone is one of the factors that add a good bit to Apple’s success story. The iPhone revolutionized the smartphone industry and continues to do so. Many would say that it is the most popular and coveted phone right now. Well, according to DigiTimes, Apple must feel that their success will continue with the phone.

On Monday, December 27, the popular Taiwanese publication DigiTimes claimed that Taiwan-based suppliers could confirm that Apple was planning to increase its global shipment of iPhones for the first quarter of 2011. They seem to be planning on increasing the number of units from 19 million to 20 or 21 million.

It has been reported that Apple’s supplier Foxconn is shipping out between 14 and 15 million WDCMA iPhones, which is up from 13 million. It is also said that Foxconn and Pegatron are going to be shipping out 5 to 6 million CDMA iPhones. It is expected that these devices will be released in Asian Pacific and the United States (on Verizon’s network) in early 2011. A rumor is flying around that China and the U.S. will be the first countries to offer a CDMA compatible iPhone.

There have been rumors about Verizon carrying an iPhone for quite some time now, but the Wall Street Journal seemed to hint in October at the idea that Apple planned to introduce a Verizon version of the iPhone sometime in early 2011.

According to JP Morgan analyst Mark Moskowitz, if Verizon were to launch some type of version of the iPhone, there is a potential for Verizon’s stock to add at least $1.25 in incremental earnings per share annually.

For the fourth quarter, it is expected that global iPhone shipments are going to come in somewhere around 15.5 million. For the entire year, it is predicted that Apple’s total iPhone shipments are going to be close to 47 million.

Ticonderoga Securities analyst Brian White said that his firm was forecasting iPhone sales to reach 13.3 million in the first quarter of 2011, and those numbers do not include what sales would be if Verizon were to release a version of the iPhone.

White wrote that if the number of CDMA iPhones that Digitimes claims to be shipping are correct, "these are big numbers and directly point to the growing popularity of the iPhone around the world in our view and the potential for a healthy upside to our earnings estimates.”

White said that during a trip to China, he noticed that the demand for iPhones definitely seemed to exceed the supplies that the country was receiving, as the exclusive official carrier of the iPhone, China Unicom, still seems to struggle to meet the demand for the iPhone 4. "For example, we indicated that the iPhone 4 was sold out for two months at authorized Apple resellers, Apple stores and China Unicom," he said. "We also mentioned that China Unicom was unable to fulfill approximately one-third of the iPhone 4 orders due to shortages." He said that China is still “in the early stages of catching ‘Apple Fever.’”

Earlier this month, Shaw Wu, one of Kaufman Bros. analysts, predicted that Apple would sell more than 62 million iPhones in 2011. This prediction did include Verizon contributing 2 to 3 million units in the U.S. per quarter or 8 to 12 million annually. Another analyst, Gene Munster, from Piper Jaffray said that Apple could sell another 2.5 additional iPhones next year if they add Verizon Wireless as a service provider.

iPhone sales are doing incredibly well, and it looks as though the sales will only continue to do well. Analysts are predicting that the first quarter of 2011 should be extremely successful. If Verizon can secure a version of the iPhone, I think that sales numbers will skyrocket. I know so many different people who prefer the iPhone to the Droid, but since they like Verizon Wireless service much better than AT&T, they settle with the Droid or some other smartphone offered by Verizon. If Verizon offered the iPhone, Apple would be sure to increase their iPhone sales by a good amount. The Wall Street Journal seems to think that Verizon should have some version of the iPhone early in 2011. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

Microsoft Sells 1.5 Million Windows 7 Phones

2010-12-22T15:17:00.006-05:00

On Tuesday, December 21 Microsoft announced that it has sold more than 1.5 million Windows 7 phones in the first six weeks of sales. Unfortunately, those numbers represent the sale of phones to retail stores and carriers. The sales numbers of devices actually sold to customers are most likely much lower.

"Sales are ramping well as our reputation is growing for offering users a unique experience and are in line with our expectations – especially when compared to other new platform introductions," Achim Berg, corporate vice president of mobile communications at Microsoft, said in a statement. "With a new platform you have to look at a couple of things, first of all customer satisfaction."

This is good to hear because there were very disappointing sales numbers when the phone was first released. The Windows 7 phone was built up by the company but only sold 40,000 devices on their launch day. The phone was available through AT&T and T-Mobile. According to a market research source who tracks phone sales and such, Microsoft spent $100 million on an advertising campaign for the phone. Just to give you a comparison, Apple sold more than 2 million iPhone 4s in just the first two days.

Roger Entner, a Nielsen telecom analyst, said at the time that, "It's early in the game. Not every product surges right out of the starting blocks. The first Android phone was not a big seller at T-Mobile."

He continued saying that the Christmas season would really tell how well the phone would do. "We'll see what happens with Black Friday sales," he said. "They'll probably cut prices like everyone else does. It's the nature of the beast. The only one that doesn't do promotions is Apple."

Entner was right. Microsoft has been much more successful since the slow start. Selling 1.5 million devices in the first six weeks is an accomplishment considering the original sales numbers for the devices. Berg did not discuss the U.S. sales versus international, but he did say, “We know we have tough competition, and this is a completely new product. We're in the race – it's not a sprint but we are certainly gaining momentum and we're in it for the long run.”

Berg continued saying that Microsoft had “realistic” expectations for its Windows 7 phones. “We started fresh with Windows Phone 7, and it's a different kind of phone. Measuring for success is more long term than short term," he said.

He further discussed the Windows Phone Marketplace, which now has 4,000 apps and 18,000 different developers creating apps. "We're comfortable with where we are, and we are here for the long run; Windows Phone 7 is just the beginning," Berg said. Berg said that sales are “in line” with Microsoft’s expectations.

Berg promised that the company is planning on releasing several updates for the Windows 7 phone lineups over the next few months. The lineup was released in October. Five different Windows 7 devices are available in the U.S. from AT&T and T-Mobile including the HTC Surround, the LG Quantum, the Samsung Focus, the HTC HD7, and the Dell Venue Pro. It is expected that Windows 7 phones will be offered at both Sprint and Verizon by next year.

It will be interesting to see if sales really do well over the long haul. Microsoft seems very confident in the idea that their phones will be successful in the long term. It’s definitely no iPhone, but I believe that the Windows 7 phones will do well and that the addition of phones from Verizon and Sprint will cause the sales numbers to most definitely increase.

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Amazon's Kindle for Android Goes 2.0

2010-12-17T08:32:00.006-05:00

The Kindle, Amazon's electronic book reader, revolutionized the way people read books. The Kindle offered people not only a way to have their favorite book on hand at all time but also 750,000+ books. The ability to scan a database and find pretty much any book you wanted and then download it so you have it whenever you want is definitely a revolutionary idea.

With the popularity of smartphones increasing daily, it is no surprise that Amazon designed a Kindle app for smartphones that runs the Android OS. Since smartphones are basically a pocket-sized computer, why can't they give you books as well? That is what Amazon thought and that is why they developed the app.

Version 2.0 of Amazon's Kindle for Android has just crept its way onto the market, and it brought some friends, namely access to the company's vast library of newspapers and magazines, the ability to purchase content in-app and the freedom to choose where you want to store your app, even if that desired location is on your microSD card.

There are a lot of updates that come with v2.0. Among the new features, customers will be able to read the 100+ magazines and newspapers, sample and even purchase content using an integrated store, share book reading progress and double tap to zoom in. The app also allows you to access any books you have on your actual Kindle even if it isn't close by. It automatically syncs with your Kindle device to start reading where you left off, can adjust text size, add bookmarks, view any annotations you made with your Kindle, read in portrait or landscape views or tap on either side of the screen or flick to turn pages.

The Kindle store allows you to browse more than 750,000 books which includes 107 of 111 New York Times bestsellers, subscribe to specific magazines or newspapers having each new edition automatically delivered, or you can purchase individual issues. Like I said earlier, you can create social networking updates on your reading progress, zoom for images and graphics, and have the ability to use your volume buttons to double as page turners, you know, if you are in to that sort of thing.

If you are an avid user of a Kindle or the Kindle for Android app, then I highly recommend you update your app to the 2.0 version. It adds a lot of new features that many people will be impressed with and happy to have. The update is available on the Android Market now and requires Android OS 1.6 or greater.

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