Leaked specs and video

The recently leaked specs and video served as an intriguing foretaste of Samsung Galaxy S III, but the reaction of the people was somewhat mixed. There was undoubted excitement in the air as people queued up to catch a glimpse of the device, but there was also an aura of anticlimax to the way everything panned out. The fact that there is only an 8-megapixel camera was of special concern for the fans. And the lack of enhancement in the device, with the exception of its chipset and its display, was also the target of much scrutiny.

Hype is a double-edged sword

With the phone having had been hyped beyond proportions, there was always going to be both positive and negative implications. The hype has inflated the expectations to a point where it’s possible that the people are expecting a lot more than what the company might be able to conjure up via Samsung Galaxy S III. And it’s not like Samsung is promising the complete eradication of mobile phone spy applications like the Samsung Galaxy S2 spy for example. And hence, springs the million dollar question onto the table: Is this device any better than its peers?

Is it?

For all the hype surrounding the potential ‘liquid metal chassis’, the latest Samsung release is said to have a quad-core chip, which if rumors are anything to go by – and they normally are on the brink of a big release – would be the same quad-core chip as that of the Meizu MX Quad-core. This of course is anything but a groundbreaking move on the part of Samsung, especially considering the fact that the Chinese-made Meizu MX Quad-core costs the proverbial microscopic fraction of this Samsung Galaxy S III. There’s only a 1GB RAM to boot, which is what Huawei and ZTE offer, and again for a much lesser price.

Nothing magical to write home about?

Nothing really groundbreaking, no means to ward off the mobile phone spy applications… there has to be something that would border on justifying all the hullaballoo. Apparently there isn’t much. There’s no all-curing software that would have had been a massive selling point. Galaxy S III has Andriod 4.0, which I’m sure most of us are aware isn’t exclusive to this latest Samsung phone. The only thing that comes any way near justifying the hype is the TouchWiz; but then again, even that’s not worth splurging all the cash that the Samsung Galaxy SIII would want you to pull out of your wallets.
But Samsung can pull out the proverbial rabbit

Okay so we might have been pushing the accelerator on the skepticism, but one has to admit that Samsung has the uncanny ability of pulling out the rabbit out of the hat ever so often. But the problem with the Samsung devices, as things stand, is that they have lost their exclusivity. They have been relying on hardware – for too long if one were to be honest – which has now been integrated to other companies as well.
So while no one would doubt the potential of Samsung, and what it can pull off, the first glimpse of Samsung Galaxy S III wasn’t exactly earth-shattering to say the least. Galaxy S III needs to have something to justify the astronomical price tag that it would accompany; and if the foretaste is anything to go by, that doesn’t seem very likely.

Author Bio
Jane Andrew is the author of samsung galaxy s2 spy and mobile phone spy application You can also follow her on Twitter @janeandrew01 to get the latest tips about cell phone technology.

There is not much to worry as an unofficial fix has been posted on the Xda-developer’s forum by mike 1986. This fix puts the APK in the appropriate location. The international version of the HTC One X comes with the quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor. The problem is regarding the power management controls in the Tegra 3 processor. The misplacement of the APK is resulting in a 10 percent to 20 percent decrease in the battery life of the device.

Although an official fix for this problem has not been released yet by HTC, the unofficial patch can be used thanks to mike 1986. The instructions are available from the developer on the website. All you need to do is to install the new APK on the HTC One X via ADB and change the permissions. Till the problem is fixed it is advisable to use the battery economically.

Source – Xdadevelopersforum via phoneArena

The key feature of this tablet is that the company has facilitated the customers to buy an additional optional Android-specific QWERTY keyboard dock. The separate battery installed in the dock increases the tablet’s battery life by 50 percent to 15 hours when it is plugged into it. The price of this device is still uncertain but it is expected to be competitively priced keeping in mind the iPad 2 and the new iPad. The optional keyboard dock is available for $149.99.

The tablet comes with a quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor with a 10.1 inch screen. Under the hood it is equipped with 1GB of DDR2 RAM. It has an 8 MP rear facing camera and a 1.2 MP front facing camera. It has a 1280×800 resolution on the display and comes in three variants – Wi-Fi only, Wi-Fi and 3G and Wi-Fi and 4G LTE. Its additional features include a micro HDMI out port and a micro SD port and it runs on Android 4.0.

Asus is also planning to bring a higher hand version of this tablet into the market. It will be called the Asus Transformer Pad Infinity 700 Series. It will have a Qualcomm dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor and higher resolution 1080p screen. The release dates and price of this tablet has not been revealed.

Source : phoneArena

Samsung has also stated that the Galaxy Note 10.1 which is about to be released in the market might have very little resemblance to the product shown in February. The device launched in the MWC saw the Note 10.1 with a 1.4GHz dual-core Exynos chip, a 3-megapixel rear camera and a 1280 x 800-pixel display.

This is very similar to what happened to the Samsung Galaxy Tab. Its initial dimensions were much thicker compared to the final product released in the market. After taking a look at the iPad 2, Samsung decided to slim it down and make it look more appealing. The Galaxy Note also offers the S Pen input.

Source : phoneArena

The company making the tablet is called Ubislate and there are rumors of plans for a dual core version of the tablet later this year. Aakash 2 will get Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich for the operating system which is the key update. This is where it gets confusing the tablet gets a single core 800 MHz processor and 256 MB of memory with 2 GB of storage space which raises the issues as to how the specifications for the new version of the tablet is below the minimum requirements for the operating system.  Aakash tablet is most likely to perform very slow in its operations because of the low-end hardware.

HTC One X is powered by 1.5GHz Nvidia Tegra 3 processor and will be the first quad-core Android smart phone to hit the market. It features 8-megapixel BSI camera with an F2.0 aperture that allows images to be captured while shooting video and has a burst-mode option that shoots up to 99 images.

According to HTC, the polycarbonate unibody is tough enough and doesn’t require a casing, and Gorilla Glass display doesn’t need a screen protector. In the stress test demonstration the durability is displayed where HTC One X was placed into a dryer for several hours.

Take a look at the videos.

HTC One X First Official Commercial

HTC One X Stress Test

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) had taken legal action against Apple for what it claims are misleading statements over its new iPad. Apple’s lawyers argued that it was never specified the iPad could connect to Telstra’s network, but told the court the device is compatible with other networks that by international standards are termed as 4G. Apple has agreed to publish a clarification that states the product supports ultra-fast mobile networks but is not compatible with the Telstra network.

As of today, Apple is offering refund to its dissatisfied customers and have also put up a clarification message that it won’t be working on Telstra’s 4G network.

[ABC news]

But a new study by consulting firm Parks Associates recently surveyed 482 iPhone 4S owners.  More than 50 percent of iPhone 4S users in the U.S. are “very satisfied” with Siri and an additional of 21 percent are “satisfied,” for a total of 71 percent leaving only negligible users unsatisfied.

“Siri is clearly a hit among the initial iPhone user base,” said John Barrett, Director, Consumer Analytics, Parks Associates. “Consumers like Siri because it’s convenient, easy to use, and helpful for remembering important information (e.g., birthdays) and its hands-free capability makes it easy to send texts, emails, and phone calls. However, I would have expected more owners to want Siri for their TV set. These are the folks that rushed out to get the new iPhone 4S.”

A lot of news has been circulating lately about how the new iPad is much hotter (in terms of temperature) than its forerunners. The components found guilty were the gigantic battery, the updated processor and the high resolution screen. Basically all the new things included in the new iPad are to blame for the exponential rise in the working temperature of the tablet.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 LTE had comparable heat output to the new iPad. Under some conditions, it was even a little hotter than the Apple product but by and large the new iPad overshadows every other tablet in the market in regards to high heat output.

A hotter battery can lead to battery degeneration. This will lead to reduction in battery lifespan. In order to tackle this problem it is advisable to keep an eye on the tablet at all times. In case it gets awfully heated up, reduce the screen brightness or best of all, switch off the tablet operations and give it some time to cool down.

Source – phoneArena, PCWorld

But that’s not the only thing Tim Cook wants to discuss about. Although Carolyn Wu, China spokeswoman for the maker of iPhones, iPads and iPods declined to disclose further details, she said, “Tim is in China meeting with government officials. China is very important to us and we look forward to even greater investment and growth there.”

China is one of the important market for Apple and  the company is losing against its rival Samsung which seems to move swiftly and make changes according to Chinese users and government.

Apple already has deals placed with  China Telecom and Unicom to sell its iPhone in the country and is looking forward to partner with China Mobile which is the biggest telecom carrier in China. If the deal goes through, we could also see Apple integrating Chinese search giant into Apple products which would give them a huge advantage in Chinese market.

Apple has also found itself surrounded with controversy regarding the legal use of the word iPad for its tablet locally. It’s fighting a legal battle with Chinese company Proview Technologies. It’s unclear whether Tim Cook will be meeting with guys at Proview. Although since Tim is already in China, we expect the matter to be solved soon.

Of course, HTC is offering time up to April end to back up all your data.

From HTCSense.com:

HTCSense.com is undergoing a renovation to improve the services and value we deliver to customers like you. Until the new services are ready, features previously available on HTCSense.com will be shutting down.

If you have been using HTCSense.com to sync your Contacts, Messages, Footprints or Call History, you can download your data through April 30, 2012. After April 30, your data will no longer be accessible and will be deleted.

While users will crowd Google Play, Android’s app Market to find an alternative suggestion, HTC is supposedly revamping their service to include Dropbox integration.

Earlier this year, HTC and Dropbox partnered to offer 25GB of cloud space on HTC’s Android handsets. This service will be coming pre-loaded with newer HTC devices; the One X, One S and One V.

This revolution began with the launch of the 7-inch Amazon Kindle Fire late last year which costs merely $199. Many of the other manufacturers seem to be following this trend to uphold consumer satisfaction on economic grounds. According to ABI research, this price drop will change the traits of the tablet market by 2016.

Jeff Orr, group director of consumer research stated that, “The majority of new entrant media tablet models have been in the sub-$400 segment that focuses on growth markets like India and China. The strong wave of growth in this segment over the next few years is expected to be driven by the adoption in emerging markets.”

Their main focus seems to be on the emerging market as the developed Western market has fewer interests in tablets with cheaper price tags and mediocre specifications. This does not necessarily include the Chinese tablets but throws light on technically sound and affordable tablets like the Amazon Kindle Fire and the rumored Google Nexus Tablet.

Source – phoneArena via BGR

The entire success of a Smartphone ecosystem depends solely on apps these days. If the platform offers fun, useful and interesting apps, there’s no way the the platform would fail. While Windows Phone enjoys popular apps from Facebook, Foursquare, WhatsApp it still lacks niche content. No we are not talking about those fart apps but apps like Instagram, Path (Though Path is coming on Windows Phone soon).

Recognizing the problem, Microsoft and Nokia together have decided to pour in 18 Million Euros or $24 Million into a new mobile application development program, AppCampus, at Helsinki’s Aalto University during the next three years. While app developers neglect Windows Phone OS reasoning that the platform hasn’t been widely accepted yet (read numbers) and rightly so. Windows Phone still shares only little over 2% of overall Smartphone marketshare, which is quite less for developers’ interest. And that’s one of the reason many people aren’t opting for Windows Phone: No app volume.

While the platform is still considered a newbie in the smartphone world, it needs to tackle the catch-22 situation as soon as possible.

(source)

That’s a really good news.

Path CEO & Founder, Dave Morin

While most of the Android apps that I have used aren’t really that artistic and clean. Path really showed that great looking apps can be built on Android as well. The iOS app again is exceptional. And if you have used a Windows Phone you must know that the OS is really beautiful to the point that I am objectifying it all the time. I can’t wait to see what Path has to offer for Windows Phone.

The Verge also reports that the company has fulltime designer for each platform. That means the  Windows Phone version of the app would be a completely different experience from the current iOS and Android apps.

Currently, 80% of Path users are iPhone users followed by Android users.

Instagram Co-founder, Kevin Systrom mentioned earlier this month at the SXSW that the iOS app alone has surpassed 27 million registered users. Kevin Systrom said that the app is taking so long to appear on Android Platform as the company was focused on scaling on iOS first. And clearly that has worked for Instagram.

With its availability on Android platform, no doubt it will be the next favorite app on Android.

The app is said to be launched on Google Play (formerly Android Market), Amazon’s Appstore and other Google-centric marketplaces.

Interested Android users can sign up with their email address and Instagram will notify you when it’s available for download. Visit Instagram for Android.

Official specs and features for AT&T’s One X include a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 1.5GHz dual-core processor (outside the US the non-LTE One X has a quad-core processor), a 4.7-inch HD touchscreen display, 8-megapixel rear camera with 1080p HD video capture and 1.3-megapixel front shooter. It also runs on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich this makes it an irresistibly impressive smartphone to look forward to.  A report on Android Central gives us information of a forum member named Phonegeek who is testing HTC One X for AT&T. He mentions the negatives to be non-removable battery , the lack of a microSD slot and the maximum 16GB of built-in space on the LTE version.

Take a look at a great picture taken with the new HTC camera setup and ImageSense software that looks impressive. Looks-wise the phone is said to resemble the Inspire 4G although Phonegeek compares it to the HTC Inspire 4G, it weighs around 1.5-ounces lighter at about the same thickness.

So can we wait it out till its mid-May release? Or will Samsung Galaxy s3 the Android smartphone steal its light?

Source : Android Central

A recent survey reported that people actually want a larger screen on their next Smartphone. Most of the Android handsets have already crossed 4.6-inch screen size to accommodate support for Long Term Evolution (LTE). If Apple wants to get LTE on board on the next generation iPhone it might have to go away with its 3.7-inch screen but that’s highly unlikely.

As Gruber points out:

“The new iPhone would need way more pixels than the current 960 × 640 iPhone display. (If they increased the size but kept the pixel count the same, it would drop beneath Apple’s “retina display” threshold — not going to happen.) That means every app in the App Store would need to be redesigned/resized.”

That seems highly unlikely to us and wouldn’t want to fall prey to fragmentation like their archrival, Android.

While the five series ads are pretty interesting showcasing the power of Lumia 800 and how a Smartphone can make it easier to be in touch with your friends and family. Take a look at those ads:

A Day in Kaya’s Life: At home with Nokia Lumia 800

A Day in Kaya’s Life: Tagging her friends on Nokia Lumia 800

A Day in Kaya’s life: In office with the Nokia Lumia 800

A Day in Kaya’s Life: Nokia Drive on Nokia Lumia 800

A Day in Kaya’s Life: Enjoying a game on Xbox Live on Nokia Lumia 800

What do you think of these ads?

Nokia’s previous marketing campaigns like painting Lumia 800 ads on Jet Airways, and huge hoarding anywhere and everywhere has made Indian consumer aware of Lumia brand. Can these ads lure them to buy the Lumia 800?

The device sports on-screen navigational screen and the design pretty much syncs with the Samsung’s Galaxy line up. While the actual device name is still debatable, it definitely isn’t Samsung Galaxy S III as the screen pixel resolution reported by Phonearena is 1024*600. Too low.

Hopefully, we’ll learn more about the device soon.

Nokia sent a lengthy email to The Verge, explaining Apple’s nano-SIM which requires additional drawer might not just meet  pre-agreed requirements set by European Telecommunications Standards Institute for the new standard but also will make it difficult for small manufacturers accommodating the standards.

The email reads:

Apple’s proposal does not meet all of the pre-agreed requirements for ETSI’s planned 4FF standard (the so-called nano SIM). The proposal from Nokia, RIM and Motorola does.

Nokia believes that our proposal has features which would make it easier for consumers to insert and remove the SIM without damage. Additionally, our proposed SIM has different dimensions from a micro SIM, one of ETSI’s requirements, which would avoid it getting stuck if inserted by mistake into a phone with a micro SIM slot. Apple’s proposed card is the same length as the width of current micro SIMs and so would risk jamming, leading to card and product damage.

We also feel that our proposal allows for more design options for the type of card reader, i.e. how the SIM is inserted into the device, to allow for a wider range of device form factors. Requiring a tray or SIM carrier would reduce design options and increase manufacturing cost, perhaps not significant for high end smartphones but it would be for lower cost devices.

The combination of our proposed card and the associated mechanics are smaller than those for a current micro SIM, allowing further miniaturization in devices. Though Apple’s proposed card is smaller than current micro SIMs, when combined with the associated mechanics needed in the phone, we don’t believe it represents a significant reduction in size. We believe that in practice it would mean it was just different from micro SIM, rather than smaller, which could be a barrier to broad adoption as an alternative to micro SIM, potentially leading to fragmentation.

In summary, Nokia believes that our proposed nano SIM would be easier for consumers to handle, enable a wider range of device designs and offer a true difference from the existing options with micro SIM. We look forward to continuing the discussions in more detail with our counterparts in ETSI.

Despite these accusations towards Apple, European operators are believed to have supported these new standards. Apple truly seems to be the leader when it comes to change and others have nothing but to follow. Nokia might too, even if, forcefully.

According to IDC and Bloomberg, RIM shipped 2.08 million BlackBerrys last year in Canada while Apple shipped 2.85 million units. RIM which enjoyed more loyalty from locals seem to be falling prey for its own non-innovative history. While other Smartphone manufacturers have been swift in churning out features in software and hardware, RIM has been slower than an ant.

The delayed BlackBerry 10 is not going to help them either.

“For RIM, in its home market, to lose that No. 1 position to iPhone is strategically important,” said Taylor, who manages about $15 billion in assets, including RIM and Apple shares. “It does identify, even with a home-country bias, how consumers are responding to the greater functionality of the iPhone.”

Once BlackBerry 10 makes it to the market by late 2012, it will still take long for Canadians to embrace it. If you ask us once Canadians go the Apple way, it would be difficult for RIM to lure them back.

“This year, we are aiming to sell 80 million handsets including 35 million smartphones. But more importantly, LG aims to sell 8 million LTE smartphones,’’ said Park Jong-seok, head of the company’s handset division.

Last year, for the first time since their shift from feature phones to Smartphones, LG reported a profit. To sell those millions of smartphones, LG also has a smart portfolio with Optimus Vu, Optimus 4X HD and Optimus 3D Max which LG believes might do wonders for the company.

“We have no doubt that LG Electronics is showing signs of improvement. Its Optimus smartphones are selling well and its Web-connected TVs with 3D functionality are also garnering more shares, globally,’’ said Baek Jong-seok, an analyst at leading local brokerage Hyundai Securities, citing 130,000 won as its target stock price.

Whatever LG decides, selling 35 million Smartphones seems a little crazy number even with smart device line-up for LG. The only device that performed better last year we could think of is LG Optimus One which again begs to fall under mid-range smartphone-like device.

[koreatimes]

Alain Crozier, the chief financial officer, SMSG has sent following email to the employees:

Within SMSG we are putting in place a new policy that says that Apple products (Mac & iPad) should not be purchased with company funds.

In the US we will be turning off the Apple products from the Zones Catalog next week, which is the standard purchasing mechanism for these products.

Outside of the US — we will work with your finance and procurement teams to send the right message and put the right processes in place.

The current purchase levels are low, however we recognize there will be a bit of transition work associated with this.  Details of historical purchases in the US are provided in the attachment to help understand the changes that will be needed.Thank you for your support and leadership on this.

Microsoft’s SMSG is comprised of more than 46,000 employees worldwide. Microsoft previously too had same policies when it came to mobile handsets. The company handed over Windows Phone 7 handsets to its employees and abandoned them to use RIM’s BlackBerry, Android or any other handset.

Last May, Apple submitted a proposal for a standardized SIM card design which was smaller than the micro-SIM currently used in the iPhone 4S and iPad. This smaller than Micro-SIM would allow Apple to manufacture thinner devices. According to Financial Time‘s sources, Apple’s version of the nano-SIM would call for a “drawer” to protect it. Though Apple would license the design to other manufacturers there’s a fear that Apple might end up owning all the patents.

Although ESTI, is outing the vote results next week, the general consensus is that it Apple has already garnered positive support from most of Europe’s providers.