20/07/2012

Asus and HTC offer a relatively comprehensive update list!

   Asus has announced there will be a good amount of updates rolling out to their tablets. Owners who're definitely going to be getting some Jelly Bean action are owners any of the following; the ASUS Transformer Pad, the ASUS Transformer Pad Prime and the ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity.

   But... That's not the end of the story because Asus has expressly said:

“We are still investigating Jelly Bean updates for other devices, but we are not in a position to confirm whether any other products will be eligible for an update at the moment.”

   So don't give up faith just yet, we still think there's a chance of other tablets being updated and we expect the OG Transformer will get some Jelly Bean because of how popular the device was!

   On the HTC front it seems we misreported the news yesterday. The company has confirmed 

there will be updates for the very top end of their One series. It's only the varients of the HTC One X and One S that have been confirmed so far. So for clarity that's the; HTC One X, One S and One XL, as they're known on different networks. Unfortunately the Sensation XL which was one of last years flagships has no word on whether there will be an update for that and the same is true for all the other Sensations from last years!

In other news:

• Lenovo's CEO has decided to reward his employees for their recent progress and the employees will be getting a little cut of his yearly bonus! Nice guy!
• Google has bought out the popular email solution, Sparrow. The company has done some great work for iOS and Mac devices and the personnel have gone straight into Google's Gmail division.
• Nokia's beautiful little N9 has been given a working port of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.
• Talking of Jelly Bean; the update has been delayed Down Under because of the strict nature of Emergency calls over in Aus. Vodafone Australia has postponed the update while they make sure everything conforms!
• The London Eye will be a special treat during the London 2012 Olympics. Twitter comments about London 2012 will dictate the colour the landmark will glow at night. If the comments are good we'll get one colour, if they're bad then it's another colour and if they're anything else then well, you guessed, it another colour!
• SkyGo is now available on your Galaxy Nexus, Galaxy Note and Galaxy S3!
• Google's ad business pulled in $12billion in Q2, which is very, very good going!

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07/06/2012

Samsung Galaxy S3 latest to be targeted by Apple's patent gun.

   Yesterday, we reported that Apple had again tried to secure an injunction against HTC in the USA, for the whole of HTC's line-up. But, because Apple don't seem to like any sort of competition and this time the Galaxy S3 is focused squarely in Apple's sights.

   But, this time Samsung aren't going to lay down and accept this hindrance, instead they're planning to “vigorously oppose” any of Apple’s attempts to block the Galaxy S III coming to the US, and they're still aiming to launch the devices on June 21st.

   Samsung has pledged to “demonstrate to the court that the Galaxy S III is innovative and distinctive.” The two patents Apple has issues over are; firstly, the same patent that relates to the use of context menus that HTC's One Series was held at customs for. The other relates to “universal search technology” which is used in Siri, which Apple have accused Samsung of copying in its S-Voice application.

   One does have to question how much longer Apple can keep doing this for without getting a backlash from consumers. They are to all intents and purposes trying to stop competition over menial details. I for one think they're being ridiculous now, it seems clear that Samsung are not copying them in any regard here and I think Apple should try to realise there is a line. Or alternatively they could actually release some competitive devices, because they're standing in the way of progress now.

O2 and Vodafone partner to plan for the future.

   Two of the biggest players in the UK mobile market have announced today that they will be sharing infrastructure to mutually assist each other to speed up LTE rollout.

   The pair plan to continue running independent spectrum and competing services, but they will start sharing maintenance duties for their shared hardware and  they wil decommission unnecessary base-station sites.

  

   “Under the proposals, both companies will have access to a single grid of 18,500 masts representing an increase in sites of more than 40% for each operator” which should very much help if you are lacking signal from your provider in your area. “The joint venture will also be responsible for the building of new sites needed to extend coverage into rural and remote areas. There will be opportunities for the decommissioning of duplicate sites and, as a result, the two companies expect there will be a more than 10% overall reduction in the total number of sites, in the UK, used by the two operators" something which will save both companies money as well as increasing their customers signal, which can only be good for you!

   Telefónica, which is O2 parent company, will having the job of looking after radio equipment and local connections in the East (including Northern Ireland and most of Scotland), Vodafone logically will take care of the duties in the West (including Wales). Each network will continue to work independently, this is just hardware sharing there is no merger here so this is not like T-Mobile/Oranges merger. Everything Everywhere (T-Mo+Orange) actually allow cross-network roaming so you can pick up the others signal, this will NOT happen with Vodafone and O2. 

   Vodafone and O2 expect this to give them 98% population coverage by an LTE network, by 2015, if these proposals get accepted by OFCOM. That is the carrot for OFCOM to approve the deal, so we'll have to wait and see what happens now. So with O2, Vodafone, Orange and T-Mobile having drawn up plans for 4G LTE, that only leaves Three all on their own. 

In other news:

• Angry Birds Space has hit 100million downloads!
• RIM has discontinued the 16GB Playbook, arguing that the 32GB and 64GB models represent better value for money. Is this a money making ploy or is this a sign of a new model? Or maybe RIM is genuinely trying to help consumers make a good choice.
• Facebook has announced carrier billing for their credits system.
• LinkedIN and eHarmony have had huge password leaks in the last few days, so make sure you change your passwords if you have accounts there!

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06/06/2012

Windows Phone Apollo: June 20th!

   We all know summer is the time for barbecues, late night parties, camping and... every tech companies own trade shows! Today it has been Microsoft's turn to send out the invites and they've promise that they'll give us a “Sneak Peak at the future of Windows Phone” on June 20th. There hasn't been a flood of rumours yet, like we've heard about iOS but, at the very least Redmond has confirmed that the update will support multi-core processors and will have backwards compatible with existing apps. The invite reads:

   For those keeping score at home, RIM has shown off Blackberry 10 already, Apple will preview iOS 6 at WWDC on the 11th of June and Google I/O starts on June 27th. So by the end of this month we should all have a very good idea of what the future holds for the big 4 mobile OS’s.

 Apple still not happen about HTC Phones.

   HTC have, so far, successfully appeased the US International Trade Commission (ITC) with their changes to their One series smartphones and proved that their products don’t infringe on Apple's patents. But, Apple like always has another problem. The company has states 29 of HTC’s devices, yep they're picking on the One Series as part of this too, violate Apple's patents, and they're demanding that the ITC stop HTC shipping their phones.

   Apple’s argument is that despite the modifications made, HTC still tramples all over US Patent No. 5,946,647, that's what FOSS Patents has said anyways. The issue is around the “data tapping” IP, which is described as a “system and method for performing an action on a structure in computer-generated data,” essentially this is the technology which gives you screens like these;

   If you're interested in any of the following devices, buy them ASAP otherwise you might not be able to for a while; the HTC One X, HTC One S, HTC One V, HTC Inspire 4G, HTC Vivid, HTC Status, HTC Sensation, HTC Sensation 4G, HTC Wildfire, HTC Wildfire S, HTC Hero, HTC Hero S, HTC EVO 4G LTE, HTC EVO 4G, HTC EVO V 4G, HTC EVO Design 4G, HTC EVO 3D, HTC Amaze 4G, HTC DROID Incredible 4G LTE, HTC myTouch 4G, HTC myTouch 4G Slide, HTC Merge, HTC Rezound, HTC Rhyme, HTC ThunderBolt, HTC Flyer, HTC Jetstream, HTC EVO View 4G, and the DROID Incredible 2.

   HTC hasn't yet offered a response to Apple’s newest set of allegations. The patent itself could prove to be invalidated at some point because Motorola are locked in a war for this patent to be invalidated, the decision should come from a trial in Chicago next week.

Acer trying to steal Google's 'Nexus tablet' fire?

   The rather attractive looking 7" slate pictured above is Acer's new ICS slate, the AT-110. But, the real story here is that it has a quad-core processor (Tegra 3) AND its price is and I quote 'sub-$200'. Which seems to be the price point every Android manufacturer is aiming for with their 7" beauties. 

   The Verge has said that this device 'is certainly great value for money' and we expect this device is the first of the bunch to make the most of Nvidia's Kai platform. There's currently no word on an exact release date other than Q3, so there's still time for Google to knock out a Nexus tablet before then!

In other news:

• Nokia has released three new Asha handsets, despite it's push on Windows Phone, they're all touchscreen devices and all about 3" in size. They probably won't be coming to much of the Western world but if you're an inhabitant of India and China look out for them in your local phone store!
• The Wii U Gamepad (the tablet like one) we covered the other day has revealed to have a 3-5hour battery life, which could become slightly annoying and tedious if it's always calling for a charger.
• Microsoft has revealed a new automated organisation app called 'on{x}' for Android. Much like Motorola smart actions it allows you to set profiles which change judging by where your GPS detects you are, but this time you set it all up from a webpage instead of on your device. You can download the app now in it's Beta form from Google Play. The video below gives you a great overview of what actually happens!

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