Tag Archives: mobile devices

Mar 22

The Microsoft-Nokia Windows Phone Partnership ...

Posted on by

The first nail in the coffin for Symbian — Nokia and Microsoft have announced a partnership to produce a new line of Windows Phone hardware.

In a surprising announcement in February 2011, Microsoft and Nokia revealed that they would be joining forces in a strategic partnership to develop Windows Phone 7 and Nokia handsets as a new major force in the global mobile phone marketplace.

While there had been several pointers to an announcement of this sort being made – especially following the disappointing reaction to Nokia’s joint project with Intel to develop the MeeGo platform – many commentators had been expecting Nokia to join the legions of Android mobile phone manufacturers such as HTC, Samsung and LG.

Instead, under the stewardship of new CEO Stephen Elop – an ex-Microsoft man – Nokia devices are being developed that will run the Windows Phone 7 operating system.

But what does this mean to the mobile industry? Is Nokia’s position currently strong enough that Microsoft can take advantage of this, or are both companies flogging a dead horse?

The Current Position

Following the platform’s initial launch in October, Windows Phone has been the subject of an interesting but largely ignored advertising campaign, as well as much critical acclaim. With the Marketplace nearing 10,000 apps (a figure likely to be reached by Easter following a busy post-Christmas period that saw 1,000 apps added in a 14 day period between January and February) and positive words from developers (the development kit has been downloaded over a million times) the general feeling is that Windows Phone is a good platform waiting for something to happen…

Meanwhile, could it be said that LG, Samsung and HTC are doing nothing more than offering Android-like devices for Windows Phone? Certainly the regularity with which LG are throwing the Optimus tag at Android phones, tablets and Windows Phones would vindicate this view, as would the similarities between the HTC HD2, HTC Desire HD and HTC HD7.

The International Mobile Phone Market Share

As things stand, Nokia are the largest supplier of mobile phone handsets in the world. Currently offering the once-ubiquitous Symbian mobile operating system, sales of the handsets have been declining in recent years, largely due to the impact of the iPhone and similar devices – notably the arrival of the Android platform as a major alternative. See – Nokia struggles with smartphone strategy for more details on their troubles.

While Nokia remains the number one handset supplier 2011 is likely to see a change in that position as Android phones from suppliers such as LG, Samsung, HTC and Sony Ericsson (who will be offering two gaming devices with PlayStation compatibility) look set to become the dominant handsets.

What the Future May Hold…

With all of this in mind and recalling the suggestion that HTC, LG and Samsung are providing mobile devices for Windows Phone 7 that aren’t that too far removed from their Android counterparts, Microsoft could certainly benefit from a handset developer who only has one major operating system to deal with.

Similarly, Nokia will be able to focus development into mobile devices with a standardized operating system that is modern, relevant and requires no investment from them. Basically, they provide the handsets and Microsoft supply the operating system.

Nokia have never been afraid to develop good quality mobile phones, excelling at usability, battery life and cameras featuring Carl Zeiss lenses. Similarly, Microsoft have hit gold with the Windows Phone 7 platform, attracting thousands of developers and the marketplace looks set to hit 10,000 apps within 6 months of the platform’s launch.

The Nokia Windows Phone could well be the phone to buy in 2012…

http://www.brighthub.com/mobile/windows-mobile-platform/articles/108688.aspx

Mar 07

New Intel Survey Finds ‘Mobile ...

Posted on by

SANTA CLARA, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Texting or typing while driving. Sending emails while walking. Using mobile devices while on a honeymoon. These are among the top pet peeves cited by U.S. adults in a recent survey conducted by Ipsos* and sponsored by Intel Corporation to uncover the current state of mobile etiquette in the United States.

“Our appropriate digital technology behaviors are still embryonic, and it’s important for Intel and the entire industry to maintain a dialogue about the way people use technology and our personal relationships with technology as they continue to help shape societal and cultural norms.”

Nine out of ten American adults claim they have seen people misuse mobile technology, and 75 percent say mobile manners are becoming worse compared to just 1 year ago, according to the survey.

As the number of Internet-connected mobile devices continues to grow, awareness of how people use mobile devices around others is on the rise. A 2011 report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project1 states that 85 percent of U.S. adults own a cell phone, 52 percent own a laptop computer, 4 percent own a tablet, and only 9 percent do not own any of these or other devices covered in the study. As the innovator behind the processors, or “brains,” and complementary technologies that power many of today’s mobile devices, Intel taps its team of social scientists, anthropologists, psychologists and industrial designers to provide a glimpse into how people use, will use or would like to use technology, including mobile devices, well into the future, across different cultures.

Said Genevieve Bell, Intel Fellow and head of interaction and experience research, Intel Labs: “At Intel, we try to start with people first – we ask questions about who they are and what they care about, we also ask questions about technology: What do you love about it, how does it frustrate you, what do you hate about it, what can’t you live without? We use this research and our understandings about what people care about to help make technology even better – to drive innovation and revolution in technology development. It is important to remember that most digital technology is still quite new to consumers.

“For instance,” Bell continued, “the mobile technology is still relatively novel. After all, it was just 8 years ago that Intel integrated WiFi into the computer with its Intel® Centrino® processor technology, thus enabling the unwired laptop. Smart phones, tablets and other mobile devices are really still in their infancy, so it’s no surprise that people still struggle with how to best integrate these devices into their lives.”

“New digital technologies are becoming a mainstay in consumers’ lives, but we haven’t yet worked out for ourselves, our families, communities and societies what all the right kinds of behaviors and expectations will be,” Bell said. “Our appropriate digital technology behaviors are still embryonic, and it’s important for Intel and the entire industry to maintain a dialogue about the way people use technology and our personal relationships with technology as they continue to help shape societal and cultural norms.”

Key Survey Findings

While connectivity at one’s fingertips has enabled people be more productive, how people use technology in the presence of others can lead to frustration. The majority of U.S. adults surveyed (92 percent) agree that they wish people practiced better etiquette when it comes to using their mobile devices in public areas. Roughly one in five adults (19 percent) admits to poor mobile behavior but continues the behavior because everyone else is doing it.

The desire to be more connected to family, friends and co-workers, combined with devices that are “always on,” contributes to an innate need to have mobile devices available all day, every day, from early morning to late night. In fact, one in five adults admits to checking their mobile device before they get out of bed in the morning.

With a choice of sleek, small and powerful mobile devices on the market, people can easily take mobile devices with them wherever they go, making it easy to commit “public displays of technology.” The survey revealed that U.S. adults see an average of five mobile offenses every day and top mobile pet peeves remain unchanged from Intel’s first examination of the state of mobile etiquette in 2009. The top mobile etiquette gripes continue to be the use of mobile devices while driving (73 percent), talking on a device loudly in public places (65 percent), and using a mobile device while walking on the street (28 percent).

“The premise of etiquette and how we socialize with one another is not a new concept. Whenever we interact with another person directly or through the use of mobile technology, etiquette is a factor,” explained author and etiquette expert Anna Post of The Emily Post Institute. “We can all be more cognizant of how we use our mobile technology and how our usage may impact others around us – at home, in the office and whenever we are in public.”

As mobile etiquette guidelines continue to evolve, Post offers these tips to those who use a variety of mobile devices on a daily basis:

  • Practice what you preach: If you don’t like others’ bad behavior, don’t engage in it.
  • Be present: Give your full attention to those you are with, such as when in a meeting or on a date. No matter how well you think you multi-task, you’ll make a better impression.
  • The small moments matter. Before making a call, texting or emailing in public, consider if your actions will impact others. If they will, reconsider, wait or move away first.
  • Talk with your family, friends and colleagues about ground rules for mobile device usage during personal time.
  • Some places should stay private: Don’t use a mobile device while using a restroom.

For additional materials and results of Intel’s Mobile Etiquette survey, visit www.intel.com/newsroom/mobileetiquette.

The survey was conducted online within the United States by Ipsos on behalf of Intel from Dec. 10, 2010 to Jan. 5, 2011 among a nationally representative sample of 2,000 U.S. adults ages 18 and older with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.2 percentage points.

About Intel

Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) is a world leader in computing innovation. The company designs and builds the essential technologies that serve as the foundation for the world’s computing devices. Additional information about Intel is available at newsroom.intel.com and blogs.intel.com.

Intel and the Intel logo are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the United States and other countries.* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.1 Zickuhr, Kathryn. Generations and their gadgets. Pew Internet & American Life Project, Feb. 3, 2011, www.pewinternet.org/Infographics/2011/Generations-and-gadgets.aspx, accessed on Feb. 11, 2011.

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: businesswire

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110225005074/en/Intel-Survey-Finds-’Mobile-Etiquette’-Mishaps-Running

Jan 16

Android Tablets In The Near Future

Posted on by

The new year has begun and mobile industry giants are already competing and giving it their best! Mobile smartphones are no longer the center of their struggles since mobile tablets are becoming increasingly popular. A few years back, owning a tablet seemed like a privileged since the cheapest one was indeed the iPad which started at $500! That’s a lot of money, especially in some parts of the world and with this horrible economy crisis that the world is going through. But Android has quickly turned things around. Just look around your local tech shop or an online web store and search for some tables and the prices are really good! Today, it is possible to get tablets bellow $200, although most quality ones still start at $199. This is of course the Nexus 7 and the Kindle Fire HD (among many others)! However, it is worth noticing that these cheaper tablets are also smaller as they are only 7 inches long diagonally, while their bigger relatives can be up to 10 inches long. Even so, a lot of people still prefer smaller tablets and there a lot of these on the market and the numbers just keep rising! This is because these smaller tablets are truly mobile devices, and not bulky entertainment systems that most people dont really even need. Devices such as the Kindle Fire HD are much more mobile and easy to move around and this is why they will always be popular among fans of mobile tech and gadgets. So what major predictions can we expect for 2013 when it comes to these Android tablets? How will their evolution continue and what it the main thing that we can realistically expect from them? Well, there are four major things we should focus on:

  • Size will not matter anymore
  • There will be a tablet for you no matter what you budget is
  • Apple will continue to lose market share
  • Laptop companies will be in danger

Now, the first two predictions seem very reasonable and we have already explained this. There are people out there who want bigger tablets, and at the same time some still prefer a 7-inch Google Nexus 7. Thus, there will be more and more tablets of many different sizes and they will constantly be adjusted to fit the budgets of the worlds population. And what is this about Apple you ask? Well, let us face it, their stocks have been dropping and their market share fell from 87% to less than 50% when it comes to tablet sales. Sure, Apple is still a leading power on the USA market, but Android is taking a very big bite on Americas most expensive apple as it seems. As far as laptops are concerned, they will certainly not be replaced by tablets in the next 20 years and it absurd to perhaps even dare to say that. However, people who are buying mobile devices for entertainment, web browsing and gaming will probably prefer to buy these new Android tablets which will certainly result in fewer sales for major laptop companies. In fact, we can safely expect that only Sony, Lenovo, Apple and ASUS will make any major profit in 2013 when it comes to selling their laptops.

Danic Filip is an influential blogger and web analyst who is thriving to become one of the leading and most respected Internet marketers in his country. He has a lot of knowledge and experience in spite of his young age and he loves blogging and thinks the web offers us so much possibilities. You can visit his his Kindle Fire HD news blog if you want to get in touch with the best kindle news and deals!

Dec 12

Facebook’s mobile surprise allays growth ...

Posted on by

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Facebook Inc grew mobile advertising revenue several times in the third quarter, a faster-than-expected pace that helped drive shares in the world’s No. 1 social network nearly 13 percent higher.

Facebook said on Tuesday that it now gets 14 percent of its advertising revenue from mobile ads, helping to reassure investors that the social network is beginning to figure out how to earn money off smartphone and tablet users.

Mobile ad revenues totaled roughly $150 million, up from an estimated $40 million to $50 million in the second quarter and almost nothing in the first.

“This certainly dispels the most bearish view, that Facebook couldn’t monetize people on phones or tablets,” said Colin Sebastian, an analyst with Robert Baird & Co.

“In about a six-month period they’ve actually started to generate decent revenues form their mobile applications,” Sebastian added, though he said Facebook still needs to show that its mobile ads can command the same rates as its traditional ads and that they can deliver results for marketers.

Mobile advertising has been among the key investor concerns hanging over Facebook, helping slash more than $40 billion off its market value since its May IPO. As its users increasingly access the social network with their smartphones, Facebook has struggled to transition its business to mobile devices.

The mobile ads helped reignite Facebook’s overall advertising business during the third quarter, following several consecutive quarters of slowing revenue growth that raised questions about Facebook’s long-term prospects.

Advertising revenue increased 36 percent to $1.09 billion, up from 28 percent growth in the second quarter. But revenue from its payments and other businesses increased just 13 percent to $176 million.

Mark Zuckerberg, the 28-year-old chief executive who created Facebook in his Harvard dorm room, said mobile was the “most misunderstood aspect” of the company and took issue with the “myth” that Facebook could not earn money on mobile.

“Over the long run we’re going to see more monetization per time spent on mobile than on desktop,” Zuckerberg said on a conference call with analysts on Tuesday.

The company’s shares leapt nearly 13 percent to $21.97 in after-hours trading on Tuesday.

Facebook said it had crossed the 1 billion threshold for monthly active users by September 30, of which 604 million were mobile users, a gain of 61 percent from a year earlier.

The shift to mobile has challenged many of the Web industry’s top companies. Google Inc is the No.1 provider of smartphone software with its Android operating system. But the company missed Wall Street’s revenue targets in the third quarter, with some analysts blaming the shortfall on its increasing reliance on lower-priced mobile ads.

Social game maker Zynga Inc, which announced layoffs of 5 percent of its staff on Tuesday, has suffered as it struggles to translate its hit games to mobile devices and as the use of its games on Facebook’s service declines.

NOT PLEASED WITH GAMING

Zynga’s woes were visible in Facebook’s results, with Facebook’s payments revenue from the maker of Farmville down 20 percent year on year.

Zuckerberg said he was not pleased with revenue from gaming, but said that beyond Zynga – which accounts for 7 percent of Facebook’s total revenue – the situation was brighter.

“The interesting thing is that the rest of the games ecosystem has actually been growing. Our monthly payments revenue from the rest of the ecosystem increased 40 percent over the past year, since payments has been adopted,” he said.

Zuckerberg also said Instagram, the photo-sharing app that Facebook acquired for roughly $750 million this year, now has 100 million users, up from 27 million when Facebook bought the company.

Facebook posted a net loss of $59 million or 2 cents a share in the three months ended September 30 after booking a big provision for income taxes. Excluding share-based compensation and income tax adjustments, it earned 12 cents a share, a penny higher than the average analyst expectation.

Facebook Finance Chief David Ebersman said the company would continue to invest aggressively during the fourth quarter, though the company did not provide a specific financial outlook, in keeping with its previous practice.

Ebersman said that the total number of ads that Facebook delivered in the third quarter increased 27 percent year-on-year and that the average price per ad increased 7 percent.

Facebook’s third-quarter mobile revenue marked a big jump from the second quarter, when Facebook said that it was generating more than $1 million a day from a new class of ads that appear in users’ newsfeeds. Facebook said that roughly half of that revenue was from mobile ads, suggesting that mobile advertising revenue totaled $45 million in the second quarter.

Stifel Nicolaus analyst Jordan Rohan said that Facebook’s mobile ad revenue was impressive, but said that Facebook needs to proceed carefully so as not to damage the user experience by overloading its service with too many ads.

And he said that Facebook’s desktop PC advertising business appeared to have shrunk by about $40 million from the second quarter. Rohan said he would rather see the desktop ad business remain stable as the mobile ad business grows.

Facebook’s third-quarter revenue of $1.26 billion was a hair above the average analyst expectation of $1.23 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

(Reporting by Alexei Oreskovic; Editing by Phil Berlowitz and Mark Bendeich)

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/facebooks-mobile-surprise-allays-growth-fears-014400877–finance.html

Aug 26

Samsung Might Have To Delay New Phone And Tablet ...

Posted on by

Steve Kovach, Business Insider

Aug. 25 (Bloomberg) — Samsung Electronics co. may need to delay introducing new mobile devices so it can make design changes after a U.S. jury ruled that the world’s top maker of smartphones infringed Apple Inc. patents.

Apple yesterday won a $1 billion judgment that may also halt U.S. sales of Samsung’s mobile products. The companies return to court next month for a hearing on Apple’s request for a permanent ban on devices including Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1.

Samsung vaulted to the top of a global smartphone market valued at $219 billion by Bloomberg Industries by introducing a variety of Galaxy models using Google Inc.’s Android software and gaining share over Apple’s more-limited product range. The Suwon, South Korea-based company may have to rush to change products under development, leading to delays as it seeks to widen its lead.

“Samsung will have to change some products in its pipeline,” Chang in Whan, president of Seoul-based KTB Asset Management co., which oversees the equivalent of $5.8 billion, said by phone today. “there could be delays in developing and releasing new models at a time when products are coming out every six months.”

Samsung’s schedules for debuting new products won’t be affected by the verdict, James Chung, a Seoul-based spokesman for the company, said today by phone.

Galaxy Note

Samsung has gotten around other sales bans by modifying some features of its products. The company last year changed the frame of a Galaxy tab model and the location of speakers after Apple won an injunction banning its sales in Germany.

The global lineup for the rest of this year includes the next version of the Galaxy Note, which sold more than 10 million units in less than a year. The company began selling a tablet edition of the Note this month, following the May release of the Galaxy S III, the newest version in its bestselling smartphone series.

Samsung — the largest maker of computer-memory chips, flat-screen panels and TVs — plans to spend 25 trillion won ($22 billion) this year in capital expenditure to boost manufacturing capacity, including 15 trillion won for chips and 6.6 trillion won for flat-screen panels used in smartphones, tablet computers and televisions.

“Samsung has deep pockets and they are going to change some designs up,” said Michael Risch, a patent law professor at Villanova University in Pennsylvania. “Not being able to copy may make them do better things than Apple.”

HTC Devices

The verdict may affect other makers of Android-based devices. Apple has sued other smartphone makers, including HTC Corp., the world’s fourth-largest smartphone maker that generated $15.8 billion in revenue last year mostly from selling phones such as Desire and Sensation.

“HTC would need to look very closely at the patents in question with Apple and see which may be similar to those with the Samsung case,” said Marcus Clinch, an intellectual property lawyer at Eiger Law in Taipei who is not involved in any of the cases. “having Samsung’s products banned in the U.S. may be a bigger danger to HTC than the damages award because of the precedent it sets for the industry.”

Two of the patents in the case brought by Apple against Samsung are also part of the iPhone maker’s case targeting more than a dozen HTC devices before the International Trade Commission. HTC declined to comment in an e-mailed response to queries.

Android Issues

“this is an issue for the whole Android camp, not just for Samsung,” Seo Won Seok, a Seoul-based analyst at Korea Investment & Securities co., said by phone.

Apple, based in Cupertino, California, won less than half the damages it sought from the first U.S. jury verdict in the fight to dominate the global smartphone market, though U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh, who presided over the four-week trial in San Jose, California, could later triple the damages under federal law. Samsung avoided a finding of damages for antitrust violations or breach of contract.

Samsung will ask the judge to overturn the verdict and, if she doesn’t, will appeal the case, Mira Jang, a spokeswoman for Samsung, said in an e-mail.

The “verdict should not be viewed as a win for Apple, but as a loss for the American consumer,” Samsung said in a separate e-mailed statement. “It is unfortunate that patent law can be manipulated to give one company a monopoly over rectangles with rounded corners, or technology that is being improved every day by Samsung and other companies.

‘Investor Uncertainty’

Apple is Samsung’s largest customer, even as they compete selling phones that allow users to surf the Web and play games, and fight in courts on four continents over patent infringement claims. Apple accounts for about 9 percent of Samsung’s revenue, making it the company’s largest customer, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Koh set a hearing for Sept. 20 on Apple’s request to bar U.S. sales of Samsung products. She ordered Apple to file a one- page chart by Aug. 27 identifying which devices it seeks to ban.

Samsung shares have gained almost 21 percent this year, trailing a 64 percent jump in Apple stock.

“a final decision would’ve been less burdensome,” Heo Pil Seok, chief executive officer at Seoul-based Midas International Asset Management Ltd., which oversees $5 billion, said by phone today. “It’ll take some time for an actual sales ban to take effect, and Samsung will appeal, making it a long-term fight.

“this will be an uncertainty for Samsung, and investors hate uncertainty the most,” he said.

–With assistance from Tim Culpan in Taipei and Joel Rosenblatt in San Jose, California. Editors: Jim McDonald, Michael Tighe

To contact the reporter on this story: Jun Yang in Seoul at jyang180@bloomberg.net; Saeromi Shin in Seoul at sshin15@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Tighe at mtighe4@bloomberg.net

Samsung Might Have To Delay New Phone And Tablet Launches After Losing To Apple

Aug 24

Asus Transformer Infinity Review: Amazing Device, ...

Posted on by

Asus currently has a tight range of products, especially when it comes to mobile devices. Its trifecta of tablet offerings — dubbed Transformer — consists of the entry-level Pad, the power-hungry Prime and now we have the weaponised Infinity. We liked it at our first hands-on, but now that we’ve got it as our plaything, does it eat the competition for breakfast, lunch and dinner?

What is it?

The Asus Transformer Infinity is a 10.1-inch monster tablet that sports a quad-core Tegra 3 brain from NVIDIA, 1GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, expandable up to another 32GB with a microSD card. the screen is an 1920 x 1200-pixel, Super IPS+ display which carries 224 ppi.

The battery has a claimed life of 9.5 hours of use and when it’s connected to its bundled keyboard dock, the device will run for up to 14 hours. It’s got an 8-megapixel camera on the back and stares at your pretty face all day with a 2-megapixel front-facing camera.

What’s Good?

The first thing you notice about the Transformer Infinity when you pick it up is the meticulous attention to detail in the design.

Almost all tablets currently on the market look like a black rectangle on the front, so it’s in the rear where most devices are defined. the uninterrupted aluminium panel we saw in the Transformer Prime (you know, the one that screwed the GPS and wireless connectivity) is banished here. It’s largely the same, save for the thin strip of grey that adorns the top of the device. It’s designed to improve wireless communications mostly, which is great and shows that Asus is listening to problems.

The whole device is amazingly light for a 10-inch tablet, too. At 598 grams, it’s only 62 grams lighter than the new iPad, but it’s amazing what that little a difference does to the usability of the device. it encourages you to pick it up and wander about with it, which is what a tablet is for.

Now say you do decide to wander around outside with the Infinity. You might think you’d be reduced to squinting to make out anything on the screen in the cold light of day, but the Super IPS+ display is incredibly readable, even in direct sunlight. That’s thanks to the various modes that this Asus builds into the Infinity’s settings pane. You can increase the brightness slider to 100 per cent brightness which helps, but tapping the “Outdoor Mode” button soups up the display brightness to give you that extra little bit of oomph you need to make it readable anywhere. It’s a welcome addition.

Just on that settings pane, too. it has three buttons marked “Power Saver”, “Balanced”, and “Performance” to help you tell the tablet what how you want the power distributed. It’s great to see Asus recognising that your tablet is going to be doing different things at different times. it doesn’t need to be a resource monster when you’re just sitting at an event typing into a note, for example and it’s awful when it’s sluggish during a hardcore gaming session.

The battery life on this thing is incredible, too. 14-hours from a tablet even with a keyboard dock is wonderful. the one thing we need more of in the mobile space is battery life. With chips becoming more and more powerful, batteries need to keep up and it’s great to see Asus figure out a workaround in the meantime.

The Infinity is powered by a Tegra 3 processor with a clock speed of 1.9Ghz. Naturally, it blows the competition out of the water when it comes to benchmarks, achieving a GeekBench 2 score of 1849, which is higher than anything on the GeekBench Android charts. the highest score on the official GeekBench charts comes from the Nexus 7 (which Asus also make) with a score of 1602.

The trackpad, USB port and SD card slot in the bundled keyboard dock are especially good because it makes the Infinity work like you imagine a netbook or ultrabook would — properly. There are a few problems when it comes to Android on the device when the keyboard dock is engaged, but we’ll get to that.

Lastly, the free 5GB of cloud storage from Asus and a pre-installed productivity suite like Polaris Office means you can actually get some stuff done on this tablet.

What’s Bad?

I mentioned the keyboard dock’s trackpad and its wonderful array of ports earlier. these are great to have on a tablet, but using them drags you back into the cold reality that you are in fact using a tablet and not a PC. Because this tablet is so PC-like when you plug it into the dock that you forget you’re using Android. as a result, when you start trying to Alt + Tab between apps or highlight some text, you’re thrown somewhere else because the button you pressed doesn’t do what you thought it did.

We’ve seen that Asus is a keen Windows RT partner so hopefully a Windows Transformer comes out in October/November that rectifies these issues.

While we’re on the keyboard dock, too, it’s worth noting that it’s very light. normally that’s a good thing because it means you can carry your device around without developing a back injury, but when it comes to the Infinity it’s the worst, simply because when you dock the Infinity, start doing some work and then take your wrists off the dock, your tablet overbalances and flips over. That acrobatic insanity could mean that your tablet flings itself onto the floor device-first and lead to a screen crack, so be wary of your angles and weights here.

It’s also pretty noticeable that Android doesn’t have a huge amount of support for a high-powered tablet like the Infinity, too. NVIDIA bundle in an app called TegraZone Gaming, which points out all the games on the Google Play store that are designed for the powerful Tegra 3 chip in the Infinity. It’s helpful, but it shows where the Play Store is letting users down. There are a limited selection of truly beautiful and powerful apps on Android, and the ones that are there are almost buried so as not to annoy people who can’t run them.

The only other gripe I have about the Infinity is the price. We mentioned in our hands-on that the Infinity retails at $999 on Australian store shelves. A bit of Googling and Amazon browsing shows that you can get the Infinity and its nifty keyboard dock for $US649. That’s a difference of $350. You can buy the US-version of the Infinity and a Nexus 7 from your local retailer and still have change left over, or you can pay an inflated price for Australia. I asked Asus point-blank why the price difference existed and all I got was the stock-standard: “It’s to do with the cost of doing business in Australia”. Poor.

The good news is that the Infinity comes with a global Asus warranty, which means that the company will service it no matter where you bought it. the only issue with importing it is that you’ll have to pay for shipping the tablet to and from the manufacturer to get fixed if it ever goes bang.

Should You buy it?

When Asus premiered the Transformer Infinity in Sydney a few weeks ago, we were excited. now that we’ve had a chance to get into the guts of the device and review it, we’ve discovered that not all the glitters is gold, but it’s still a right-sight shinier than any Android tablet on the market right now.

Sure, there’s a glitch here and there but it’s forgiveable, simply because the rest of the tablet is just that good. the only thing I’d advise though is that if you were going to buy one, try and source it internationally. I don’t really like encouraging imports because supporting the local market is a top priority, but $349 extra for this device against what you’ll pay for it overseas really is a bit silly. $50 to $100 extra I could understand as the cost of doing business in Australia, but a $349 Australia Tax surcharge? I don’t think so.

Price aside, this is a great tablet. the simple fact of the matter is that if you want to buy a great Android tablet right now, you’d be mad to go passed Asus. From the Nexus 7 (which is actually manufactured by Asus) through to the Padfone, the Transformer Prime right up to the Transformer Infinity, it’s a great time to be buying Asus.

Asus Transformer Infinity Review: Amazing Device, Undone By Price

Aug 17

Apple expert shines light on Samsung sales in U.S.

Posted on by

An employee sits in front of a poster advertising the New iPad at an Apple dealership in Wuhan, Hubei province July 19, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Stringer

SAN JOSE | Tue Aug 14, 2012 2:34am EDT

SAN JOSE (Reuters) – Apple inc is claiming that more than a quarter of Samsung Electronics’ $30.4 billion in U.S. smartphone and tablet sales result from copying of the iPhone and iPad or infringe on other patents, a damages expert for the U.S. company said on Monday.

The Silicon Valley company is demanding up to $2.75 billion of damages from its Korean rival, which includes profits lost to infringing Samsung gadgets. However, Samsung attorneys argued that Apple’s evidence was not sufficient to recoup such an award.

The Korean company sold more than 87 million mobile devices from mid-2010 to March 2012, according to documents displayed before the jury.

Accountant Terry Musika, citing Samsung records and testifying as an Apple expert witness, estimated that $8.16 billion in revenue, or 22.7 million of those total unit sales over that two-year period, came from products that infringed Apple patents, such as the first Galaxy S smartphone in July 2010.

Samsung typically does not reveal its sales in the United States.

Samsung earned roughly a 35.5 percent gross profit margin on that revenue, between June 2010 through March 2012, Musika said.

“It’s not me sitting at a desk with a calculator,” Musika, a former KPMG and PriceWaterhouseCoopers accounting partner, told the court.

“There are literally hundreds of millions of calculations,” he said, adding that it took more than $1.75 million to employ a team of 20 programmers, accountants, statisticians and economists to work out damages over a plethora of gadgets.

But Samsung argued that Apple, which was struggling to keep up with demand for the iPhone 4 from July to October of 2010, did not have the capacity to have delivered on those additional sales.

“Apple couldn’t service its own customers with the iPhone 4, but it could service customers it didn’t have?” Samsung attorney bill Price asked Musika.

Price also argued that the damages should vary depending on whether the Samsung products at issue in the lawsuit infringed on just one or all of Apple’s patents.

Apple’s legal battle with its fiercest business rival, which has transfixed the global mobile industry, moved into a technical damages-estimate phase this week. The trial, which began in late July, has seen a procession of executives, designers and patent experts testifying on behalf of the U.S. company. Closing arguments should begin next week.

The world’s most valuable technology company is accusing Samsung, now the leader in smartphones, of copying its iPhone and iPad. The Korean company denies that and says Apple infringes several of its wireless technology patents.

Musika also cited Samsung documents that identified the iPhone back in 2007, when the first of the revolutionary smartphones emerged, as one of four major factors defining mobile trends in the ensuing five years.

The trial continues to offer glimpses behind Apple’s secretive operations, from its industrial design process to its product marketing machine.

On Monday, an Apple executive testified that the company had licensed prized design patents to Microsoft Corp but with an “anti-cloning agreement” to prevent copying of its iPhone and iPad.

Apple had reached out to Samsung in 2010, hoping to strike an agreement with its rival on patent licensing before their dispute hit the courts, patent licensing director Boris Teksler said.

Teksler testified that Apple offered a clutch of patents for licensing but, crucially, viewed patents related to what he called the “unique user experience” as a highly protected category.

Those included design patents at issue in the lawsuit, covering the look and feel of the iPhone and iPad. Teksler told jurors last week he could count “on one hand” the instances Apple has licensed those patents.

Negotiations between Apple and Samsung did not produce a licensing agreement, and Apple filed a lawsuit in federal court in San Jose, California, in April 2011.

Apple’s decision to license its design patents to Microsoft was consistent with its corporate strategy, Teksler said, because the agreement prohibited Microsoft from manufacturing copies.

“There was no right with respect to these design patents to build clones of any type,” Teksler said.

Apple finished presenting evidence on its own patent claims on Monday, and Samsung began calling witnesses. U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh said she hoped the attorneys would be able to present closing arguments next week.

The case in U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, is Apple inc v. Samsung Electronics co ltd et al, no. 11-1846.

(Reporting By Dan Levine and Edwin Chan; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Carol Bishopric)

Apple expert shines light on Samsung sales in U.S.

Aug 12

Office 2013 on a tablet vs. touch-friendly ...

Posted on by

With the latest iteration of Office, Microsoft pledges to bring the documents and services you need to run a business to any screen you choose, from a PC to a touch-enabled Windows Surface tablet or Windows 8 Phone. after using the Office 2013 preview suite on a Windows 8 tablet, we are impressed by many of the steps Microsoft has taken to make its Office franchise touchscreen ready and cloud friendly.

if you’re searching for the ultimate mobile-savvy office suite for a tablet, look no further. Compititors available on other platforms, such as DataViz’s Docs to Go or Quickoffice and services, including CloudOn, Nivio, Online Desktop and InstallFree Nexus, which deliver virtualized, full-blown versions of Office apps, lack the unified soup-to-nuts office document, collaboration, and editing functionality that Office 2013 delivers.

But youll probably have to pay dearly for the no-compromise experience of Office 2013 or Office 365 (the subscription-based software-as-a-service alternative that combines desktop installations with cloud-based access on remote devices). Microsoft hasn’t disclosed pricing yet, but it’s difficult to imagine a scenario where the subscription fees in the course of a year or two would undercut what they’d charge for a conventional one-time desktop installation.

Comparing Apples to Oranges

Also, we dont yet know what mobile devices either Office 2013 or Office 365 will support. When asked, Office spokespeople have indicated that some form of Office Mobile (currently available only for Windows Phone) will be forthcoming for Android and iOS devices. But it’s highly unlikely we’ll see a full-blown version of Office running on the Apple and Google mobile operating systems.

We also have yet to see whether, as Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer promised, Office 2013 will run as smoothly on an ARM-based tablet running Windows 8 RT (the version of Windows 8 for tablets that arent based on x64 or x86 CPUs) as it did on the tablet PC used to show off the suite’s new features at Monday’s official unveiling of the public beta. The touch optimization was admittedly impressive, but we were witnessing a best-case scenario: Samsung’s touch-enabled tablet PC running Office on the desktop version of Windows 8.

for these reasons, affordable if limited mobile productivity suites such as Quickoffice and Docs to Go (both $15 for Android devices and $20 for the iOS version), single-purpose apps such as Apples Pages word processor for the iPad ($10), and virtualized cloud services such as Nivio ($15 monthly) remain viable rivals.

here is a look at how the Office 2013 and Office 365 preview releases measure up the competition.

Local Apps: No Connections Required

Locally installed apps such as DataViz’s Documents to Go and Quickoffice have one key advantage over cloud-based alternatives: You don’t need to be online to use them. (We don’t know whether Microsoft’s expected Android and iOS Office products will run offline.) These suites both offer Word, Excel, and PowerPoint support; QuickOffice also lets you save files as PDFs, and read PDF files.

(See Related: Office Suites for iPad: The Roundup & The best Office Alternatives for Android Tablets)

Smartphone Friendly?

Connectivity issues aside, these mobile productivity apps also run nicely on smartphones since they’ve been highly optimized for tiny screens. The touch-optimized, gesture-enabled ribbon interface of Office apps, both on desktops and online, wouldn’t cut it on an iPhone or Droid. Both Docs to Go and Quickoffice rely heavily on icons that produce pop-up or drop-down menus.

Editing on the Go

Admittedly, the editing options are minimal: In Quickword, for example, you can apply font changes or options such as bolding or italics; format paragraphs, find and replace text, get a word count or print to an AirPrint-enabled printer on an iPad. You can also save your document as a PDF or undo up to a dozen or so edits. Docs to Go lacks printing and PDF support, but otherwise generally offers the same document creation features. Neither app supports spell checking, a limitation that generates a fair amount of grumbling in user forums, much less the fancier features that you get with Office, such as support for tables or image editing, or templates for a range of letters, faxes, pamphlets, and other business documents.

Devils in the Formatting Details

Document fidelity with these apps has greatly improved over the years, but still isn’t perfect. On one of my test Excel spreadsheets, Quickoffice did not adjust column width to accommodate a lengthier entry, while Docs to Go did. In general, Quickoffice has the better-looking interface–it shows tabs on Excel workbooks with multiple spreadsheets, and its file management system is intuitive and color-coded (Quickword docs in blue, Quicksheet in green, and Quickpoint–the PowerPoint competitor–in orange). Docs to Go puts its file locations and tools at the bottom of the screen in gray.

But neither app was able to open a complex Excel file involving macros that transfer data to multiple sheets.

Cloud Pleaser?

as for document portability, both Docs to Go and Quickoffice provide good integration with popular online file storage and management services. Both let you access and save files to Google, Dropbox, Box.net, and SugarSync; Docs to Go additionally supports iDisk, while Quickoffice has support for Evernote, Catch, Huddle, Egnyte and MobileMe. You create these connections in the settings, and thereafter they are easily accessible.

Office 365 Web apps automatically save documents to SkyDrive, as do Office desktop apps that are part of an Office 365 subscription.

getting files to your desktop isn’t quite as straightforward with mobile productivity suites. Docs to Go provides a desktop app that lets you sync the contents of any folders you choose with the mobile app. This works well as long as you don’t choose a huge folder to synchronize; by default, Docs to Go sets up an empty My DocsToGo file for this purpose.

Quickoffice has no comparable means of saving to a desktop, but it does offer workarounds. When your mobile device is on the same Wi-Fi network, you can access and upload files using a desktop browser by typing in the URL shown in the app’s home screen. You can also mount the device as a network drive (using the same URL). with iOS devices, you can use iTunes to synchronize files.

Docs to Go and QuickOffice arent the only mobile productivity suites (ThinkFree Mobile for Android comes to mind), but they are the top ones that run on both Android and iOS tablets.

Stand-alone Apps

not everyone deals with the range of documents supported in most office suites. if you only care about word processing, for example, Apples Pages is an excellent app for the iPad. Apple also offers a spreadsheet app, Numbers, and a presentation app, Keynote, for the iPad.

Android tablet owners have access to a large number of stand-alone productivity apps, many of them free.

Virtualized Office in the Cloud

A growing number of tablet users, however, are passing up locally installed apps in favor of the new virtual Office services. with CloudOn, Nivio, and Onlive Desktop, you install an Android or iOS app to which the service basically streams the user interface of full-blown Office apps running in the cloud. at its best, the experience feels no different from working on a desktop program.

You don’t even need to install an app to have similar functionality from InstallFree’s Nexus, which runs in any browser.

File management is an issue with some of these services–you want to avoid uploading and downloading documents if at all possible. CloudOn handles this by integrating with some of the same popular file storage services supported by Docs to Go and QuickOffice, including Box.net, DropBox, and Google Drive.

Installfree Nexus not only lets you seamlessly save to a variety of storage services, it sees them as network resources when you’re creating a document. So, for example, if you want to insert an image stored on, say, Box.net, you can navigate to the site, select and download it without leaving Nexus.

of course, these services don’t work at all offline, and require decent broadband to work smoothly online. And the big (mostly unanswered) outstanding question for some of these apps is what they will cost. Almost certainly it will be some sort of subscription fee, since the services must pay Microsoft licensing fees for hosted versions of Office. InstallFree Nexus, for example, says it plans to offer monthly licenses for $20 (or $5 for academic users).

Microsoft gives Android and iOS a Cold Shoulder

People who invest in Microsoft tablets may not need to bother with these services, since they’ll be able to run the new and improved Office Web apps for free, even if they don’t subscribe to Office. But at this writing, the free Web apps aren’t an option for iOS or Android tablets: You can see your SkyDrive documents, but you can’t edit them.

should Microsoft decide to open up the free Web apps to mobile browsers on non-Microsoft operating systems, the competitive landscape could change dramatically. at Mondays Office 2013 and Office 365 launch, a Microsoft representative hinted that an announcement on browser support would be forthcoming in the months to come, so this story is by no means finished.

Office 2013 on a tablet vs. touch-friendly competition

This Tablet PC Post was also found by:

    Android 4 1 edit Office 365 Office 2013
    android 4 1 office with macros enabled
    best 2013 tabletpc
    best 2013 tablets for productivy
    Best Tablet PC for Productivity 2013
    best tablets for 2013
    excel document colaboration tablet
    touch friendly word processor
Jul 24

Samsung returns fire in Apple dispute

Posted on by

Samsung returns fire in Apple dispute

Apple claims Samsung’s Galaxy Tab, right, mimics the look and feel of its iPad, left. Samsung has now launched a counterclaim relating to its 3G technology patents. Photo: AP

A battle between two of the world’s biggest gadget makers is showing no signs of letting up after Samsung launched a counter claim against Apple in the Federal Court yesterday.

The case follows a 2011 lawsuit in which Apple claimed the Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet was a “copycat” that mimicked its iPad.

Samsung has now launched its own claim against Apple, arguing that two iPhone 4 models and the iPad 2 infringed its 3G technology patents, which are used by mobile devices to access wireless broadband and phone services.

Both parties appeared in the Federal Court in Sydney yesterday.

Samsung counsel Neil Young said the two companies had worked well together until Apple started suing his client around the world.

“until April of 2011, there was a long-standing commercial relationship . . . arising from the fact that Samsung was an important supplier of electronic components to Apple,” mr Young said.

“that relationship broke down when Apple instituted patent infringement proceedings against Samsung in California in April last year.

“Subsequently, Apple has instituted similar proceedings in various countries around the world.”

The case is likely to take several weeks and Samsung has plans to call experts from around the world.

Mr Young asked for the counterclaim to be heard separately from the original lawsuit launched by Apple.

“there is no overlap of anything between this case concerning radio communications within mobile networks and the case concerning the operation of the tablet, the touch screen and so forth,” he said.

But Justice Annabelle Bennett questioned why Samsung did not start new proceedings when it decided to sue Apple.

“I don’t understand why it’s necessary,” she said.

“And I also don’t understand the consequences.”

Samsung returns fire in Apple dispute

Jul 03

The End Of Microsoft … As We Know It

Posted on by

Steve Ballmer’s announcement of the Windows Surface tablet seemed to channel Steve Jobs: dressed in a dark shirt, a CEO making a glitzy product intro, and most remarkable, an integrated device strategy.

In the 1990s Microsoft triumphed over Apple with its stand-alone operating system (“OS”) strategy. now Microsoft is abandoning its winning formula, and following its competitors:

  • Microsoft has married its WinMo phone OS to Nokia.
  • Google has its Nexus line of Android phones and an array of cloud services, and it just announced the Nexus 7 tablet to sail in the vanguard of its Android tablet strategy. Google’s acquisition of Moto gives it the option to provide flagship Android phones with tightly integrated OS and hardware.
  • RIM has always had an integrated OS/hardware strategy.
  • Apple has always had an integrated strategy. and Apple is gradually merging its mobile OS with its PC OS, and innovating with devices like the MacBook Air which sit in the gap between PCs and tablets [this post written on a MacBook Air, in the air].
  • HP bought the Palm WebOS for mobile devices (but their first tablet was still-born).

Apple and Google are the leaders in the burgeoning market for “Post-PC” devices, meaning devices that are truly personal, mobile, designed for communication and media consumption as much as work, and wirelessly connected (more). why are post-PC device leaders employing integrated strategies, when Microsoft did so well focusing on the OS layer of the PC value chain?

  • The tightly constrained resources of mobile devices increase the value of hardware/software integration: tuning the device, OS, and cloud to work together enables the best performance.
  • Mobile devices are truly personal devices: usually chosen and paid for by individuals, for personal use as much or more than business. Buyers care about appearance, device quality/functionality, and the brand much more than they did with PCs (more).
  • Mobile devices depend on cloud services to deliver value. Without the cloud, the OS cannot be competitive.

Microsoft has no choice but to learn to compete in the post-PC market. PC sales are flat to declining.

How likely is it that Microsoft will succeed? Windows won because it had more appeal to business users, who dominated the first phase of the PC market. It was feature rich, it looked like a “real operating system” to professional IT managers, and, by providing a standard interface between hardware and application software, it provoked fierce competition among hardware producers on the basis of price and “feeds and speeds”. and, Microsoft leveraged Windows to establish dominance of business productivity applications, on the basis of a vast array of features and business-friendly bundled marketing. But, Microsoft needed 20 years to produce a PC OS (Windows 7) that rivals MacOS in ease and pleasure of use [IMHO].

Now Microsoft needs to create products that evoke consumer lust, as Apple products do, or appeal to hip geeks, like Android. neither of these things is obvious for the colossus of Redmond. Windows 8 is getting good reviews, and Microsoft’s success with Xbox is solid, but its on-line and music/video offerings have fallen far short. Consumer lust and hip geekiness are not in the core Microsoft DNA.

I was serving IBM (“the colossus of Armonk”) as a strategy consultant in 1993, when the board brought in the first-ever outside CEO, Lou Gerstner, to reconsider everything. IBM was losing out to the technology-based companies: especially Sun, Intel, Oracle, Compaq, and Microsoft. Gerstner faced a choice between doubling down to make IBM a leading edge technology firm, or focusing on services to big business. IBM had the technology chops on paper (in fact it had first developed much of the technology that was taking away its markets), and those markets were hot. But, IBM’s core DNA was selling to big business, and Gerstner determined that big businesses had major needs for help building strategic platforms from the technology cornucopia that was on offer, and they trusted IBM. Gerstner chose to stay with the key customers and bet on the core DNA. the result for shareholders has been good, but IBM no longer defines the future.

Microsoft is at or near to this same Rubicon: does it bet on its key customers and core DNA, or does it try to run with the fast crowd and define the future? I’m guessing that, ironically, it will ultimately make the same pragmatic choice as IBM. Either way, it will be the end of Microsoft as we know it.

The End Of Microsoft … As We Know It