ChipmakerAMDon Monday pledged its support to theMeeGoopen-source operating system for mobile devices. The announcement was made at the MeeGo Conference 2010 and sees AMD joining Intel and Nokia as partners in the Linux Foundation project. According to AMD's corporate VP of software development, Ben Bar-Haim, the company will provide engineering resources to the project.
AMD hopes to use the resulting product in its futureAccelerated Processing Unitslike the Bobcat and Bulldozer architectures. The chipmaker is already a Linux Foundation member. MeeGo is meant for netbooks, tablets, embedded in-vehicle systems and smartphones.
The advent of Bluetooth 3.0 will introduce a fair number of improvements, including 24Mbps data transfers sans wires, making us scratch our heads in wonder and amazement on how that is going to benefit a Bluetooth 3.0 mouse. To make matters more puzzling, this isn't even a high tech gaming mouse which needs ultra fast response times and precision movement - we're talking about a regular office mouse for you to handle your spreadsheet and word processing needs. Get this for approximately $52 if you're in Japan, and this one is for the Joneses who buy things they don't need to impress people they don't like.
CES 2011 is not here just yet, as it is a couple of months away, but that doesn't mean companies cannot tease you with upcoming offerings, right? Audiovox has introduced their latest Blu-ray player for cars, shipping the $349 device sometime in July next year. This device also picked up a CES Innovations award, where it will target families who own large libraries of Blu-ray discs and want to watch them even when they're on the road. Features include a front panel USB input and IR remote, hooking up to a car monitor via HDMI, composite or component outputs. Of course, expect it to be able to handle regular DVDs as well just in case you were wondering. You know what's coming next from manufacturers - 3D Blu-ray players for vehicles.
During Steve Jobs’ recent anti-Android tiradeon an Apple earnings call, Jobs said his company “anxiously” awaited a report that would show which mobile operating system had the best performance. Here it is, Mr. Jobs.
Gartner released its Q3 2010 estimates and Symbian retained the top spot as best-selling mobile OS. But to Jobs’ likely dismay, Android has surpassed iOS to become the second most popular operating system among handsets sold in the last three months.
Android has already established itselfas the best in the U.S., but not in the rest of the world. Gartner reports that Android accounted for 25.5 percent of global smartphone sales; iOS accounted for 16.7 percent. That’s a complete role reversal from Android’s 3.5 percent during Q3 2009 and iOS’s 17 percent.
Android is the No. 2 global operating system, but it’s No. 1 on Verizon. Gartner estimates that 75 to 80 percent of phones sold on Verizon were Android.
The Galaxy S line helped Samsung become the second best-performing manufacturer, though that includes non-Android products.
Other Android-producing companies include Sony Ericsson at No. 6, Motorola at #7, and HTC at #8.
MacStories.net is reporting that one of their sources working close with AT&T revealed that Applewill release iOS 4.2 on Fridayat 10AM PST for the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. MacStories is also reporting that tomorrow will see the release of iTunes 10.1 and Mac OS X 10.6.5 viaSoftware Update. Both iTunes 10.1 and Mac OS X 10.6.5 are presumed to be required for the iOS 4.2 update for its AirPlay and AirPrint functionality.
Last week theGold Master of iOS 4.2was released to developers and just last night a new version of Mac OS X 10.6.5 was seeded to devs. Apple had previously stated that iOS 4.2 would be released sometime this month.
You probably know by now what Google Instant does . We have been using Google Instant for a couple of weeks on our computers and now that everyone is getting used to Google Instant , Google has made the Instant beta available on most of the mobile devices in US .
To experience the Google Instant on mobile platform just visit Google.com or if you are visiting Google from some country specific Google domain , click the Go to Google.com on the homepage . On the Google.com page just turn 'On' the Instant (beta ) and you are ready to experience the power of Instant on your iPhone or Android phone .
Like the desktop version of Google Instant, when you type on your mobile device you’ll see predictions of what you might be searching for. If you type [air], for example, you should see [airtran] [airline tickets] along with other predictions. Results for the first prediction appear automatically, and tapping on the other predictions will display those results. Pressing the enter key or the search button skips the predictions and will display results for exactly what you’ve typed.
Google Instant for mobile works best on 3G and WiFi networks, but since the quality of any wireless connection can fluctuate, we’ve made it easy to enable or disable Google Instant without ever leaving the page. Just tap the “Turn on” or “Turn off” link. The new AJAX and HTML5 implementation has proved to be a great improvement on speed of search results and the capability to update pages with each key stoke rather than the need to load a new page on each query .
But the key question in our mind is the real estate which smartphones offer , while searching on the Instant , the keyboard consumes 40% of screen space and the 10% is consumed by search query box , so each query can display only 2 results and to look further we need to scroll down . While typing again takes us back to the query box even from the last result you are viewing and that's a smart feature . While the Instant beta will evolve over time and we will have a complete web based search solution on our smartphones too but before that just check out our demo video below :
Did you hear about lawsuit Google was facing , class-action lawsuit filed in a San Jose, California federal court over its Google Buzz social networking service. According to the San Francisco Chroniclethe lawsuit alleges Google Buzz violated the Computer Fraud and
Abuse Act (CFAA) -- a law passed in 1984 that is intended to protect
individuals against companies that compromise the confidentiality of a
computer.
But now things are cool as the lawsuit has been settled .However, Google has in fact agreed to pay for the plaintiffs’ lawyer
fees and other expenses, along with a commitment to establish an $8.5
million ‘Common Fund’, that will provide financial support to
organizations who are advocating user privacy, Internet privacy policy
and those organizations that are actively educating users about the
intricacies and importance of online privacy. Furthermore, Google has
also stated that, the search giant will step up its efforts to educate
more and more users about its privacy policies in regards to Google
Buzz. The whole fiasco began when users discovered that, their Gmail
contacts were available as public view, in the form of ‘Followers’, for
all other Gmail users to see.
Check the mail sent by Google below :
Google rarely contacts Gmail users via email, but we are making an
exception to let you know that we've reached a settlement in a lawsuit
regarding Google Buzz (http://buzz.google.com), a service we launched within Gmail in February of this year.
Shortly after its launch, we heard from a number of people who were
concerned about privacy. In addition, we were sued by a group of Buzz
users and recently reached a settlement in this case.
The settlement acknowledges that we quickly changed the service to
address users' concerns. In addition, Google has committed $8.5 million
to an independent fund, most of which will support organizations
promoting privacy education and policy on the web. We will also do more
to educate people about privacy controls specific to Buzz. The more
people know about privacy online, the better their online experience
will be.
Just to be clear, this is not a settlement in which people who use Gmail
can file to receive compensation. Everyone in the U.S. who uses Gmail
is included in the settlement, unless you personally decide to opt out
before December 6, 2010. The Court will consider final approval of the
agreement on January 31, 2011. This email is a summary of the
settlement, and more detailed information and instructions approved by
the court, including instructions about how to opt out, object, or
comment, are available at http://www.BuzzClassAction.com
.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
This mandatory announcement was sent to all Gmail users in the United
States as part of a legal settlement and was authorized by the United
States District Court for the Northern District of California.
Google Inc. | 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway | Mountain View, CA 94043
And finally Airtel is launching 3G services in INDIA after a long wait .
3G is supposed to come for handsets equipped with HSPA and WCDMA .Basically, HSPA is a collection of two main technologies HSDPA and HSUPA so dont get confused listening to the HSDPA from BSNL . Practically they both are same technologies .
What is 3G technology ?
3G technology is the latest in mobile communications. 3G stands for "third generation". 3G uses a software enhancement called High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), which sends data many times faster than current 2G networks. For you, that translates into the freedom to send and receive text, graphics, audio and video content, in 3G coverage areas. 3G technology is intended to get the best out of your smartphones as with increased bandwidth and transfer rates you can do almost everything on your mobile which you could only do on a PC or Laptop earlier like video conferencing, receiving streaming video from the web, sending and receiving faxes and instantly downloading e-mail messages with attachments
To check if your mobile phone is compatible with Airtel 3G services , go here .
If your mobile phone is not listed here like my HTC Desire , you can just open HTC's official website and check in the specifications and check in the 'Network' whether it is a HSPA (HSDPA) or WCDMA or both .
But if you are using a CDMA version of the same model like in case of HTC Desire you will not be able to use the 3G service .
We are expecting Airtel to start the service from tomorrow on the auspicious occasion of Diwali here in INDIA and everyone is excited to experience the power of 3G when 4G is already functional in major areas in US .
Along with Airtel , Tata Docomo and Vodafone also have plans for 3G support . So just relax and enjoy your 3G ride soon with any of these carriers soon .
Transcend has announced that it has begun to ship CFast cards, the next step forward in the CompactFlash standard. These cards rely on a SATA interface instead of the normal UDMA / IDE interface, offering transfer rates of up to 108MB/s. These CFast cards will be available in capacities of 2GB, 4GB, 8GB and 16GB, though pricing or availability haven't been mentioned yet. The cards can be used as bootable drives and include StaticDataRefresh and EarlyRetirement technologies, allowing it to correct data errors, ensuring data reliability and extending the lifespan of their flash memory cells.
Wacom, a well-known maker of tablets for artists and other input devices, took a big leap into the business world today with the unveiling of a new line of"signature" tablets, small electronic displays that use pen input largely to collect signatures for purchases, authorizations and paperless receipt generation. The new STU family comprises three tablets, all with pen input, that range from single-line monochrome to a five-inch color display.
TheSTU-300($200) uses a monochrome LED display (400x100 pixels) and uses 512 levels of pressure to make signatures unique as well as helping to ignore accidental input from hands or fingers. It draws power from a USB connection but, like all of Wacom's pen-based tablets, the stylus does not require power at all and can even be used if the surface of the tablet is marred. The small dimensions (6.1 inches by five inches by 0.67 inches) makes it ideal for portable or cramped-space locations.
TheSTU-500($270) is also a monochrome screen, but with a five-inch diagonal, 640x480 VGA resolution offers either serial or USB connectivity and is best for longer or broader signature requirements, such as on legal or banking documents. Its more square design (6.3 inches by 7.18 inches by one inch) feels more like signing a receipt and the area above the signature line can be used to display other information, such as a total price or menu options/soft buttons.
The last of the line is theSTU-520($330), which boasts a 4.7 inch, 800x480 color LCD display fully capable of pushing graphics, offers, menu options and other information along with signature capture. It uses USB for power and connectivity and measures 6.3 inches by seven inches by 0.6 inches. Development environments are available for C++, .Net and Java, and the tablets all work with signature software from SoftPro, Silanis, CIC and eOriginal.
The STU-300 and STU-500 are available now, with the STU-520 arriving next month. All the tablets come with a two-year warranty.
TheUS International Trade Commissionkicks off the trial over whether Nokia hasviolated four Apple patentstoday, with Apple having requested that Nokia devices be blocked from entering the US. Still, if we were the Cupertino legal team, we probably wouldn’t be buying crates of celebratory champagne quite yet; according toBloomberg, the staff of the USITC has said it believes “the evidence will not establish a violation.”
The staff at the USITC acts as a third-party on behalf of the public in cases such as these, though the judge – in this case Charles Bullock – is not under obligation to rule in the same way that the staff are leaning. Their opinion is that Apple’s patents are either invalid or have not in fact been infringed.
Judge Bullock’s ruling isn’t expected until February 2011, whereupon it will be subject to a further review scheduled to be completed by the end of June. Meanwhile Nokia’sown case against Appleis expected to begin trial on November 29.
Building on yesterday’s story of Apple announcing they wouldn’t be releasing the white iPhone 4until Spring 2011comes new rumors that they’ve cancelled the phantom shade indefinitely, and will not be making it available whatsoever. BGR reports:
According to a previous source of ours, we have been told that Apple in fact has no plans to release the white model iPhone 4.
With all of the mixed reports we’ve been seeing on the white iPhone lately, we don’t know what to believe anymore. It’s possible that, due to the timeline and events played out so far, Apple may just wait until the iPhone 5 is released in summer 2011 before officially bringing the white iPhone to the table.
What do you think? Will we ever see it? Do you even care anymore?
Business Insider is reporting that Apple is set to hold asecret iOS developer summitnext week. The event apparently begins next Tuesday and will run for three days. While Business Insider doesn't have any firm details yet, they speculate that the purpose of the summit is to improve the quality of apps on iOS devices in order to stave off competition from Google's Android App Store.
The event coincides with the stated sometime-in-November release date ofiOS 4.2, which will be available for the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. iOS 4.2 will be the first major update to the iPad since its launch in March. It's unknown what developers will be in attendance, but Business Insider speculates that whatever app developers are in attendance, they'll likely get "some extra face time with Apple engineers" and some hands on dev help.
This story is just breaking and we'll get you all the details as they leak out.
Android's Android's and more Android's have been adopted by people over any other platform in the past year and Android still continues to develop as a platform on smartphones , TV's , home appliances . Are you wondering where next will you see the Android OS ? And the answer is in flights , Thales and Panasonic are planning to integrate Android OS in their coming in-flight touchscreen entertainment devices . Now do we need to assume the Android will also be piloting our flight any time soon , and the flights will demand an OS update rather than pilots asking for salary hikes ,sounds funny .
But this concept is going to take in-flight entertainment to higher levels and also going to benefit passengers with the wide range of services that can be integrated on Android's .
Check out the Video below for more info :
Nokia has delayed shipment of theN8, the first mobile phone to run the latest version of Symbian software and a device that the company has a lot of hopes from .
Nokia says "In some markets, we had planned to start delivering the N8s to our pre-order customers by the end of September," the company said in a statement. "To ensure a great user experience, we have decided to hold the shipments for a few weeks to do some final amends. We expect consumers to get their Nokia N8s during October."
The delay of the N8 comesjust as Nokia's new leader takes the helm. Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo's last day as CEO was Monday, with the former president of Microsoft's business software group, Stephen Elop, taking over.
Recently the Canadian mobile giant announced earnings and that a record 12 million BlackBerry smartphones were shipped in Q2 of the company’s fiscal 2011 .
The Fiscal report 2011 Highlights:
Revenue grew 31% over the same quarter last year to $4.62 billion
Earnings per share in Q2 increased 76% to $1.46 over the Q2 last year
BlackBerry smartphone shipments grew more than 45% over the same quarter last year to 12.1 million and RIM has shipped approximately 115 million BlackBerry smartphones to date
BlackBerry subscriber account base grew approximately 56% over the prior year to over 50 million
“We expect a continuation of this momentum in the third quarter as we extend the rollout of new products including the BlackBerry Torch into additional markets and benefit from heavy promotional activities and increasing customer demand as we head into the holiday buying season,” said Jim Balsillie, the company’s co-CEO. RIM’s stock price rose slightly on new of the strong earnings report by 2% at time of publishing.
Name : Nam Yong Designation : CEO , LG electronics Experience : Working in LG since 2007 The kick out : 17th September 2010 Reason : " Declining mobile phone sales " says LG Replacement : 59-year old Koo Bon-joon , head of the LG’s trading firm
Nam is the second CEO of a major mobile phone maker in a week to lose his job after the world's No.1 handset maker, Nokia, last Friday replaced Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo with Stephen Elop, a Canadian Microsoft executive. Both Nokia and LG have been under tremendous pressure due to lack of potential smartphones to compete against rival - Apple and Samsung . LG's mobile business reported a record loss last quarter and warned of a similar loss this quarter
"Koo is expected to reshuffle the organization and actively cope with the fast-changing IT industry... LG is expected to narrow the gap with Apple and other leading smartphone markers," said Lee Yong-jik, a fund manager at AIG Investments in Seoul.
The once innovators Nokia and LG mobiles are now struggling to show up their presence in the market . We do hope to get some good products out of this mobile phone war and hope Nokia and LG gear up for some really fantastic products in Q4 2010 .
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