In Other News: 21/05/2013.

• The image above is of an upcoming phone for Sprint. It's the LG Optimus F3 a smartphone with a 4.0-inch 480 x 800p WVGA display, a dual-core processor and Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean all of which is powered by a 2,460mAh battery.
  Via PhoneArena.

• Finland are about to get the coolest postage stamps ever! The country has announced that they are planning on offering Angry Birds stamps! Check it out in the image to the right.
  Itella Via Stefan Constantine.

• Samsung have launched a new wallet app in Korea and the US! The app is basically a merger of Google's Wallet solution and Apple's Passbook!
  Via Engadget.

• According to the guys over SamMobile Samsung are planning to add fingerprint software into their upcoming smartphones if a torn down APK gives anything away!

• HTC's flagship the One is looking set to get Android 4.2.2 in the coming weeks according to some tweets which AndroidGuys have noticed from one of HTC's developers.

• Anonymous have supposedly taken action over hunger strikes at Guantanamo Bay by prisoners who have had indefinite imprisonment without trial. As a result Anonymous threatened to take Guantanamo's computer systems down, this had led Guantanamo to shut down its wireless Internet network.
  Via Slashgear.

• According to Digitimes 10% of the notebooks shipped during Q1 had touchscreens on them!
  Via Slashgear.

• Huawei are supposedly planning to create a 6.5" smartphone, which would dwarf their 6.1" Ascend Mate.
  Digitimes Via AndroidBeat.

• Opera for Android has exited Beta and is now ready for mass consumption and it can be had here!
  Via TechCrunch.

• Twitter have been granted a pull to refresh patent, but the company has promised that they will only use it defensively! There's much more commentary on this at the source link below!
  Via TheVerge.

• Archos' 50 Platinum smartphone is now up for pre-order from their site here!
  Via Facebook.

And finally, the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active which popped up yesterday appears to have landed on YouTube too courtesy of the guys at MobileTechReview. Check out the video below for full details!
Via PhoneArena. 

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In Other News: 14/05/2013.

• The guys at T3 have suggested that the Blackberry Playbook may not get BB10 after all with Thorsten Heins saying that:
  "We’ve talked about PlayBook numerous times now, the pure hardware play is not really making a lot of sense, now I have to think of BlackBerry 10 as a platform not just as a product... So going forward we will focus on that future view of tablet (whatever that constitutes) I want to focus on the future, and that’s where I’m going to spend our R&D money money on."
  Sorry Playbook customers, there's nothing confirmed, but that update you were promised might not happen!

• Apple are in the process of adding the Samsung Galaxy S4 to their patent infringement claims against Samsung!
  Foss Patents via PhoneArena.

• Firefox 21 has been released for desktop, an update which builds on the social features of the browser. Facebook integration is bettered and is now joined by features from Cliqz, Mixi and a msnNOW. Do Not Track settings are now improved and there's a new thing called Firefox Health Report, which tracks crashes and recommends performance enhancing changes. Firefox for Android also got updated bringing with it open source fonts, better HTML5 support, an improved UI and more media management abilities.
  Via Engadget.

• The Surface RT is getting an update which helps boost the speaker volume on the tablet, while the Pro Surface has Wifi stability and other fixes on the way!
  Via TheVerge.

• If you want to watch Google's Keynote from I/O tomorrow then you can catch it here!
  
• Pintrest has... Social sharing service Pinterest has updated its mobile app with a few new features this afternoon. The new Pinterest version 1.5 lets you send a pin to a friend, mention friends in comments (like many social networks) and receive push notifications when someone likes, comments on repins your items -- a feature added to the web-based Pinterest a few weeks back. In-app searching has also been improved with search term suggestion. You can grab the latest version of Pinterest from the Google Play link above. Alternatively, hit the Play Store app to get updated if you've already installed an earlier version. Pinterest has also been updated to version 2.4 on iOS devices.
  Via AndroidCentral.
  
• The white Nexus 4 has turned up on video! The guys over at TechView somehow got their hands on it and you can see it being fondled in the video below!
  TechView Via AndroidGuys.

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Apple Vs. Samsung Part 1 concludes.

   The clash of the two biggest names in the Mobile Phone world came to a head in America over night. Jurors has sat through hours and hours of testimonies and they had reached their decisions.

   The conclusions they reached supported, some would say rightly, Apple. Samsung's punishment came in to the tune of a $1billion!! Almost all of Apple's patents were upheld and none, yes absolutely none of Samsung's patents were found to be valid!

   Just as an example, here is a list of devices that show the fines that made up that $billion;

• Infuse 4G: $44,792,974
• Prevail: $57,000,000+
• Mesmerize: $53,123,612
• Replenish: $3,350,256
• Transform: $954,060

Some perspective:

    Overnight there has been lots and lots of reaction from over the web but let's put this in some kind of perspective;

• Apple's had a win here, but then there's appeals to come so the figure might come down a small amount.
• Samsung did copy Apple's design on the original Galaxy S and they utilised Apple's 'trade dress' for their own advantage. So it is a fair decision.
• This ruling does NOT affect newer Samsung devices such as the Galaxy S3 or Galaxy Note 10.1 who's design is notably original!

   The $1billion is about a sixth of Samsung's $6billion profit from Q2 alone! They can easily take the hit and it will make the company more careful and original in future.   

Is this the end of Android?

   The patents that Apple has had 'validated' by this ruling are not the be all and end all for Android. Yes this is undoubtedly a set back for Android manufacturers and it may give Apple the confidence to go after them more aggressively. But, there's the option to license these patents or as we have seen with HTC, there are ways to get around Apple's patents. The 'bounceback' patent has been circumvented by HTC with a slightly edited animation that is widely regarded as an improvement anyway! 

   Also it's worth mentioning that Apple manufacturers all create their own skins and none of them apart from LG's look like iOS anymore. So this is not really an issue!

Windows Phone looking good now?   

   There's also been a lot of commentary overnight about the impact this will have on Windows Phone and whether manufacturers will be pushed into M$ arms.

   This is unlikely, companies may get slightly more cosy and release a few more Microsoft devices, but most will stick with Android because it sells extremely well. We expect Android manufacturers to continue their work on Android until the 'licensing fees' become more than the cost of buying copies of Microsoft's OS and they'll probably continue to after that as well!

   We'll see how this one plays out though!

What now?

   It is conceivable that Samsung will stop releasing as many devices in the US market, so essentially the country has restricted their choices with this decision. But, on the contrary Samsung might be more determined to go after market share now and come out with absolutely stellar devices in the country.

   This court proceeding isn't quite over yet either; Apple has until August 29, next Wednesday, to file their opinions, and Samsung will have 14 days after that to respond to the decision. Once Samsung has filed its response on September 12, Apple will have only two days to file a response of its own. This will all culminate with a preliminary injunction hearing on September 20. Stay tuned folks, because even though the trial is over, the fight between Apple and Samsung isn’t finished yet.

   And just for reassurance if you think Apple is going to be taking your phone off you, they can't! If you've bought a phone that infringes Apple's patents then you will not have anyone coming to your house and you are free to use it until you no longer want it! This isn't mobile armegeddon!

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25/05/2012

HP lose Enyo developers from the Open WebOS project.

   Google have today pinched the developers of Enyo from HP in a bid to boost their mobile HTML5 prowess, particularly in Android and ChromeOS. Although, initial rumours suggested most of the team had jumped ship it turns out that it's roughly only a dozen individuals who have actually gone, but importantly project leader Matt McNulty has made the trip too.

   Despite this exodus HP insists the Open WebOS plans are still on track to meet their January timeline, so this obviously isn't a surprise to the company. HP had this to say about Enyo:

“We’re pleased with the traction Enyo has gained to date and plan to continue its development along with the open source community....The Open webOS project is on schedule and we remain committed to the roadmap announced in January.”

Sony announces there won't be ICS for Xperia Play.

(My post from Coolsmartphone!)

   Yesterday the interwebs came alive with rumours that the Xperia Play wouldn’t be getting an update to ICS because it was sneakily left out of a press picture detailing Sony’s update plans. Today unfortunately the rumours have come true; Sony have come out and announced the Xperia Play won’t be getting updated to Android 4.0 after all.

   You might be surprised to hear this news given that Sony have invested a great deal of time testing and even going as far as releasing a developer beta rom for the device. But, their exact words are that ‘a consistent and stable experience, particularly with gaming, cannot be guaranteed for this smartphone on Ice Cream Sandwich’. So there we have it folks sometimes it’s in your best interests not to update phones… Hmmm haven’t we heard that somewhere else before?! Motorola we’re looking at you.

   As for the rest of you who own Sony devices from 2011, don’t worry the company expects all of you to get your dose of ICS in the near future, if you haven’t already.

   Do you agree companies should really try a lot hard or do you think there is a concern that ICS won’t run well because it does sound like they’ve really tried here? Sound off in the comments or head over to the forums.

    The full quote given to Slashgear is below:

   “In regards to Xperia PLAY, after extensive in house testing with our developer teams and working with our partners, we have concluded that a consistent and stable experience, particularly with gaming, cannot be guaranteed for this smartphone on Ice Cream Sandwich – therefore, we will not make the Android 4.0 upgrade available for Xperia PLAY.

   This decision was also verified when we received similar feedback from the developer community; both experienced developers and advanced users, along with game content providers following our ICS beta ROM for unlocked Xperia PLAY smartphones.

   Our priority has and always will be, to provide the best possible user experience on Xperia smartphones. In this instance the ICS upgrade would have compromised stability, where we look to ensure a quality gaming experience with games optimized and developed for Xperia PLAY”

In other news:

• Apps on Google Play can now have in-app subscriptions!
• Any suggestions of cross-platform BBM have been scrapped today, so you will have to have a Blackberry to use this feature, but if not you've always got ChatON which is available on every platform!
• If you've pre-ordered a Galaxy S3 it might land on your doorstep a few days early, they have been across the UK so far!
• Nvidia has said there will be 30 Tegra 3 phones coming before the end of the year! Quite intriguing!!!
• Facebook has bizarrely released a Facebook camera app, which to all intents and purposes is an Instagram rival. Strange!!
• Apple have filed a patent for... wait for it... an I-Pen. So when we thought cheap rip offs were going out of fashion it seems Apple is just about to start. Just remember who came up with this reinvention first Apple, yep Samsung with the S-Pen. At least they had the decency to give a nod to Samsung's naming convention!

Deals, deals, deals!!!

1. The HTC Explorer is going cheap if you get it new, £80 on pay-as-you-go. Click Here.
2. Expansys have the Galaxy Tab 10.1" at least £50 cheaper than anywhere else with it going for £269.99. The White version is here. And this is the Black version.

There's hundreds more at the moment. Argos, Clove, Expansys and ASDA are amongst your best bets for everything from tablets to TV's you can get a steal in the summer!

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