Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 24 Nov 2012 1:41
Apple has been ordered by a federal judge to disclose the terms of its patent settlement with HTC.
The ruling was part of Samsung's ongoing war with Apple over hardware and software patents relating to the Galaxy line of smartphones and the iPhone and iPad.
Judge Paul Grewal ruled a copy of the agreement must be released to Samsung under an "attorneys-eyes-only" designation, keeping it out of the public's eye: "HTC is not entitled to special treatment, especially when it has recognized the general sufficiency of the protective order and the integrity of Samsung's outside counsel."
HTC and Apple recently agreed to a 10-year licensing deal. Reports stated HTC now owes Apple between $6-$8 per smartphone sold but HTC CEO Peter Chou denied the reports, calling them "outrageous."
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Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 24 Nov 2012 1:12
According to investment bank UBS, Samsung is likely to ship over 60 million smartphones this quarter.
The record number will be fueled by the popularity of the Galaxy Note 2 and Galaxy S III.
Samsung shipped 58 million units in the third quarter.
UBS says shipments will reach 61.5 million for the quarter, and could reach as high as 63 million depending on sell-through.
Reads the report: "The Galaxy Note 2 has shipped 3 million units in its first five weeks of sales, with sell-through strong in Asia and Europe, and the U.S. gathering pace post-launch. We hence forecast 7 million Galaxy Note 2, compared to our initial expectation of 5 million for the fourth quarter."
Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 24 Nov 2012 0:01
Instagram has announced that Thanksgiving helped the service smash its previous records for most photos shared.
Over the holiday, fans shared 10 million photos at a rate of 226 per second at its peak.
The total number of photos shared were double that of the average, which fluctuates between 4 and 6 million daily.
Adds Instagram: "We're thrilled to see people use Instagram to share their holidays. Whether celebrating with friends and family or sharing photos with them halfway across the globe, we're excited to see the intimacy and immediacy of the Instagram experience bring us all closer together over this holiday season."
Instagram has over 120 million users and was purchased in April by Facebook.
Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 23 Nov 2012 21:51
Last week, we reported that the Nexus 4 had a dormant LTE chip built-in alongside its HSPA+ radio.
Last night, videos began showing up on YouTube of Nexus 4 owners in Canada running the phone with LTE enabled. It turns out it was a very simple "hack" to enable it, as well.
By dialing *#*4636#*#*, users are able to select their preferred network type option, whether it be LTE, LTE and GSM or LTE and CDMA.
The videos show that LTE will then work if "Band 4 is available." Telus, Rogers and Bell in Canada use AWS 2100 / 1700MHz LTE bands. AT&T in the U.S. does not use the band, but T-Mobile USA is building their LTE network with Band 4 for next year.
Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 23 Nov 2012 21:15
Nokia, which is trying to return to relevancy in the smartphone market, has lost one of its top executives.
Head of camera and imaging Damian Dinning has left the company, reveals Amateur Photographer. Dinning was the man behind PureView and other Nokia innovations relating to the camera.
Noted Nokia of the exec's decision: "Following the relocation of key strategic roles to Finland, and with great reluctance, Damian Dinning has made a personal decision to leave the company effective 30 November 2012.
During the past nine years, [Damian] has made many innovative and valuable contributions to Nokia, most recently as a lead program manager in our Smart Devices business.We thank him for his service to the company and certainly wish him the best."
Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 23 Nov 2012 20:52
According to the hit-or-miss Taiwan-based Digitimes, manufacturers are increasing their demand for Apple chips for an early launch of the fifth-generation iPad and also the iPhone 5S.
The sources, which are supposedly Apple suppliers, are preparing for launches of the new devices by May of next year.
Reads the report: "Apple is expected to introduce its next-generation iPad and iPhone series around the middle of 2013, which will boost demand for ICs in particular communications related chips during the latter half of the first quarter, according to the observers."
Component orders will rise significantly between March and April of next year, adds the site.
As has been the rumor, Samsung will no longer supply all of the A-series chips seen in iOS devices, with Apple moving production to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC).
Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 23 Nov 2012 20:34
According to a new report, Fujifilm will have 1TB optical discs by 2015.
The company has developed a new recording method that can reach 25GB per layer, with double sided discs between up to 20 layers.
Current Blu-rays offer the same capacity per layer (25GB) but only go as high as 100GB for special Blu-ray XL discs.
Fujifilm will look to commercialize the technology by 2015. The new method involves "two-photon absorption technology to increase the number of layers and it employs a 405nm Ti/S laser."
If allowed to evolve, the tech can eventually offer a capacity of 15TB.
Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 23 Nov 2012 2:11
Just weeks after they began banning file-sharing hosts, Paypal has extended the bans to major Usenet services, citing piracy concerns.
Outside of banning the providers, the company has also frozen the assets in the accounts.
A few of the Usenet providers banned are XSUsenet, EasyUsenet and Usenet4U with smaller services being banned, as well.
The providers can now no longer accept Paypal payments and their funds have been frozen for the next 180 days.
Paypal recently banned major file sharing sites like Putlocker and Mediafire, for not adhering to their new rules regarding file sharing. Putlocker even explained to TF that Paypal demanded that they be given full access to the backend of the site, to see all files that are being uploaded, regardless of the privacy settings of the user.
View the rules here:
Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 23 Nov 2012 1:44
Mozilla has killed the 64-bit version of Firefox before it ever became widely available.
Engineering Manager Benjamin Smedberg posted the decision in a discussion thread titled "Turning off win64 builds."
Smedberg did post the reasons, with most making sense (via TNW):
Many plugins are not available in 64-bit versions.Read more...
The plugins that are available don't work correctly in Firefox because we haven't implemented things like windowproc hooking, which means that hangs are more common.
Crashes submitted by 64-bit users are currently not high priority because we are working on other things.
This is frustrating for users because they feel (and are!) second-class.
It is also frustrating for stability team triage because crash-stats does not easily distinguish between 32-bit and 64-bit builds in the topcrash lists and other reports. We basically ignore a set of nightly "topcrashes" because they are 64-bit only. (See bug 811051).
Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 23 Nov 2012 1:24
According to Win App Update, the Windows 8 Store has reached 20,000 apps, with most being free.
The company says about 18,000 of the apps are free, and also notes that not every country's store will have that number. In fact, the U.S. only has 13,000, Canada has 14,000 and the UK has 11,000 apps available.
Previous reported from earlier this month had the entire Store at 13,000 apps, so it appears growth has been increasing.
If the current rate continues, the store will hit about 35,000 by the end of the year.
Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 23 Nov 2012 1:01
Amazon has announced this week that Instant Video is now available to Wii U owners.
The console launched on the 18th, and Netflix and Hulu Plus released apps for the system over the last couple of days.
Interested parties can download the free app from the console's home screen or through the eShop.
Amazon Instant Video offers access to 140,000 movies and TV episodes for purchase or rental. Additionally, if you are an Amazon Prime subscriber, you also have streaming access to 30,000 movies and shows for free.
As with other streaming services for Wii U, you can use the 6.2-inch GamePad to browse for titles or even playback the titles on the tablet screen.
Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 22 Nov 2012 0:12
The French cyber-warfare agency has accused the U.S. of hacking into former president Nicolas Sarkozy's PCs.
Computers of the president and close advisers including the Chief of Staff Musca were compromised in May by a virus that the agency claims is similar to the "Flame" virus that took down Iran's nuclear centrifuges.
Supposedly, the hacking took place just days before the presidential elections in which Sarkozy lost to socialist newcomer Francois Hollande.
President Obama's administration denied the allegations: "We categorically deny the allegations by unnamed sources that the U.S. government participated in a cyberattack against the French government. France is one of our strongest allies.
"Our outstanding cooperation in intelligence sharing, law enforcement and cyber defense has never been stronger, and remains essential in successfully combating the common threat of extremism."
Another official called the accusation "preposterous."
Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 21 Nov 2012 22:32
HTC's new DROID DNA flagship is now available via Verizon Wireless.
The biggest selling point of the phone is its 1920x1080 resolution Super LCD 3 display with 440 ppi, easily the highest pixel density available on a smartphone. The screen is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 2.
HTC has packed the phone with a quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro at 1.5GHz, 2GB RAM and a "high-end GPU."
Additionally, the phone runs on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean with HTC Sense 4 on top. The hardware includes dual cameras, 2.1/8MP and camera features like HTC ImageSense and the HTC ImageChip. The front-side camera is "f/2.0, 88-degree, ultra-wide angle that allows more to be captured in self-portraits, and up to four people for group shots." NFC and LTE support are built-in. As with all HTC devices, Beats Audio is built in, promising better bass, midrange and highs.
Read more...Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 21 Nov 2012 22:02
Grand Theft Auto V, set for release during the Spring of next year, is a PS3 and Xbox 360 exclusive, at least at launch.
Today, a Rockstar Games exec has stated that the developer is at least considering Wii U and PC versions of the game, much to the delight of fans of the different platforms.
Added Rockstar Vice President Dan Houser: "We are a third-party publisher. We're not Nintendo, we're not Sony, we're not Microsoft. We love all of them in different ways. But we can do what we want wherever there's the appropriate business opportunity and chance to find a market.
Some other people talk about the limitations of the [current] hardware. We don't feel there are that many limitations. We feel we can do some very impressive stuff and do it for a large audience. This felt like the way."
Read more...Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 21 Nov 2012 20:58
Adding the iPhone to their device portfolio would force the carrier to make major sacrifices, says a T-Mobile executive.
Having the iPhone would likely lead to a decent boost in customers for the struggling carrier, which offers the best prices on monthly plans.
"Make no mistake about it: We would love to carry the iPhone. However, we want the economies to be right for us," added Jim Alling, COO of T-Mobile USA (via FW).
MetroPCS, the carrier T-Mobile USA is merging with, had similar comments on the smartphone, with COO Tom Keys saying: "It would be harmful to MetroPCS to have to cut out part of our handset portfolio to accommodate one phone from one provider that the economics could be at risk."
Alling also noted that T-Mobile certainly did not want to make a deal like rival Sprint recently made. The company signed a four-year, $15.5 billion deal last year to sell iPhones. Having that contract has put a massive burden on Sprint, who does not expect to see any profit from the Apple device until at least 2015.
Read more...Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 21 Nov 2012 18:10
According to new court documents, Megaupload helped the U.S. in its investigation into NinjaVideo, which was later shut down for good.
This was all 18 months before Kim Dotcom and the company's other operators were indicted, with the popular file hosting site being taken down for good, as well.
In June 2010, the U.S. issued a warrant to search Megaupload's servers in Virginia as part of an investigation into NinjaVideo, a piracy streaming site that used Megaupload's own "Megavideo" service. The government kept it secret, telling Megaupload to do the same.
Kim Dotcom lawyer Ira Rothken said the service "responded as good corporate citizens," turning over information about the five alleged NinjaVideo operators, "as well as database information on the 39 pirated movies detailed in the warrant." The information helped lead to indictments of all five top NinjaVideo administrators.
Adds Rothken: "Megaupload complied with the warrant and cooperated with the government's request. Megaupload had gotten a number of such warrant and subpoena type requests a year and still have an expectation that as classic 'online service providers' they are immune from liability for the acts of users who are the target of such warrants and subpoenas."
Read more...Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 20 Nov 2012 23:30
Since the release of the Galaxy S III, rumors for next year's Galaxy S IV have been trickling in and today we have some more.
Allegedly, the phone will have a 5-inch, 1080p display. Additionally, the device will run on a quad-core Cortex A15 chip, the Exynos 5450.
The Exynos is built by Samsung itself, moving away from Qualcomm-made chips like the Snapdragon. The new Nexus 10 and the latest Chromebook already use similar chips.
Furthermore, the camera will be 13MP and include some more new and improved Samsung software.
Regardless, we will not know for sure about the new device until MWC next February.
Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 20 Nov 2012 23:13
Last week, we reported about an unfortunate bug with the new Android 4.2 operating system found on the Galaxy Nexus, Nexus 4, and new Nexus tablets.
In the stock People/Contacts app, the month of December is completely missing, making it impossible to add events or birthdays for any contacts if that occasion is in December.
The bug was added to the bug tracker but Google has finally widely acknowledged the issue:
"We discovered a bug in the Android 4.2 update, which makes it impossible to enter December events in optional fields of the People app (this bug did not affect Calendar). Rest assured, this will be fixed soon so that those of you with December birthdays and anniversaries won't be forgotten by your friends and family."
Read more...Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 20 Nov 2012 22:26
Although Valve has not confirmed, sources claim Steam will start a week-long fall sale starting tomorrow.
Additionally, the company will have a winter sale from December 20th until January 4th.
The report comes via Tam?s Bak?, CEO of Artery Studios and the creator of Secret of the Magic Crystal.
Bak? notes that they will be selling the game for $1.99 during the promotion, aiming at selling 50,000 copies.
Steam has numerous sales over the year, with each slashing prices on 50-100 games by as much as 80 percent.
Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 20 Nov 2012 21:17
Two weeks ago, Apple and HTC announced an end to their global patent war, agreeing to a 10-year licensing agreement.
Last week, Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu said industry sources told him Apple will get between $6-$8 for every HTC phone sold. Today, HTC has slammed that report, calling it outrageous.
"I think that these estimates are baseless and very, very wrong. It is a outrageous number, but I'm not going to comment anything on a specific number. I believe we have a very, very happy settlement and a good ending," said HTC CEO Peter Chou at a KDDI Corp product launch in Tokyo.
Neither company has disclosed the terms of the agreement which will have HTC pay royalties to license certain Apple patents related to smartphones for the next ten years.
Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 20 Nov 2012 21:00
In a slap to the face of privacy, a new Senate proposal will let government agencies read your emails without warrant.
A vote on the bill, which was recently re-written by Patrick Leahy, the influential Democratic chairman of the Senate Judiciary committee, is set for next week.
Cnet has pinpointed all the new changes to the bill:
* Grants warrantless access to Americans' electronic correspondence to over 22 federal agencies. Only a subpoena is required, not a search warrant signed by a judge based on probable cause.Read more...
*Permits state and local law enforcement to warrantlessly access Americans' correspondence stored on systems not offered "to the public," including university networks.
* Authorizes any law enforcement agency to access accounts without a warrant -- or subsequent court review -- if they claim "emergency" situations exist.
* Says providers "shall notify" law enforcement in advance of any plans to tell their customers that they've been the target of a warrant, order, or subpoena.
* Delays notification of customers whose accounts have been accessed from 3 days to "10 business days." This notification can be postponed by up to 360 days.
Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 20 Nov 2012 20:31
Not really a news piece but a funny tidbit from the rest of the Web.
It appears that Apple has a specialist who's named Sam Sung. The picture of the employee's business card comes from The Loop.
Sam Sung is employed at the Pacific Centre Apple Store in Vancouver, British Columbia.
As is obvious, Apple's biggest rival and the other half of their global patent war is Korea's Samsung Electronics.
Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 20 Nov 2012 20:17
John McAfee, anti-virus software pioneer and potential bath salts junkie, has written this week on his blog that he is offering $25,000 to anyone who helps capture the murderer of expat Gregory Faull.
Faull was murdered last week near his home in Belize and the story was broken that McAfee was the lead suspect in the case.
Since then, McAfee has been in hiding but also blogging about his adventure, including how he dresses in disguises daily. One such disguise is a Guatemalan street vendor with a limp. He has said the charges against him are a vendetta for his refusal to donate money to Belize's ruling United Democratic Party.
For now, McAfee says he wants to find justice for Faull's murder and is willing to do so monetarily.
The developer told interviewers two years ago that his once $100 million fortune had dwindled to $4 million due to the financial crisis in 2008.
Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 20 Nov 2012 17:18
Xbox World, which is set to cease publication after their December issue, has published a large 8-page feature showing off "everything" they know about the upcoming Xbox 8/Xbox 720/Xbox Next/Xbox/Durango.
The magazine has a good track record for Microsoft Xbox leaks, but with no official confirmation until next year, at least, take everything written with a grain of salt.
Says editor-in-chief Dan Dawkins (via CVG): "Xbox World has been at the cutting edge of Durango coverage for over 12 months. Unless something really dramatic changes, everything we reveal in our penultimate issue will be revealed long before E3 in June."
The mag speculates Microsoft will name the upcoming console simply "Xbox," similar to how Apple has stopped numbering their iPad tablets.
With its release, the new Xbox will introduce Kinect 2.0, Blu-ray support, directional audio, a TV output and input, a new 'innovative controller' and finally, augmented reality glasses (to be released in 2014/15).
Read more...Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 19 Nov 2012 15:39
One of the remaining major holdouts has made their music available via iTunes.
Rock band AC/DC has made all 25 albums available through the online digital download store, and you can also buy the tracks individually.
In 2011, the band said they would not make their music available unless it was sold only as full albums, not a la carte. Back in 2008, the company said iTunes would likely 'kill music,' taking a hardline stance.
Since then, it appears the band has had a change of heart and will now sell the tracks, albums, LP versions, live versions and two "digital box-sets,' a Studio Collection and a more expensive Complete Collection. Additionally, the band has "sold out" completely and will offer ringtones, as well.
Recently, another major holdout, Kid Rock, finally made his music available on iTunes, as well.
Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 19 Nov 2012 15:17
According to Appsfire, Apple has now seen 1 million apps submitted to the marketplace since launch in July 2008.
The count includes all iOS apps (iPad and iPhone) and does not include Mac App Store applications.
736,247 are currently live in the App Store, with 336,270 being paid. Of the total, 120,065 are games says the report.
The store has seen 35 billion downloads in four years and is accessed by nearly all of Apple's 400 million users.
It may be some time until Apple sees 1 million live apps, since many have been removed by Apple or the developers themselves, and others have been taken down by copyright notices. Some have also been rejected right from the get go.
Rival Android has reached 25 billion downloads and has over 650,000 live apps.
Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 19 Nov 2012 14:59
Just a week ago, Microsoft announced that DirectX 11.1 will be a Windows 8 exclusive. The company said there were no plans to make it available for Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7, either.
Today, however, it seems the company has given in to critics, and will make some features available to those with Windows 7.
Microsoft says the following features will be added to W7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, as well:
ID3D11Device1, ID2D1Factory1, IDWriteFactory1, IDXGIFactory2, IWICImagingFactory2, ID3DUserDefinedAnnotation and related APIs are available
Improved Direct3D 11 device interoperability via ID3DDeviceContextState, including the improved interop with Direct2D/DirectWrite
D3D11_FEATURE_DATA_D3D9_OPTIONS feature detection
In addition to the new Windows 8 WIC features, this update also fixes decoding of 96bpp floating-point TIFF images.
Everything else will remain a Windows 8 exclusive.
Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 19 Nov 2012 13:20
According to sources, the upcoming Mac OS X 10.9 will integrate Siri and Apple Maps from its iOS counterpart.
So far, these sources have tested early builds of the operating system, and say the Siri voice command software works very similar to iOS devices like the iPhone and iPad.
Currently, Macs with Mountain Lion have access to "Dictation," which uses the same hardware and software infrastructure as Siri.
Furthermore, Apple will look to integrate the oft-criticized Apple Maps into the OS X framework for developers. Devs will then be able to embed a map into their applications for the Mac App Store.
More official word on OS X 10.9 is expected by February.
Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 19 Nov 2012 12:54
According to Business Insider, MySpace is trying to raise $50 million in funding so it can re-invent itself as a rival to Pandora and Spotify.
An ad company called Specific Media purchased MySpace from News Corp. for $35 million. In 2005, News Corp and its CEO Rupert Murdoch purchased the social network for $580 million. With the launch of Facebook, MySpace largely disappeared, outside of its music streaming capabilities.
After changing their name to Interactive Media Holdings and taking new funding from venture capitalists and even Justin Timberlake, MySpace's traffic has grown 36 percent since December 2011. Despite the traffic boost, revenues are still low and the company expects MySpace to lose $25 million next year.
According to their new plans, however, Interactive has some big plans, looking to become a music alternative to Spotify and Pandora. The company will need $50 million in new funding, with $10 million going to marketing and $25 million going to licensing deals with the labels. The rest is slated for "general working capital," as can be expected.
Read more...Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 19 Nov 2012 11:56
Intel CEO Paul Otellini has announced today that he will be retiring from the company next year.
Otellini will step down in May, giving enough time for the company to forge a succession plan.
After 8 years as CEO and almost 40 years with the company itself, the executive says it was time to move on. He wil end all day-to-day duties but will be available in an "advisor" capacity into the future.
Intel board of directors chairman Andy Bryant added: "Paul Otellini has been a very strong leader, only the fifth CEO in the company's great 45-year history, and one who has managed the company through challenging times and market transitions."
The company has yet to select a new CEO.
Concludes Otellini:
I've been privileged to lead one of the world's greatest companies. After almost four decades with the company and eight years as CEO, it's time to move on and transfer Intel's helm to a new generation of leadership. I look forward to working with Andy, the board and the management team during the six-month transition period, and to being available as an advisor to management after retiring as CEO.
Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 19 Nov 2012 11:43
Windows Phone 8 users have been reporting that their new devices are being hit with random reboots and freezing issues, certainly not something Microsoft or the phone manufacturers want to hear.
While the numbers are not great given the amount of phones that have supposedly been sold, they are large enough that at least Nokia has responded. A thread in their support forum over Lumia 920 freezing has run to 4 pages.
Most of the problems have been reported for the HTC 8X and Lumia 920, which are the two most popular WP8 devices. Blame has been slung everywhere for the issue, with some blaming the Facebook app, others blaming HTC hub and others blaming NFC applications.
Nokia had this response: "There have been reports of a small number of people experiencing this unusual performance on their Nokia Lumia 920. We are investigating but suspect some apps may be at the root of the issue when left running in the background. While we learn more, we advise people when finished with an application to navigate away using the back button to ensure it is no longer active."
Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 19 Nov 2012 11:16
Earlier this week, AndroidPolice discovered an unfortunate bug with the new Android 4.2 operating system found on the Galaxy Nexus, Nexus 4, and new Nexus tablets.
In the stock People/Contacts app, the month of December is completely missing, making it impossible to add events or birthdays for any contacts if that occasion is in December.
The site says the bug has been reported to the Android bug tracker as bug #39692 with Google acknowledging it over the weekend:
Adds the site: "After digging through the AOSP source, I think the bug can be likely found in one of these commits, probably in the packages/apps/Contacts/src/com/android/contacts/datepicker/DatePicker.java file - if you spot it, definitely drop a note in the comments. I think it has to do with adjusting for indexes that start with 0 - "off by 1" bugs are quite common."
Read more...Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 19 Nov 2012 11:05
Just hours after launch, AnandTech has given the Nintendo Wii U a proper teardown.
First off, the site says the hardware seems repair-friendly, with an easy to open chassis. That being said, there are a few delicate connections that are soldered together, however.
Under the hood, the Wii U has 2GB of DDR3-1600 RAM, doubling the peak bandwidth of its predecessor, at 12.8GB/s.
The Wii U optical drive, as reported earlier this year, is a proprietary format for game storage, but matching low-end Blu-ray storage at 25GB per disc. The site says "max sequential read speeds are pretty high compared to the current gen consoles at 22MB/s."
There is a multicore PowerPC processor and a large GPU with supposedly high amounts of eDRAM.
Read more...Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 18 Nov 2012 20:34
For the third quarter, Android powered ahead in its smartphone market share dominance, says research firm Gartner.
Android accounted for 72.4 percent of all smartphones sold during the quarter, up from 52.2 percent during the same period in 2011.
Samsung led the way, selling 55 million smartphones of a total of 136 million sold. Apple saw strong growth, as well, selling 23.5 million iPhones, however overall share fell from 15 percent in 2011 to 13.9 percent for this quarter.
"The pace of innovation in Android is faster than Apple," said Gartner vice president of mobile computing Ken Dulaney. "They are just trying harder; Apple is way behind in that area. What you get with Android is this incredible feedback loop with developers, equipment makers, customers, and designers.
"At Apple, as long as they have a great vision internally it is fine but they don't have the feedback Android does."
Read more...Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 18 Nov 2012 17:53
AT&T has announced that their 4G LTE network deployment is moving well ahead of schedule.
The network is available in 24 new markets as of this weekend, now covering 152 million people.
By the end of 2013, the carrier says it wants to reach 250 million people and then 300 million by the end of 2014. At the end of 2011, AT&T covered just 75 million Americans.
Rival Verizon currently covers more people and has plans to reach over 300 million by the end of next year.
However, AT&T has HSPA+ for those in non-LTE coverage areas, which offers 4G-esque speeds for those with 3G-capable devices, including all iPhones before this year's iPhone 5.
Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 18 Nov 2012 16:27
According to Paul Thurrott, sales of Windows 8 PCs are well below the company's internal projections.
Perhaps more notably, the well-known Microsoft insider says the company has been blaming PC makers for their lackluster designs and availability.
More specifically, the source blames PC makers' "inability to deliver," extremely strong words that completely justifies Microsoft's move into building their own hardware, the Surface.
Additionally, the software giant has been looking to expand their Microsoft retail stores, which could put them in even bigger competition with their hardware partners.
Another potential reason for the slow sales is the confusing different versions of Windows, most notably the Windows RT seen on the Surface tablet. There has been widespread confusion on the differences between RT and the upcoming Windows 8 Pro. RT can only use apps built for RT, unlike Pro which can run on AMD or Intel chips and has access to the hundreds of thousands of Windows legacy applications.
Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 18 Nov 2012 15:28
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has said Amazon will one day be a real competitor to them, but they will need to keep spending to do so.
The executive says Amazon has been losing up to $1 billion a year as it looks to acquire streaming video content rights.
Hastings based his numbers on content deals that Amazon won over Netflix when they competed head to head earlier this year and last year.
Netflix says it will spend $2.1 billion next year on content.
According to recent figures, Amazon Prime only controls 1.8 percent of Internet traffic compared to Netflix's 33 percent. Netflix has over 27 million subscribers, paying $8 per month for the service. Amazon has not revealed how many Prime members they have. Prime costs $79 per year and includes unlimited streaming and free 2-day shipping on all Amazon-sold products.
Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 18 Nov 2012 15:10
Earlier this week, Google began selling its new LG Nexus 4, the latest in the vanilla Android Nexus line.
While the phone has been met with good critical success, the main deterrent for the device is its lack of LTE support. While LTE may not be everywhere in the U.S., the major carriers all plan to blanket the nation by the end of next year.
iFixit has completed their teardown of the device, and strangely found an LTE radio chip.
The chip is the Qualcomm WTR1605L, which supports all known LTE networks around the world, but remains dormant as the phone uses a pentaband HSPA+ chip instead.
While the dormant chip is certainly interesting, there is very little devs can do with it. iFixit says there is no LTE power amplifier on board, and they believe the chip may be permanently disabled.
Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 18 Nov 2012 14:49
With high demand and seemingly tight supply, the Nintendo Wii U has gone on sale today in the U.S.
The console is the first of the next generation of systems, and is notable for its use of a tablet-esque controller, dubbed the GamePad. Additionally, the company will add a new TV-viewing service next month, called TVii.
"The value of Wii U goes well beyond day one," says Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo's North America president. "Nintendo will be enhancing the Wii U experience with continuous updates and new services for Wii U owners."
While analysts have suggested that Nintendo should move away from hardware and concentrate on making games based on their extremely popular characters (Pokemon, Mario, Link, etc) for smartphones and tablets, executives will not even consider it. Instead, the company continues to innovate on the hardware side, looking to create a "ground breaking experience," notes Fils-Aime.
Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 18 Nov 2012 14:31
Xbox Live has turned 10 years old this weekend.
In addition to the significant milestone, Microsoft has announced that the timing coincides with a new record for the service, as well.
"I'm proud to announce that during the week of Nov. 6 through Nov. 13, our members spent more time on Xbox LIVE (gaming and watching entertainment) than any other week in the history of our service: a total of 442 million hours," added Major Nelson.
Xbox Live will live into the future with the Xbox 360 sequel expected next year.
The online service has become an integral part of Microsoft's console ecosystem since its launch with the original Xbox in 2002.
Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 18 Nov 2012 14:03
Less than a week after two thieves drove out of JFK airport with two pallets of iPad Mini valued at above $1.5 million, a suspect has been charged.
Agents said they arrested Renel Rene Richardson after co-workers said he made "suspicious" inquiries about the shipment before it came in and where to find forklifts in the warehouse.
The tablets were stolen from the same cargo building that was featured in the hit movie "GoodFellas," better known as the Lufthansa heist.
At around midnight last Monday, the thieves used forklifts to load two massive pallets onto a truck before driving off. The original plan had been to take 5 pallets, but they had to leave three after being confronted by an airport worker who was returning from a late dinner.
Richardson has been accused of being the lookout and the man who let the thieves in and out that night.
The iPads have not been recovered as of yet.
Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 18 Nov 2012 1:35
Although they have not officially announced it, pictures have leaked of the Huawei Ascend W2.
The phone will be the company's first running on Windows Phone 8, unless another rumored Huawei device hits first, the aptly named W1.
While details are scarce, the W2 has a 4.5-inch screen, measures 132 x 67 x 10 mm, has an 8MP camera, and is LTE-ready.
The phone is expected to have a higher-end dual-core processor.
Huawei is one of China's largest smartphone makers, but they have yet to break into the American market dominated by Samsung and Apple.
Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 17 Nov 2012 14:33
By the end of this month, the new "six-strikes" Copyright Alert System will go live in the U.S.
Verizon and Time Warner have outlined their plans for repeat pirates, the first of the cable companies to do so.
Time Warner says they will warn subscribers through popup notifications and eventually restrict browsing by in-browser redirects. Verizon will notify alleged pirates via email and even voice mail, and will eventually throttle speeds.
Both companies are part of the Center for Copyright Information (CCI), which was started by the MPAA and RIAA with the major ISPs in America.
For Verizon, the process will be in three stages. The first two alerts will be via email/voice mail informing the alleged pirates that someone on their connection has been flagged for copyright infringements. In the second stage, a pop up is delivered to users who must read and confirm it before it goes away. After that, actual punishments are a possibility, with throttling of Internet speeds occurring. The throttling is temporary, says the ISP, being lifted after 3 days.
Read more...Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 17 Nov 2012 13:07
Over the last 8 weeks, the once invincible Apple has seen its stock fall almost 30 percent, while the broader stock market fell 9 percent in the same period.
While many stocks see extreme declines over the course of their lifetime, Apple's is most notable given its current valuation.
After a nice 5 percent rebound on Friday, the company is valued at $496 billion, $100 billion more than the second-largest public company in the world and more than Google and Microsoft combined.
Before the drop, the company was valued as high as $660 billion, meaning in just two months the company lost a value of $164 billion, more than the entire worth of Amazon, eBay and Netflix combined. In other words, the drop was significant.
Apple has seen some slowing growth for their products in recent quarters and have been accused of becoming less innovative, especially when compared to Google and Samsung.
Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 17 Nov 2012 12:05
Nintendo has announced that the highly-anticipated "TVii" feature will launch next month, and not at launch.
The service, which is for U.S. and Canadian Wii U owners only, places a full TV program guide on the Wii U's touch GamePad, allowing users to view or control programming from cable or satellite.
Additionally, TViii lets users control YouTube and other video on demand services. You can also comment on Twitter, Facebook and Miiverse.
Unfortunately, some of the most popular video-on-demand services will not be available for a few weeks, including Hulu Plus, Netflix and Amazon Instant Video.
The Wii U Basic and Deluxe bundles are set for release tomorrow, with the base model costing $300 and the deluxe edition selling for $350. The base model will include the Wii U console with 8GB memory and the Wii U GamePad in all white. The deluxe edition comes with 32GB and a GamePad charging cradle. Additionally, it will come bundled with the game NintendoLand.
Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 17 Nov 2012 11:42
T-Mobile USA, the U.S.' fourth-largest carrier, has said today that it expects only three of the major carriers to make it into the future.
The carrier recently just announced a merger with MetroPCS that should be completed early next year.
Even with the merger, however, the company still trails the big 3 significantly. Verizon and AT&T have over 110 million subscribers each while Sprint has 56 million. T-Mobile with MetroPCS has about 39 million.
"A major part of our strategy is to drive some shift in share amongst the big four, and that's going to be the richest area we see with the greatest return," added CEO John Legere. "There is a near- and medium-term opportunity for us to aggressively grow and take on share."
Legere also specifically named AT&T and Sprint when saying rival carriers have some "challenges with a limited LTE capacity."
More notably, T-Mobile Chief Operating Officer Jim Alling said an industry deal to consolidate the major carriers is likely into the future, but not during the tenure of President Obama. "Is it possible that four major players could go down to three?" Alling added. "I think that is possible, and likely in the longer term. I don't know how likely that is, based on the current regulatory environment."
Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 16 Nov 2012 16:23
According to a survey from anti-virus company Avast, most Windows users in the U.S. know what Windows 8 is, but only a few are looking to upgrade to it.
Worse for Microsoft, is the fact that almost one third of those surveyed said they would look to Apple when it came time to upgrade from their Windows XP, Vista or 7 machine.
The survey comes on the heels of Microsoft firing Steve Sinofsky, the longtime head of the Windows division. It remains unclear whether the move was a personality clash between Sinofsky and Ballmer or because of the lukewarm reception to Windows 8.
Avast polled 1.6 million users of its software and received 135,329 responses from U.S. Windows users.
65 percent used Windows 7, 22 percent still used Windows XP and 8 percent used Vista. 60 percent were aware of Windows 8 but just 9 percent "said they would accelerate a decision to buy a new computer just to have Windows 8, while more than 70 percent said they planned to stick with what they have."
Read more...Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 16 Nov 2012 15:44
According to the WSJ, Google has been in talks with Dish Network to potentially begin offering a new wireless service that would rival major carriers like AT&T and Verizon.
For now, the talks are preliminary and could lead nowhere, say the sources.
Dish has supposedly spoken with multiple companies in recent times, with all discussions remaining in the exploratory stage.
The satellite TV company has been acquiring spectrum since 2008 and it appears they finally want to use it. The wireless network would include cellular service and mobile broadband.
Google would make a great partner, as they also have plans for connecting customers to the Internet, laying fiber networks in Kansas City as a pilot. The fiber network is faster than all existing cable and fiber networks offered by cable companies, and also has no restrictions on bandwidth. Additionally, Google has $45 billion in cash, which could certainly help in acquiring spectrum or building infrastructure.
Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 16 Nov 2012 14:48
According to multiple reports, Google has been distributing a test version of Google Maps for iOS to some beta testers outside of the company.
When completed, Apple will have to accept it into the App Store before iOS users can download it.
A Google spokesman added: "We believe Google Maps are the most comprehensive, accurate and easy-to-use maps in the world. Our goal is to make Google Maps available to everyone who wants to use it, regardless of device, browser, or operating system."
The software should come as a relief to iOS 6 users who may not be happy with the still-buggy Apple Maps released last month. Apple Maps comes pre-installed with all new iOS devices including the iPhone 5, iPad and iPad Mini.
Google Maps remains the golden standard for mobile, and the upcoming app is expected to contain Navigation as it does with Android.
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