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Microsoft patent suggests eyewear integration for Xbox, Windows Phone

L.K. — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 13:30:41 +0000

A new Microsoft patent published recently by the United States Patent and Trademark Office revealed that the company is working on two types of headsets for its Xbox and Windows Phone platforms, PatentBolt reported on Monday. The first unit resembles an aviation-type helmet and is aimed at Xbox gamers, while the second looks like a pair of sunglasses for use with smartphones and other future devices.

The software giant states that a compact display system can be integrated into goggles, a helmet or other eyewear, enabling the wearer to view images from a computer, media player or other electronic device. Since the human eye can’t focus on images less than a few centimeters away, however, Microsoft’s headsets will have the ability to virtually project an image.

HTC One X Preview

L.K. — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 13:33:24 +0000

The HTC One X became popular on the day it was officially unveiled at Mobile World Congress 2012 in Barcelona. This smartphone is the most functional one from HTC One series, which also includes the HTC One S and the HTC One V.

With its 4.7-inch Super IPS LCD2 with HD resolution of 1280×720 the One X will amaze smartphone lovers with many other impressive specifications. As you know the HTC One X is the company’s first quad-core smartphone. Based on NVIDIA’s 1.5 GHz Tegra 3 chip this device also features Near Field Communications technology, 32GB of storage and an 8MP camera with backside-illuminated sensor.

The camera of the smartphone is one of its key features. The device supports imaging processor, which as HTC says, will help avoid image noise, enjoy better colors and higher quality images. Besides, the smartphone comes with many software improvements. Thus the user gets the chance to bypass the lock-screen and immediately jump to the camera app. You can also take a photo while shooting HD video known as “double shutter,” and then capture an image from the already recorded video. The burst mode is enabled as you hold your finger on the shutter button. These improvements have got a special name, HTC ImageSense. So we must confirm HTC has made a respectable all-in-one camera technology able to compete with Nokia’s PureView.

The HTC One X is said to come in a new design, though I myself see no obvious differences. HTC designers seem not to have wished to amaze their fans with a new design. Anyway, featuring polycarbonate plastic the HTC One X will come in white and dark grey. By the way, polycarbonate plastic is the same material found on Nokia’s Lumia 800 and N9 smartphones. As everything, this material as well has its downsides; users cannot remove the battery and there is no microSD card slot for extra storage. If you keep up with the tech news, you should know the HTC One X and the devices from One series, the HTC One S and the HTC One V use micro SIM, instead of full-sized SIM cards.

Another key feature of the smartphone is the presence of the latest Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich OS with HTC Sense 4.0 UI. HTC did its best to simplify an interface that was too cluttered. The manufacturer has removed some of the 3D animations to improve the performance. The company also redesigned other UI elements to improve Android 4.0′s interface. Preliminary reviews of the HTC One X put it high on the wish lists of consumers with its unprecedented features.

Other awesome features of Sense includes the aforementioned ImageSense enabling to capture photos in 0.7 seconds with a 0.2 second autofocus, Dropbox integration with 25GB of free storage, and syncing iTunes playlist automatically. The smartphone is packed with Beats Audio system, which will work in all applications.

Though there were many retailers and mobile operators wishing to have this awesome handset in their stores, only a few of them have announced the price tags for the phone. Among them we can mention several UK retailers requiring £499.99 ($790 USD) for the HTC One X. Of course, it’s for the unlocked model, and as the phone becomes available at mobile operators’ stores, it will cost less, undoubtedly.

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ZTE unveils quad-core ZTE Era Android phone, ZTE Orbit Windows Phone

L.K. — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 13:30:46 +0000

ZTE announced a range of new smartphones at this year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, but the star of the show was undoubtedly the company’s new flagship Android phone, the ZTE Era. The Era is a quad-core Tegra 3-powered Android 4.0 phone with a 4.3-inch 960 x 540-pixel qHD display, 8GB of internal storage, HSPA+ and a case that is just 7.8 millimeters thick, which is even thinner than the HTC One S announced on Sunday. ”The numbers speak for themselves. With 50 percent growth in handset shipments and 400 percent growth in smartphone shipments, we are confident that we are entering a new era in the mobile terminal market,” said He Shiyou, Executive Vice President and Head of the Terminals Division, in a statement.

The ZTE Era captures the excitement we feel about the future and brings it to life in a fantastic new device.” Announced alongside the Era is the ZTE Orbit, a new entry-level Windows Phone with a 4-inch 800 x 480-pixel display, a single-core 1GHz processor, 4GB of storage and a 5-megapixel camera that will launch in the second quarter. ZTE’s press releases follow below.

Based on the NVIDIA® Tegra® 3 quad-core mobile processor and equipped with a NVIDIA Icera 450 HSPA+ modem, the ZTE Era packs high definition multimedia capabilities into a package that is just 7.8mm thick.

The Era has a 4.3 inch QHD screen giving high quality 960 x 540 pixel images, 8GB of memory expandable with a MicroSD card, HD voice and Dolby sound. Running the latest Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) platform the ZTE Era is the most powerful Android smartphone from ZTE, providing powerful new ways of communicating and sharing, with easy multitasking, rich notifications and deep interactivity. The ZTE Era delivers a great combination of amazing battery life and outstanding performance with Tegra 3′s unique 4-PLUS-1™ quad-core architecture with a fifth battery saver core.

The ZTE Era is the flagship device launch from ZTE at Mobile World Congress and is part of a series of eight new devices unveiled at the event, all delivering significant advances in power, high definition multimedia capabilities and design. Based on technology innovations including quad-core chipsets, LTE and the latest Android and Windows Phone platforms, the new devices form a core component of ZTE’s ambition to become a top three handset provider by 2015.

“The numbers speak for themselves. With 50 percent growth in handset shipments and 400 percent growth in smartphone shipments, we are confident that we are entering a new era in the mobile terminal market. The ZTE Era captures the excitement we feel about the future and brings it to life in a fantastic new device,” said Mr. He Shiyou, Executive Vice President and Head of the Terminals Division at ZTE.

According to industry analyst Gartner, ZTE was ranked the world’s No.4 in terms of handset shipments in Q4 2011 and ZTE smartphone sales are growing faster than any other vendor except Apple.

“In 2012, ZTE products will be building up from the low-middle end of the market into the middle-high end, with the ZTE Era being the best example of that development,” Mr. He Shiyou said. “We will continue our long-standing cooperation with operators around the world, but we will also continue to build our distributor channels (both ODM and OEM), and we will be focusing our marketing in particular on the high-end markets of Europe, America, Japan and China.”

The ZTE Era will be launched in Europe and China in the second half of 2012.

The Era, together with the comprehensive portfolio of ZTE terminals, is on display at MWC 2012 in Barcelona on the ZTE booth in Hall 8, stand B145.

ZTE Expands Windows Phone Portfolio

ZTE Orbit joins Windows Phone smartphone offerings

27 February 2012, London, UK – ZTE Corporation (“ZTE”) (H share stock code: 0763.HK / A share stock code: 000063.SZ), a publicly-listed global provider of telecommunications equipment and network solutions, has expanded on its commitment to the Windows Phone platform and introduced the new ZTE Orbit smartphone.

The ZTE Orbit joins the ZTE Tania smartphone in the company’s portfolio of Windows Phone-based devices. The ZTE Tania is commercially available in the UK and Sweden and other countries around the world.

“Microsoft is excited to continue partnering with ZTE to bring new Windows Phones to market. We look forward to the availability of ZTE Orbit in major markets around the world in the second quarter of 2012,” said Mark Linton, Senior Director of the OEM Division, Microsoft.

“The Windows Phone platform is as powerful as it is intuitive, enabling us to create and deliver exciting new devices that meet real consumer demand,” said Mr. He Shiyou, Executive Vice President and Head of the Terminal Division of ZTE. “Our partnership with Microsoft is a key component of our strategy to grow our share of the smartphone market. ZTE is proud to be at the forefront of device manufacturers who are using the Windows Phone platform.”

The ZTE Orbit is based on the latest version of Windows Phone and comes with 4GB of memory, HD Voice, and a 5Mpx autofocus camera with LED flash. The ZTE Orbit will be available in the second quarter of this year.

At the same time, ZTE announced the MF668A data card which takes advantage of Microsoft’s Mobile Broadband Class Driver in Windows 8. ZTE’s MF668A data card is being demonstrated at Mobile World Congress for the first time. The data card, which supports RAW IP and high-speed transmission, is based on the new MBIM v1.0 specification, recently approved by the USB-IF, and natively supported in Windows 8 without additional software.

Launched on 18 January, the ZTE Tania is a chic Windows Phone device, with a chassis measuring just 10.7mm in depth, 4GB internal storage and a 4.3 inch touch screen. The 1GHz processor and ultra-sharp cinematic WVGA 800 x 480px screen make responding to emails, editing documents and browsing the internet fast and intuitive. The first Windows Phone-powered smartphone launched by ZTE, the ZTE Tania is expected to be available in stores in the UK in early April at tariff points in the £10-20 range.

The full portfolio of ZTE Windows Phone devices is being demonstrated at Mobile World Congress at the ZTE booth (Hall 8, Stand B145).

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LG busts out a trio of L-series phones in the run up to MWC

L.K. — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 13:20:48 +0000

LG’s gotten all excited and spilled even more beans ahead of MWC as to what offerings we’ll see at the big Iberian shindig. The L-Series is a trio of phones we’re already part-way familiar with, given that the budget L3 was leaked back in January. The L5 and L7 are aimed at the mid-range and premium ends of the market, running ICS and packing 4-inch and 4.3-inch displays respectively.

Whilst there’s no further detail about specs, we know that the L-series shares the same DNA as the Prada Phone 3, so we’d imagine that as a good benchmark. The PR boasts of “five aesthetic elements,” all of which seem to emphasize that the phone’s going to be quite thin. After the break we’ve got that brief statement in full and the nagging sense that there’s no surprise forthcoming when LG takes to the stage next week.

Apple tops Google in corporate reputation, study shows

L.K. — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 12:16:31 +0000

Apple has edged out Google to become the most reputable company of 2012, according to a study from marketing research firm Harris Interactive. The firm’s 13th annual Reputation Quotient (RQ) survey had Apple coming ahead of Google, which held the top spot in 2011′s poll. Coca-Cola, Amazon and Kraft Foods rounding out the top five. “We are seeing the emergence of a group of companies that garner reputation equity by being positively associated with multiple industries,” said Robert Fronk, executive vice president of Harris Interactive. “Companies like Apple, Google, and Amazon.com combine innovation and leadership across multiple business areas, giving them true competitive advantage.” Apple recorded an RQ score of 85.62, the highest in the survey’s history, and was the top ranked in four of the six key dimensions of reputation — financial performance, products and services, vision and leadership and workplace environment.

The Cupertino-based company was topped by Whole Foods in social responsibility, and by Amazon in emotional appeal.

Acer CloudMobile smartphone to debut at MWC

L.K. — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 13:30:35 +0000

The previously unknown CloudMobile smartphone has received the 2012 iF design award, which recognizes an outstanding achievement in design, according to Pocket-lint. The device is the latest flagship handset to come from Taiwanese manufacturer Acer, and it is expected to be unveiled at this month’s Mobile World Congress trade show.

The CloudMobile is rumored to feature a 4.3-inch high-definition display, Dolby sound and Android 4.0, and it is less than 10 millimeters thick. According to Acer, the handset is the first smartphone to offer AcerCloud technology, which “enhances mobile productivity by providing seamless document management.” The CloudMobile smartphone is currently slated to launch in the third quarter of 2012.

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iPad 3 design revealed as new wave of parts leak; Retina Display possibly pictured

L.K. — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:53:14 +0000

More details surrounding the design of Apple’s upcoming iPad 3 have been revealed as images of a variety of internal components have been published online along with new images of the tablet’s rear shell and possibly Apple’s new Retina Display as well. Following reports on Wednesday that emerged surrounding a purported image of the iPad 3′s rear case, Cult of Mac has published higher-quality images of the same component along with a number of additional internal parts. While the various components pictured in the new leak show significant differences in many instances compared to their counterparts in the iPad 2, the external design of the upcoming iPad 3 looks like it will only offer a few minor differences compared to the current model, in line with earlier reports. Read on for more.

Separately, Japanese blog Macotakara has published an image of a 9.7-inch display panel with 2,048 x 1,536-pixel resolution. The panel is not confirmed to be destined for the iPad, the size, timing and alignment with earlier rumors certainly suggest this is the case. Apple’s next-generation iPad 3 is expected to launch early next month. Rumors suggest the new tablet will be an incremental upgrade that features a quad-core A6 processor, a new high-definition Retina Display and an upgraded camera. Additional images follow below.

White Nokia Lumia 800 Windows Phone to launch later this month

L.K. — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 11:16:39 +0000

Nokia on Monday officially took the wraps off a white version of its Lumia 800 Windows Phone. Nokia originally launched the device in black and cyan, and the white version adopts a gloss finish instead of the matte coloring of the other models. Nokia says the device will be made available later this month. “Since we began selling it late last year, the Nokia Lumia 800 has received rave reviews around the world,” said Ilari Nurmi, Vice President of Product Marketing, Nokia. “Now in white, the Lumia 800 brings with it an even more premium look and feel with its gloss finish, but packed with power and performance underneath its sleek body.” Nokia’s full press release follows after the break.

White Nokia Lumia 800 available this February

Espoo, Finland – Nokia announced today that the Nokia Lumia 800 will be available in white, beginning later this month.

With Windows ® Phone 7.5 software on board, the white Nokia Lumia 800 features head-turning design and the best social and Internet performance, with one-touch social network access, easy grouping of contacts, integrated communication threads and Internet Explorer 9. It features a 3.7-inch AMOLED ClearBlack curved display blending seamlessly into the reduced body design, and a 1.4 GHz processor with hardware acceleration and a graphics processor. The Lumia 800 contains an instant-share camera experience based on leading Carl Zeiss optics, HD video playback, 16GB of internal user memory and free SkyDrive storage for storing images and music.

Lumia smartphones include signature Nokia experiences optimized for Windows Phone, including Nokia Drive, which delivers a full-fledged personal navigation device (PND) with free, turn-by-turn navigation and dedicated in-car-user-interface; and Nokia Music introducing MixRadio*, a free mobile music-streaming application that delivers hundreds of channels of locally-relevant music. Windows Marketplace also gives Lumia users more than 55 000 apps to choose from.

“Since we began selling it late last year, the Nokia Lumia 800 has received rave reviews around the world,” said Ilari Nurmi, Vice President of Product Marketing, Nokia. “Now in white, the Lumia 800 brings with it an even more premium look and feel with its gloss finish, but packed with power and performance underneath its sleek body.”

More information about the Nokia Lumia 800 can be found at www.nokia.com/lumia800.

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Apple’s mobile web share reportedly slid in Q4 as Android took No.1 spot

L.K. — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 11:14:21 +0000

Although Apple outsold all Android vendors in the fourth quarter, the Cupertino-based company’s share of mobile internet usage is reportedly beginning to slide. An analysis of last year’s Internet usage shows that in the United States, the proportion of Android mobile web visitors overtook Apple users by the end of the year, according to 51Degrees.mobi. The share of Apple’s iOS web traffic in December fell to 34.1%, while Android increased to 36.6%. In Europe, Apple remained ahead with 42.6% however, despite an increase in Android traffic that pushed the platform to 25.5% by the end of 2011. RIM’s BlackBerry devices remained stable in both regions with roughly 9% of all mobile web usage. “The battle for mobile operating system dominance is far from over”, said 51Degrees.mobi CEO James Rosewell. “Apple experienced record sales of iPad2 and iPhone devices, yet its share of mobile web traffic declined in the US and Europe – indicating just how many more Android based products were used online in the same period.” The firm’s full press release follows after the break.

Decline in Apple share of mobile internet usage shows battle to dominate mobile phones and tablets is far from over

Apple’s dominance of mobile web traffic appears to be fading

Android traffic now ahead in the US; Apple still leads in the UK

BlackBerry share of web traffic remains stable

Nokia starting to slide in India

51Degrees.mobi, the leading provider of device detection and web optimisation solutions, has today published an analysis of the mobile devices its online partners detected browsing the internet last year.

The 51Degrees.mobi Mobile Web Trends 2011 white paper shows that the proportion of mobile web visitors in the USA with Android devices overtook Apple users by the end of the year. The share of Apple iOS web traffic in December 2011 fell to 34.1% in the US, while Android increased to 36.6%.

In Europe, Apple remained ahead with 42.6% of mobile web visits despite an increase in Android usage to 25.5% by the end of 2011.

Figures for RIM’s BlackBerry OS were stable in the USA and Europe throughout the second half of 2011, varying by just a fraction of a percentage point. Both regions saw BlackBerry usage remain at around 9% of all mobile web traffic.

Unlike the mobile market in Europe and the USA, mobile phone use in India has been dominated by Nokia and its Symbian operating system for several years. Nokia mobile web visits fell in H2 2011 from 57.3% of the total figure to 50.6% by the end of the year.

The data has been collated from customers who use 51Degrees.mobi free and premium device detection services.

“The battle for mobile operating system dominance is far from over”, said 51Degrees.mobi CEO James Rosewell. “Apple experienced record sales of iPad2 and iPhone devices, yet its share of mobile web traffic declined in the US and Europe – indicating just how many more Android based products were used online in the same period.”

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Sony ST25i ‘Kumquat’ Android smartphone possibly leaked

L.K. — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 08:48:02 +0000

Next month we’re sure to hear about the latest smartphones from several of the world’s largest phone makers during Mobile World Congress, however that hasn’t stopped a number of leaks from occurring ahead of the show. The latest is a possible image of what is presumed to be Sony’s upcoming ST25i “Kumquat” Android smartphone.

Specs are still slim at this point and we’re a bit suspicious since it still features the “Sony Ericsson” branding, but this could easily be an early prototype since even the smartphones on display at CES featured the Sony Ericsson name. Sony recently announced it was purchasing Ericsson’s stake in the Sony Ericsson joint venture and its newest phones are now branded “Sony,” but Xperia Blog, which leaked the image, said Sony may still launch devices with Sony Ericsson branding.

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