Android Authority |
- ZTE just received a $20 billion loan from the Chinese government, says Reuters
- Ericsson seeks U.S. ban on Galaxy S3 and other devices in case against Samsung
- Android 4.2-based CM 10.1 for Galaxy S3 and Xperia T teased, to reach nightly status soon
- Buy an 18 month subscription to The Times, get a 32 GB Nexus 7 for just £50
- Android 4.1 Jelly Bean arrives on AT&T’s Samsung Galaxy S3
- Eric Schmidt, the world’s most quotable executive, to publish a book in April 2013
- Video: SwiftKey Flow Through Space eliminates the need to tap the spacebar
- Two years later, Android 2.3 Gingerbread is still on over half of Android devices
- Qualcomm buys 2.6% stake in Sharp, may double that if everything goes to plan
- Touchscreen Google Nexus Chromebook reportedly in the works. Android convergence coming soon?
| ZTE just received a $20 billion loan from the Chinese government, says Reuters Posted: 04 Dec 2012 03:21 AM PST
ZTE, the fifth largest handset vendor in the world, has just received a $20 billion loan from the China Development Bank. Said bank is owned by the Chinese government, and it’s mainly used to fund large projects that benefit the country. So how is the money going to be spent? To quote the press release (PDF document) that ZTE issued:
That’s easily the most confusing block of text we’ve encountered this year. We think it means ZTE is going to get cash to build factories, factories that will be used to pump out not just smartphones, but also infrastructure equipment such as 4G LTE cell towers. So is this news significant? It’s $20 billion, of course it’s important! That’s more than what Nokia and RIM are worth combined. What we want to know is why ZTE and why not Huawei or Lenovo? We know Lenovo is doing well, so they don’t technically need the money. But Huawei? Analysts much smarter than us are going to break this news down later today. Here are the questions we want to see answered: How is this deal going to impact how people in the West see China? The factories that ZTE are going to build, what are they going to produce? Will ZTE start an agressive expansion outside of China? Related Posts |
| Ericsson seeks U.S. ban on Galaxy S3 and other devices in case against Samsung Posted: 04 Dec 2012 02:04 AM PST
One – Ericsson — is the market leader in telecom equipment, while the other – Samsung – is the world's biggest phone maker. When the two giants collide and can't see eye to eye on licensing agreement, as is customary now in the increasingly litigious world of mobile technology, the way to the inevitable settlement is to first take the banning request route. Following the lawsuits that Ericsson has filed against Samsung for allegedly violating its patents on wireless technology in court, the Swedish firm is now asking ITC to ban some of Samsung's high-profile products, the Galaxy S3 and the Galaxy Note included, from being sold in America. Ericsson spokesman Fredrik Hallstan said that the import ban on Samsung's products is not the firm's ultimate goal. "Our goal is that they sign license agreements on reasonable terms," he explained. But what's reasonable for Ericsson is one that's considered outrageous for Samsung. At the heart of the issue, Samsung said that Ericsson is charging a "significantly higher royalty rates for the same patent portfolio" and that it will take "all necessary legal measures to protect against Ericsson's excessive claims." Got your popcorn ready? Related Posts |
| Android 4.2-based CM 10.1 for Galaxy S3 and Xperia T teased, to reach nightly status soon Posted: 04 Dec 2012 02:02 AM PST
With Android 4.0 and 4.1 official upgrades still moving along sluggishly, it will certainly be a while until we'll be seeing the latest OS version, 4.2, hitting devices outside the Nexus club. Fortunately, every time an OEM disappoints the independent dev community delivers and the second Jelly Bean flavor should be no exception to that rule. We've known for a while that CyanogenMod 10.1, based on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, is a work in progress. However, seeing as the first ports for Nexus devices have only been made available this past week, we would have never suspected other builds are very close to reaching nightly status. Well, surprise, surprise, at least two other ports are incoming. Samsung's Galaxy S3 and Sony's Xperia T are the likely first candidates to get CM 10.1 outside the non-Nexus bunch, though it is still hard to tell when we should expect the nightly builds to reach the interwebs.
For now, we only have two pics posted on Google Plus by Steve Kondik and Giulio Cervera of CM, showing the "About phone" screens on their T-Mobile S3 and "international" Sony Xperia T. It's worth mentioning that, while a CM 10.1 port for the T-Mo S3 will probably not work for Sprint and Verizon's versions of the super-phone, it should run okay on AT&T's model, as well as on Canadian variants sold by Rogers and Bell. As for Sony's Xperia T, this still has a locked bootloader in some areas (including Canada), but that's not really a major hurdle to block the path of eager custom ROM flashers. Getting back to the actual images posted on G+, these don't reveal much, aside from the obvious – CM 10.1 can be flashed on the two devices, but it's still far from anything remotely stable. Both Kondik and Cervera are also reluctant to talk facts about their work in progress, so we're left guessing – could we see the ports released as nightlies this week? Next week? The week after that? You tell us. Also, feel free to bombard the two Google Plus pages with as many annoying questions you can think of. It’s not the most orthodox way of getting intel, but hey, all’s fair in love and Android. Related Posts |
| Buy an 18 month subscription to The Times, get a 32 GB Nexus 7 for just £50 Posted: 04 Dec 2012 01:43 AM PST
People normally buy smartphones and tablets in one of two ways. They either buy the device outright from a retail store for full price, or they sign a contract with an operator that then provides cellular connectivity. Looking to shake things up a bit, The Times, which is a British newspaper that News Corp purchased in 1981, will sell you a 32 GB Nexus 7 for just £50 if you buy an 18 month subscription to the digital version of the publication. Let’s do the math. The 32 GB WiFi only Nexus 7 costs £199 in the UK. One month of digital access to The Times costs £17.33. So over the life of the contract you’re paying £50 + (£17.33 x 18) = £361.94. There’s also an option to spend £299 in one lump sum for both the tablet and an 18 month subscription. So is this a good deal? Yes and no. If you’re a fan of The Times, then they’re letting you take home an already cheap tablet for an even cheaper price, but you’re going to be stuck with a bill for the next year and a half. If you cough up an extra £100 for the Nexus 7 upfront, then you’ll get access to a decent newspaper for what turns out to be £5.56 per month. It’s hard for us to say if this is going to work or not because not everyone might like The Times and not everyone might like a recurring monthly bill. Many of us here at Android Authority believe that it’s better to save up your pennies and buy something retail instead of chaining yourself to a contract. At the same time, we also believe that good journalism deserves to survive. But then again, doesn’t the UK taxpayer support the British Broadcasting Corporation in one form or another? We leave it to you to decide. Related Posts |
| Android 4.1 Jelly Bean arrives on AT&T’s Samsung Galaxy S3 Posted: 04 Dec 2012 01:19 AM PST
December is turning out to be a good month for those who long for some Jelly Bean goodies on their Samsung Galaxy S3. Following Sprint and T-Mobile, AT&T subscribers that sport the flagship Galaxy S3 can now get their buttery smooth software update. After months of waiting and anticipating, the Android 4.1 update for AT&T's Galaxy S3 is now rolling out via Kies. Coming in at 738MB, the file to download and install is pretty big compared to other carriers. Aside from the expected new features and performance enhancement that Jelly Bean has to offer, we're not sure what kind of surprise AT&T has in store for Galaxy S3 owners. Go ahead and connect your Galaxy S3 to the computer, load up Kies, and check if the Android 4.1 update is waiting there. Be sure to share your excitement in the comments below. Is the phone running smoother than ever after the update? What's your favorite new feature(s) on Jelly Bean? Related Posts |
| Eric Schmidt, the world’s most quotable executive, to publish a book in April 2013 Posted: 04 Dec 2012 12:53 AM PST
Eric Schmidt, once Google’s CEO, now Executive Chairman, is famous for his gaffes. The man has said so many terrifying, hilarious, and downright confusing things that we were thrilled when we heard today’s news about his new book. According to Knopf Publishing, which is owned by Random House, Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen, the Director of Google Ideas, are going to release a book titled “The New Digital Age” on April 23, 2013. It’s going to be about how the internet changes everything. That sounds like an obvious statement, but Eric is known for his long term thinking. Here are just a few of the things he has said over the past few years:
We know very little about Jared Cohen, other than the fact that he used to work for the U.S. State Department. And according to Google, Google Ideas “is a think/do tank that convenes unorthodox stakeholders, commissions research, and seeds initiatives to explore the role that technology can play in tackling some of the toughest human challenges.” It was founded in October 2010. In case you can’t tell by now, we seriously can not wait for this book. Yes, there are going to be some interesting Schmidt quotes in there, but what we really want to see are visions of the future that are beyond anything we can currently imagine. Science Fiction used to be interesting, but these days it’s rather boring. You’re seeing more and more writers base their novels in the present, because frankly they can’t even begin to pretend to know what the world will be like in a few decades. Eric knows. Eric is omniscient. Related Posts |
| Video: SwiftKey Flow Through Space eliminates the need to tap the spacebar Posted: 03 Dec 2012 11:50 PM PST
Forget about the whole Android versus iOS battle, when it comes to third party keyboards, things get really bloody really fast. Some people prefer the stock keyboard that Google builds into Android, others swear by Swype, and then there’s SwiftKey. SwiftKey is easily our favorite, and with their new “Flow Through Space” feature, we’re even more in love. Here’s how it works: Instead of having to swipe a word, lift up your finger, swipe another word, and so on and so forth, now all you have to do is swipe over the spacebar to insert a space. Put another way, you never have to take your finger off the screen. Confused? Just watch the video below. Will Google bake this feature into Android? Why wouldn’t they? Google pretty much stole Swype when they came out with Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. We wouldn’t be surprised to see them steal “Flow Through Space” when they announce Key Lime Pie in 2013. Why doesn’t Google simply buy SwiftKey? We honestly have no idea. It seems like such an obvious thing to do, but then again maybe the SwiftKey team wants to stay independent? Maybe they’re fine with the lives they’re currently living and don’t want to move just to take on a new job? We’ll never really know. Anyway, it’s kind of funny now that we think about the market today. When the iPhone came out, and then Android a year later, there were people who swore that they’d never get a touch screen device. That hitting physical keys was the only way they’d ever want to use a smartphone. The total lack of QWERTY devices today is a testament to how far we’ve come with touch keyboard technology. Imagine how much better they’ll be in another five years? Related Posts |
| Two years later, Android 2.3 Gingerbread is still on over half of Android devices Posted: 03 Dec 2012 10:56 PM PST
Google released Android 2.3 Gingerbread on December 6, 2010. Put another way, it’s a version of Android that’s going to turn two years old in just two days. According to the latest figures in the Android Developer Dashboard, 50.8% of Android devices that have accessed the Google Play Store in the last two weeks are running this now ancient version of Google’s mobile operating system. We hate to say it, but it’s an extremely depressing figure. Are these Gingerbread carrying consumers nearing the end of their two year contract and are planning an upgrade? We can only hope so. And what about the newer versions of Android? Jelly Bean, defined as Android 4.1 and 4.2, is on 6.7% of devices. That’s not bad for an OS that’s going to turn half a year old at the end of the month. As for Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, that’s on 27.5% of Android devices. Many of those ICS devices will get upgrades to JB in early 2013, which is a good thing. One can argue that people don’t really care about what version of Android is on their smartphone. That most people who are using Android today were feature phone users not that long ago. It’s a perfectly valid point, one that many people fail to consider because … let’s face it, we’re Android diehards who change our ROMs about as often as we change our socks. Still, we can’t help but think that Google needs to do something drastic in order to get everyone on the same page. It’s hurting the ecosystem if developers who want to take full advantage of the newest features in Android need to resort to making an app that runs well on a two year old smartphone. Think about it for a second. Two years ago, single core devices reigned supreme, 720p displays were a pipe dream, and 4G LTE wasn’t even a buzzword yet. Related Posts |
| Qualcomm buys 2.6% stake in Sharp, may double that if everything goes to plan Posted: 03 Dec 2012 10:31 PM PST
Qualcomm, the chip designer, has allegedly agreed to purchase 5 billion Japanese yen worth of Sharp stock. That’s roughly $61 million or about 2.6% of the company. Now we know what you’re thinking, why is Qualcomm getting in the screen business? They’re actually not, they just want to make sure that Sharp stays afloat. Sharp isn’t exactly doing too well right now. They need money to soldier on with their low power IGZO based LCD panels. Qualcomm wants to help promote these panels, probably because they want handset vendors to combine them with their Snapdragon SoC. If this investment turns out to actually help Sharp stay alive, then Qualcomm might double their stake in the company. All this hasn’t been made official, but it supposedly will later this week. The good news has already bumped up Sharp’s stock by 1.75%, but what do analysts make of the deal? Here’s what Mitsushige Akino, the Chief Fund officer at Ichiyoshi Asset Management, told Bloomberg:
He’s got a point. Sharp themselves have said that they’re on track to lose 450 billion Japanese yen this year. We’d also like to remind you about Mirasol, the screen technology Qualcomm has been trying to get off the ground for what feels like forever. Mirasol promised to deliver electronic ink power levels, but with color reproduction and even video playback. No one cared. So who else is looking to invest in Sharp? A lot of companies. Supposedly Dell and Intel are in late stage negotiations, but again, none of this is official yet. We want Sharp to survive, desperately, because they’re not only an innovative company in terms of inventing new display technology, but because more players almost always results in better and cheaper products. Related Posts |
| Touchscreen Google Nexus Chromebook reportedly in the works. Android convergence coming soon? Posted: 03 Dec 2012 08:28 PM PST  Google-branded Chromebooks coming soon? (Pictured: Samsung Chromebook) Google is taking a page from the Apple and Microosft playbook. While the company’s strength lies in its search business and mobile operating system, it’s not exactly a hardware company, except for its partnerships (past and present) with HTC, Asus and LG for the production of Nexus devices, and of course its ownership of Motorola Mobility. Recent reports indicate, though, that Google may be planning to produce a device of its own — more specifically, a Chrome OS notebook. The China Commercial Times cites Taiwanese manufacturers Compal and Wintek as servicing orders from Google for Chromebook computers with a 12.85-inch touchscreen display. As such, while Google has relied on Samsung and Acer for its previous Chromebook releases, this upcoming release might be similar to how Microsoft is going forward with its Windows 8 platform, by producing its own Surface tablet. Does it make sense for Google to market its own Chromebooks? Perhaps this effort goes beyond how Nexus devices are intended to provide a “pure Google” experience in Android devices, given that Chrome OS is essentially a Chrome browser running Google services. Market-wise, Chromebooks are going strong, despite the general decline in the desktop computer industry. Samsung’s ARM-powered $249 Chromebook is currently the best-selling notebook computer on Amazon as of end-November. Going beyond Chromebooks and laptops, though, there is one other thing that market observers are seeing as a possibility: the marriage between Android and Chrome OS. The concept of convergence between Android and Chrome OS is not exactly new, and Google VP for engineering Linus Upson said as much at this May’s Google I/O conference. The Android and Chrome OS teams are “working together even more closely” he was quoted to say. Further analysis by ZDNet‘s Steven Vaughan-Nichols even puts a stronger case for the Android-Chrome OS convergence. Chrome ships as the default browser for Android 4.x onward, and Android runs on Linux underpinnings, anyway. This means it should not be too difficult for Chrome OS to switch platforms and perhaps run its system on top of Android. The upcoming Android 4.2 multi-user support will make the case for convergence even stronger, as multiple users are usually an essential feature in desktop OSes. Of course, there’s the concern that putting everything in the cloud could be limiting for many reasons. First, you will need a fast Internet connection in order for things to be buttery smooth. Then there are the security concerns — what if someone gains access to your data? In an article at Phone Arena earlier this year, it was argued that convergence would be one of three things, or a combination thereof: Chrome OS running on top of Android (possible through Chrome for Android), Android apps running on the Chrome browser, and the Google Play Store and Chrome Store merging together to offer apps side-by-side. Whichever it is, this could be an interesting evolution in the desktop computer industry. Chrome OS and Android might eventually be the true successor to the Windows PC, in terms of mass-market desktop devices. Related Posts |
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