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!
